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Dubai sits at the crossroads of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, and its combination of logistics infrastructure, spending power and a predictable tax regime keeps it at the top of the list for retail investors. Opening a shop in Dubai is not a single transaction, however: activity code selection, jurisdiction choice, the trade licence, Ejari registration of the lease, municipality approvals, visa quota and the corporate bank account are interlocking steps.
What follows sets out the official fees published for 2026, realistic budget scenarios, timing expectations and the regulatory requirements that affect retailers directly. Some figures are fixed government charges published by the authorities; others are market ranges observed in live files, and the two are marked separately.
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Four variables drive the total: activity type, jurisdiction, retail floor area and the number of visas requested. Sectors that need external approval, such as food, cosmetics or jewellery, add further charges on top. Government fees are published and predictable; the real volatility sits in rent, fit-out and payroll.
The Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) publishes mainland licensing charges line by line. The amounts below come from official DET service pages rather than from market estimates.
| Official Fee Item | Amount (AED) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Initial approval | 120 | Online application, short processing time |
| Licence register fee | 600 | Same amount on renewal |
| Trade name advertisement | 350 | Publication of the reserved name |
| Foreign trade name | 1,000 – 3,000 | If a non-Arabic brand name is used |
| Knowledge + Innovation dirham | 10 + 10 | Collected on every transaction |
| Service request form | 50 | Per application |
| Merchant licence | 1,070 + 300 | This licence type only; 300 AED Dubai Chamber fee |
| General trading activity | 15,000 | 3,000 AED on renewal |
| Ejari tenancy registration | 177.75 / 220 | Dubai REST app / trustee centre |
The same licence produces very different totals at different scales. The three scenarios below reflect the typical distribution in live advisory files and show the first-year total. These are market ranges, not government fees.
| Scenario | Typical Area | Dominant Cost Driver | First-Year Total (AED) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiosk or stand | 5 – 15 sqm | Rent and stock | 60,000 – 160,000 |
| High street shop | 40 – 90 sqm | Rent, fit-out, payroll | 150,000 – 380,000 |
| Mall store | 80 – 200 sqm | Fit-out, deposit, turnover rent | 400,000 and above |
The jurisdiction decision comes before the budget because it determines who your shop is allowed to sell to. In retail the deciding question is simple: will the customer walk in and pay at the till, or will the sale happen through export or wholesale channels?
| Criterion | Mainland | Free Zone | Offshore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign ownership | 100% for most activities | 100% | 100% |
| Retail sales to the local market | Direct | Within the zone; distributor needed outside | Not permitted |
| Mall or high street unit | Suitable | Only inside the zone | Not suitable |
| Typical use | Retail and services | Export, e-commerce, sector-specific | Assets and holding |
Issued by DET, a mainland licence allows unrestricted trade anywhere in Dubai and across the UAE. It is the standard choice for anyone opening a unit in a mall or on a high street and selling to end consumers at the till. In exchange, a registered physical address and an Ejari record are mandatory.
Free zones offer ready-made packages, customs advantages and sector-specific infrastructure. In retail their use is confined to showrooms and outlets inside the zone; selling beyond the zone boundary requires a mainland distributor or an additional arrangement. For e-commerce-led models that ship from a warehouse, however, a free zone is a strong option. Our overview of trading and general trading companies in Dubai covers the wholesale side in more depth.
Offshore companies are used for asset protection and international trade planning. They cannot operate a physical shop inside the UAE, employ staff locally or make retail sales.
Retail sales normally call for a commercial licence. Service-led activities such as consultancy, design or personal care fall under a professional licence. On the mainland the licence is issued by DET; in a free zone, by the relevant zone authority.
The DET catalogue contains more than two thousand defined economic activities. The activity code is not an administrative detail: it drives visa quota, external approvals, customs treatment and VAT handling. Clothing retail and cosmetics retail are separate codes, and the cosmetics side requires product registration. Picking the wrong code means an amendment fee and lost weeks after the licence has already been issued.
