Dubai's published fee schedule charges AED 2,000 to revoke the licence of a mainland business that has stopped trading. The same schedule prices dissolving a company and appointing a liquidator at AED 2,000, and deregistering a company from the commercial register at AED 2,000. Which of those lines a closure pays depends on its legal form, and DET's payment voucher lists them.
Around those fees sit the costs that move the total. Each residence visa costs AED 100 to cancel at GDRFA, plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham and AED 10 Innovation Dirham. A company also pays its liquidator. The tax deregistrations are free on time and AED 1,000 a month when late. In a free zone the authority sets its own price: DMCC charges AED 4,015 to wind a company up.
Closing a Dubai company is rarely one government payment. You pay for the licence cancellation itself, then the clean-up around it: visa cancellations, labour file closure, liquidation, newspaper publication, tax deregistration and authority clearances.
That is why two companies can close in the same city and walk away with very different bills. A sole professional licence with no staff is usually straightforward. An LLC with employees, leased premises and VAT history is not. And that difference matters because leaving a company half-closed in Dubai can trigger penalties, immigration issues and problems when you try to open a new business later.
What are Dubai trade license cancellation fees?
Dubai trade license cancellation fees are the charges involved in legally closing a company and removing its licence from the authority record. In plain terms, this is the cost of shutting the business down properly, not simply letting the licence expire and hoping the paperwork dies quietly on its own.
Under the current Dubai authority framework, cancellation usually sits across three layers: the authority’s own cancellation fee, any dissolution or liquidation cost linked to the company structure, and the clearance costs connected to visas, labour, tenancy, utilities and tax. That last layer is where most business owners underestimate the budget.
In practice, a proper closure may involve:
- a shareholder or owner resolution to close the business
- cancellation of investor, employee or dependent visas
- labour and immigration file clearances where applicable
- bank account closure and settlement of liabilities
- Ejari, office, utility or business centre exit formalities
- VAT or corporate tax deregistration if the company is registered
- final strike-off approval from the licensing authority
Cancellation or liquidation: which one applies
The fee schedule draws the line for you. Revoking a licence applies to any establishment, which the schedule defines as a company or a sole proprietorship licensed to trade in Dubai. Dissolution with a liquidator, and deregistration from the commercial register, are written for companies only.
Read together, the rows mean a sole proprietorship has no dissolution step, while a company does. A company that still has staff, debts or a VAT registration is not closed until each of those is cleared as well, which is why two closures with the same DET fee can end with very different bills.
Official government fees: DET and other authorities
Dubai's fee and fine schedule for the economic department is Executive Council Resolution No. 13 of 2011, which the Dubai Legislation Portal still publishes. These are its closure lines:
| Line in Dubai's fee schedule | Applies to | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Revocation of the licence of an establishment which ceased its activity (Schedule 1, no. 18) | A company or sole proprietorship that has stopped trading | AED 2,000 |
| Dissolution of a company and appointing a liquidator (Schedule 1, no. 17) | A company | AED 2,000 |
| Deregistration of a commercial company from the commercial register (Schedule 1, no. 19) | A company | AED 2,000 |
| Publishing announcements related to licences in daily newspapers (Schedule 1, no. 3) | Each advertisement, where a notice is published | AED 500 |
DET states the amount it actually charges on the payment voucher it issues during the application, so read the schedule as the fee and the voucher as the bill. The free zones are not on this schedule at all.
For free zone businesses, there is no single Dubai-wide cancellation fee. Each authority follows its own de-registration route. Dubai Development Authority, for example, sets out separate cancellation pathways for FZ-LLCs, branches and freelancers. So if someone quotes you one flat number for “Dubai free zone closure”, treat it with suspicion.
On paper the government fees are the small part. The money goes on what hangs off the licence: visas, a liquidator, a lease, tax registrations, and any fines from the months it sat unrenewed.
Dubai free zones: what each authority publishes
Each free zone runs its own closure at its own price, and most do not publish it. DMCC does, in its schedule of charges:
| DMCC line | What DMCC says it covers | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Company winding up | Liquidation of a company, its de-registration and the licence termination | AED 4,015 |
| Company de-registration | A one-time charge | AED 2,015 |
| Licence termination | A company with more than one active licence; a company that is closing follows DMCC's winding-up guidance instead | AED 2,000 |
IFZA publishes no fee list, so its closure figure has to come from IFZA, in writing. For any other zone, ask the authority for its schedule before you rely on a number from anyone else, us included.
Additional costs you need to budget for
This is the part that makes or breaks the budget. Most business owners are not really asking, “What is the cancellation fee?” They are asking, “What will this actually cost me by the time everything is finished?” That is the right question.
The answer depends less on the licence and more on what is attached to it. If the company has visas, staff, a lease, VAT registration, a corporate bank account or formal liquidation requirements, the budget moves quickly.
Visa cancellation costs
GDRFA charges AED 100 to cancel a residence permit, plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham and AED 10 Innovation Dirham, and expects to finish within 48 hours. For private-sector staff it will not start without the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation's extract of the work permit cancellation, so the labour side goes first.
After a cancellation, GDRFA's service page gives the person a 60-day grace period to stay. Its legal awareness guidance asks employers to see cancelled staff out within thirty days, which is the date we plan to, as the company visa page explains.
