Living in Dubai

Dubai levies no income tax on individuals. It is the first number everyone checks and rarely the one that decides anything. What decides it is the cost base: housing, schooling, healthcare and a car, set against a salary quoted gross with nothing withheld from it. VAT of 5% applies to most of what you buy.

This section is the practical side of moving: what rent actually runs in the neighbourhoods people shortlist, what the international and French schools charge and how early to apply, how health cover works and what a consultation costs, converting your driving licence, and what working here is like once the novelty wears off.

These are written for people who are deciding rather than dreaming, so the comparisons are made against European baselines instead of against nothing. A gross salary in Dubai is not comparable to a gross salary in France or the UK, and the honest answer is a range rather than a multiplier.

One thread runs through all of it. For a self-employed person or a founder, the residence visa, the company and the tax position are a single decision rather than three, which is why these guides point back to Business Setup and Immigration instead of stopping at the question of where to live. Settling here legally and long-term almost always runs through a structure of some kind.

Start with the overview guide if you are still weighing the move, or with the rent and schools guides if the decision is made and you are building a budget.