Grocery stores, delicatessens, cafés and similar food businesses go through a separate Dubai Municipality process. Registration on the Food Watch platform, a food safety certificate for the Person in Charge and trained food handlers are all required. Some of the permit fees published by the municipality are set out below.
| Food Permit Type | Fee (AED) | Validity |
|---|---|---|
| Food kiosk permit | 200 | Up to 1 year |
| Food truck | 160 | Up to 1 year |
| Vending machine | 200 | Up to 1 year |
| Non-halal food activity | 200 | 1 year |
| Product promotion permit | 7 per product | Up to 3 months |
If a café or restaurant model is what you have in mind, we cover that route separately in our guide to opening a coffee shop in Dubai.
Retailers who want to sell online alongside the store can add an e-commerce activity to the existing licence and keep everything under one entity. That is faster and cheaper than incorporating a second company, but it brings consumer-protection obligations with it, including a payment gateway agreement and a published returns policy.
With complete paperwork the licence itself can be issued within a few business days. What stretches the calendar is finding the unit, getting the fit-out approved and clearing the bank's compliance review. The chart below traces a typical mainland retail file.
Ejari is the registration of a tenancy contract with the Dubai Land Department, and in practice it is a precondition for a mainland licence. Either the tenant or the landlord can start it. Registered through the Dubai REST app or the Land Department portal the total fee is AED 177.75; through an authorised real estate services trustee centre it is AED 220. A licence application will not progress on an unregistered contract, so registration should begin the moment the lease is signed.
Hiring staff requires two separate cards, and they are frequently confused. The card issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) is valid for two years, carries no charge beyond government fees, has an assessment (Ta'qeem) fee of AED 406 and is processed within two business days. On the immigration side, the GDRFA Dubai card costs AED 200 plus VAT to issue or renew, with an annual maintenance fee of AED 100; express processing is charged separately.
The "one visa per nine square metres" formulas circulating online are not official. MOHRE sets the quota by weighing the company's legal form, the area of the premises, the projects undertaken and the demand together. Headcount plans should therefore be confirmed before the lease is signed, not after.
The longest step after the licence is usually the bank. Compliance teams examine the substance of the activity, the background of the shareholders and the expected transaction volume; incomplete or inconsistent declarations are the leading cause of rejection. A signed lease, supplier agreements and a realistic revenue projection shorten the review. Our walkthrough on opening a commercial bank account in Dubai sets out what the file should contain.
Rent is the single largest line in the first-year budget, and the price per square metre varies dramatically across Dubai. In shopping centres, base rent sits alongside a turnover percentage, a service charge for common areas and a marketing contribution, each calculated separately; the deposit typically equals several months of rent. On the high street, base rent dominates, but fit-out and signage approvals stay on the tenant's side of the ledger.
Demand remains strong. Market reports put occupancy in Dubai's super-regional malls above 95 percent, with rents in prime corridors rising year on year, and the fashion wing of The Dubai Mall now ranks among the most expensive retail locations in the world. In practice this means that securing a good unit is less about price than about waiting your turn. For district-level ranges, see our comparison of shop rents in Dubai.
Three criteria matter most when choosing a location: the footfall pattern of your target customer through the day, the density of competitors in the same category, and the technical specification of the unit. A cheap unit with an inadequate electrical load, weak ventilation or no back-of-house storage will consume the saving during fit-out.
The UAE has aligned with international tax standards while keeping its business-friendly structure. Three headings concern retailers: corporate tax, value added tax and customs duty on imports.
For financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023, corporate tax is 0 percent on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9 percent above that threshold. Businesses with annual revenue not exceeding AED 3,000,000 may also claim Small Business Relief, which has been extended to cover tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. Large multinational groups have been subject to a 15 percent domestic minimum top-up tax since 1 January 2025; a typical retail business with consolidated revenue below EUR 750 million falls outside that regime.
VAT applies at a standard rate of 5 percent to most goods and services. Registration is mandatory once annual taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000, and voluntary registration is available above AED 187,500. In retail, receipt formatting, refund handling and the tourist VAT refund scheme all require the point-of-sale system to be configured correctly from day one.
