Practice notes · Est. 2024
From the Deira desk.
Short, practical notes on audit packs, VAT, Corporate Tax and licences — written from Office 512, not from a content farm. No staff profiles; the work is the point.
When a free-zone company in Dubai actually needs an audit
Most operating free-zone licences still attach audited statements to renewal. The pack is not the same in every zone.
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VAT quarterly mistakes we still see in Dubai
Input tax without invoices, mixed designated-zone stories, and a current return filed on top of missing quarters.
Read article →Corporate Tax in year two of a mainland LLC
A second-year mainland company still needs a CT position. Silence is not a filing.
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Mainland, DMCC, JAFZA, IFZA or SHAMS — choosing in 2026
The cheapest zone is often the wrong licence. Choose for invoices, visas and the audit you will face later.
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WPS and the payroll ledger must match
If the SIF left the bank and the journal did not, that is a finding — not a rounding difference.
Read article →What Dubai credit teams actually ask for
A facility certificate is not a second statutory opinion. It answers the letter. Nothing else.
Read article →UBO filing for a company formed this year
Beneficial owners are the people who own and control the company. Nominee stories that fail at the bank fail at UBO too.
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ESR: relevant activity versus a holding company
Free-zone status is not a blanket ESR exemption. Read the licence and the invoices.
Read article →Year-end stock counts in Dubai and the zones
Attendance matters. A spreadsheet reviewed from Deira is not a count in Jebel Ali.
Read article →Your first statutory audit: what to send
A first-year file is slower. Opening balances and related parties are the usual gaps.
Read article →Licence renewal and the missing audit pack
Most ‘simple renewals’ fail because the zone still wants statements and nobody started the audit.
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Opening a corporate bank account after formation
Banks say no when the licence, the plan and the UBO do not match. We cannot guarantee a yes. We can stop that no.
Read article →Internal audit is not a statutory audit
One reports to you on processes. The other reports on the financial statements. Mixing them produces a letter nobody can file.
Read article →Buying a free-zone company: due diligence first
You inherit the licence, the VAT, the visas and the related-party rent. Read them before you sign.
Read article →Bookkeeping that survives an FTA review
The return is only as good as the ledger. Keep workings with the filing, not in a private chat.
Read article →Surrendering a licence still needs a closing file
A wind-down is not a going-concern audit with a sad cover. Start before the bank accounts are empty.
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