Full market access, and full foreign ownership on most activities — not the compromise it used to be.
A mainland licence lets a business trade with anyone in the UAE, mainland or free zone, with no invoicing route to build around. It costs more to set up than most free zones and requires a registered lease — the trade-off is access, not ownership.
Ownership restrictions requiring a local majority shareholder were largely removed in 2021. Most commercial and industrial activities can now be 100% foreign owned on the mainland. A local corporate services agent may still be required for certain professional licences — an administrative role, not an ownership stake.
Mainland earns its higher cost in one specific situation.
It is not the default — it is the answer when one of these is true.
UAE mainland clients, invoiced directly
A free zone entity cannot invoice the mainland directly without a distributor, a branch, or a second entity. Where mainland revenue is central, a mainland licence is usually the honest answer.
- No invoicing workaround required
- No restriction on client location within the UAE
A physical, client-facing presence
Retail, F&B, clinics and anything requiring walk-in footfall or a specific commercial address generally sit on the mainland by necessity, not preference.
- Registered lease required by the licence itself
- No facility-quota ceiling on visas the way some free zones have
Government and semi-government contracts
Many public-sector and large local-enterprise tenders specify or strongly prefer a mainland-licensed counterparty.
- Broadest eligibility for local tendering
- No jurisdiction question to explain to a procurement team
Not sure where to start? Forty minutes, no cost, no licence quoted.
Your activity, your customers, your visas — and a written view of the structure that fits, with the case against it. The person you speak to is the person who keeps your file.
Mainland next to free zone, in brief.
Mainland
- Full foreign ownership on most activities
- Direct invoicing anywhere in the UAE
- Registered lease required
- Standard corporate tax rate — no qualifying regime
- Higher setup and ongoing cost than most free zones
Free zone
- Full foreign ownership — the original free zone model
- No direct mainland invoicing without a workaround
- Facility booking rather than a market-rate lease
- A 0% qualifying tax position, if genuinely earned and maintained
- Lower setup cost and faster issuance, generally
Corporate tax applies at the standard rate on mainland income — there is no qualifying free zone regime to elect into. Bookkeeping, the return itself, and the underlying tax position are handled by Oznet Accounting & Taxation, part of the same group.
What clients ask about mainland setup.
Do I need a local Emirati partner or sponsor?
No, for most activities, since the 2021 ownership reforms. A small number of strategic or regulated activities still carry different rules, which is confirmed at the structure stage rather than assumed.
Can a mainland company also invoice free zone or international clients?
Yes. A mainland licence is not restricted to local clients — it adds the ability to invoice locally, it doesn’t remove anything a free zone entity could already do.
Is mainland more expensive than a free zone?
Usually, mainly because of the registered-lease requirement. The fairer comparison includes whatever facility cost the free zone alternative would also carry, which headline free zone pricing often leaves out.
What’s the corporate tax position on the mainland?
The standard rate applies, with no qualifying regime to elect into — see the note above and the Accounting & Taxation page for how that’s managed ongoing.
Two practices, twelve services — and the same advisor across all of them.
Corporate advisory & formation
- Structure & jurisdiction advisory Mainland, free zone or offshore — decided first
- Company formation Mainland and free zone, executed against the agreed structure
- Bank account opening The file a bank actually approves
- Residency & Golden Visa Investor, employment, family
- Capital, funding & joint ventures Readiness first, introductions second
- Trademark & IP A licence is not a trademark
Accounting & taxation
- Bookkeeping & management accounts Odoo, Zoho Books, QuickBooks
- UAE corporate tax Registration, returns, the qualifying position
- VAT & e-invoicing Returns, and readiness for the phased mandate
- Audit support The file prepared as a review, not a reconstruction
- Payroll & WPS Salary processing that satisfies the Wage Protection System
- Compliance calendar Every dated deadline, one page, one PDF
A conversation before a quotation.
Forty minutes with an advisor to confirm mainland is actually the right call before any paperwork starts. The licence itself is issued by the Department of Economy and Tourism on the strength of the file; our job is to make that file complete and correct the first time.
Prefer to talk now? WhatsApp +971 52 140 3947 · sales@oznetcorp.com