Standard customs duty on goods imported into the UAE is 5 percent of the value of the goods plus cost, insurance and freight. Alcohol and tobacco carry substantially higher rates. Because VAT is calculated on top of the duty-inclusive value, retailers importing stock need to price the two charges together rather than in sequence.
| Tax | Rate / Threshold | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax | 0% up to AED 375,000 / 9% above | Federal Decree-Law No. 47/2022 |
| Small Business Relief | Annual revenue up to AED 3,000,000 | Extended to 31 December 2029 |
| VAT | 5% standard rate | Most goods and services |
| VAT registration threshold | Mandatory 375,000 / voluntary 187,500 AED | Based on annual supplies |
| Customs duty | 5% on CIF value | Higher for alcohol and tobacco |
Registration deadlines, filing calendars and exemption conditions are covered in detail in our guide to corporate tax in Dubai.
The 2020 amendment to the Commercial Companies Law removed the requirement for commercial companies to have an Emirati majority shareholder or agent. More than a thousand commercial and industrial activities now allow 100 percent foreign ownership, and retail trade is among them. Only the list of activities with strategic impact, determined by the Cabinet, is carved out.
The local service agent has not disappeared entirely, however. It can still arise for branches of foreign companies and for certain legal forms. Saying that a local partner is never required anywhere is therefore an oversimplification; the right approach is to confirm the position with DET against your specific activity code and legal form. For a wider view of the structuring options, see our page on company formation in Dubai.
If you are planning to open a shop in Dubai, get a free preliminary assessment from our expert team for the right jurisdiction, license and budget. We guide you with up-to-date cost and process information tailored to your needs.
With complete documents the trade licence is usually issued within 2-5 business days. The steps that set the overall pace are finding a unit and registering the lease on Ejari (1-4 weeks), fit-out approvals, and opening the corporate bank account (2-6 weeks). A typical mainland retail file completes in 4 to 10 weeks end to end.
Official DET fees are predictable: AED 120 initial approval, AED 600 licence register fee, AED 350 trade name advertisement and AED 177.75 for Ejari registration. Rent, fit-out and payroll decide the rest. Realistic first-year totals are AED 60,000-160,000 for a kiosk, AED 150,000-380,000 for a high street unit and AED 400,000 upwards for a mall store.
No. The 2020 amendment to the Commercial Companies Law opened more than a thousand commercial and industrial activities to 100% foreign ownership, and retail trade is one of them. Only activities designated as having strategic impact are excluded. A local service agent may still be required for branches of foreign companies and certain legal forms.
A passport valid for at least six months, proof of the investor's address, an approved trade name compliant with UAE naming rules, a biometric photo and, for mainland shops, an Ejari-registered tenancy contract. Depending on the legal form, a memorandum of association or a local service agent agreement is also requested.
If customers will walk into your store and pay at the till, you need a mainland licence; a free zone licence confines sales to the zone and requires a distributor outside it. For e-commerce-led models shipping from a warehouse, a free zone offers cost and speed advantages.
Corporate tax is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it. Businesses with annual revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less may claim Small Business Relief. VAT applies at 5% on most goods and services, with mandatory registration at AED 375,000 of taxable supplies. Imported stock also attracts 5% customs duty on the CIF value.
Ejari is the registration of a tenancy contract with the Dubai Land Department and is in practice a precondition for a mainland trade licence. Either tenant or landlord can initiate it. The total fee is AED 177.75 through the Dubai REST app or the Land Department portal, and AED 220 through an authorised trustee centre.
There is no published square-metre-per-visa formula. MOHRE sets the quota by weighing the company's legal form, the area of the premises, the projects undertaken and the demand together. Headcount plans should therefore be confirmed against the quota before the lease is signed.
A free zone licence does not permit direct retail sales in a mall located outside the zone boundary. That requires either a mainland licence or working with a distributor licensed on the mainland.
Yes. Dubai Municipality runs a separate approval process: registration on the Food Watch platform, a food safety certificate for the Person in Charge and trained food handlers. Item-based fees apply, such as AED 200 for a food kiosk permit and AED 160 for a food truck permit.
Yes. Adding an e-commerce activity to your existing trade licence is faster and cheaper than incorporating a second company. It does bring consumer-protection obligations, including a payment gateway agreement and a published returns and exchange policy.
The establishment card registers the company as an employer; work visas are issued to individual employees. The MOHRE card is valid for two years and carries a Ta'qeem assessment fee of AED 406. On the immigration side, the GDRFA Dubai card costs AED 200 plus VAT to issue or renew, with AED 100 annual maintenance. No staff visa can be applied for before the card is in place.
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