Labour and establishment file closure
If staff were employed, labour-side closure steps may apply before the company can be shut down cleanly. End-of-service dues, unpaid payroll issues or unresolved files can slow the process and increase support costs.
The ministry's own cancellation fees are not on this page: its site could not be reached when this was written, and we do not quote a ministry figure we have not read.
Liquidator fees
For many LLC structures, a licensed liquidator is not optional. This can become one of the biggest closure costs, especially when accounts need to be reviewed and a liquidator’s report must be filed.
The liquidator's fee is a private price. Before you appoint one, get it in writing together with the list of steps and notices the liquidator will file and the date it expects to issue its report. If a notice has to go in the papers, Dubai's schedule charges AED 500 for each licence announcement it publishes in a daily newspaper.
Office and tenancy exit costs
A company with a physical office may still need to settle rent, utilities, Ejari obligations, business centre dues or deposit adjustments before it gets a clean exit.
Tax deregistration and final filings
Corporate tax deregistration is due within three months of the company ceasing to exist, stopping business, being dissolved or liquidated (FTA Decision No. 6 of 2023). Where VAT deregistration is mandatory, the FTA wants the application within 30 business days of the obligation arising, and the final return and any tax due within 28 days of the deregistration date.
Both applications are free. A late one costs AED 1,000 for corporate tax and AED 1,000 for VAT, then the same again each month, up to AED 10,000 and AED 10,000. When the reason is a cancelled licence, the FTA's VAT checklist asks for the cancellation certificate, the liquidation letter and the board resolution, so have those papers ready before the deadline is close. Corporate tax and VAT registration covers the rest of the tax side.
The order that works, step by step
- Work out which fees apply. Check your legal form against the schedule lines above. A company starts with the owners' decision to dissolve and the appointment of a liquidator.
- Close the labour side first. Cancel each employee's work permit with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation; GDRFA will not cancel a private-sector residence without the ministry's extract.
- Cancel the residence visas of staff, partners and dependants at GDRFA, and agree a departure or transfer date with each person before you file.
- Clear what the licence is tied to: the lease and its Ejari registration, utilities, the bank account and any customs registration.
- File the cancellation and the tax deregistrations. The licence goes to DET or your free zone authority; VAT and corporate tax go to the FTA, inside their deadlines. Keep every certificate you are given.
What it costs to let the licence expire instead
Letting the licence lapse does not end anything. Dubai's fee schedule fines a business AED 250 for failing to renew on time and AED 200 for every month of delay after that, with part of a month counted as a full one. The visas and the tax registrations stay open as well, each on its own clock.
One rule is worth knowing before you pay back fees. Article 5 of the same resolution says an establishment is not charged the schedule's fees for conducting its activity for a period in which it proves it had stopped trading. Keep the evidence of the date you stopped: the last invoice, the end of the lease, the visa cancellations.
How long it takes
The fixed timings are the government's own. GDRFA expects to finish a residence cancellation within 48 hours. The FTA processes a VAT deregistration within 30 business days of a complete application, and a corporate tax deregistration within 40 working days, and either can take as long again if it asks for more information.
A company's liquidation has no published timetable. It runs at the pace of the liquidator's own steps, which is why the dates belong in the liquidator's written quote.
Closing costs are easier to accept when you know what the opening ones were: the full cost of starting in Dubai and mainland formation costs both itemise them. If the plan is to close one licence and open another, talk to us about the DED amendment route first — it is often cheaper than cancelling.
Where we come in
We file DET licence cancellations and run the visa and labour files in the order GDRFA requires, through our DED licence services. Send us the licence, the list of visas on it and whether the company is registered for VAT or corporate tax, and you get a closure quote for your own case rather than a range.
On the mainland, Dubai's fee schedule charges AED 2,000 to revoke the licence of a business that has stopped trading. It charges AED 2,000 for dissolving a company and appointing a liquidator, and AED 2,000 for deregistering a company from the commercial register; DET's voucher lists the lines that apply. Visas, the liquidator's fee and any fines come on top.
Dubai's fee schedule ties a company's dissolution to the appointment of a liquidator, in one line at AED 2,000. It has no such line for a sole proprietorship. Free zones set their own rules: DMCC's winding-up charge covers the liquidation, the de-registration and the licence termination.
Yes, but the lapse is priced in. Dubai's fee schedule fines AED 250 for not renewing and AED 200 for each month of delay. If the business had stopped trading, Article 5 of the same resolution spares an establishment the fees for conducting its activity for the period it proves it was inactive, so bring the evidence.
The government steps are quick: GDRFA expects 48 hours for each residence cancellation, and the FTA processes a VAT deregistration in 30 business days and a corporate tax deregistration in 40 working days. A company's liquidation sets the overall pace, and it has no published timetable.
Yes, separately. Corporate tax deregistration is due within three months of the company ceasing, dissolving or being liquidated, and VAT deregistration within 30 business days where it is mandatory. Both are free on time; a late one costs AED 1,000 and the same again each month, up to AED 10,000.
DMCC publishes it: AED 4,015 for a company winding up, which it describes as the liquidation, de-registration and licence termination process. Its schedule also lists company de-registration at AED 2,015, and licence termination at AED 2,000 for a company with more than one licence. Visa cancellations are charged separately.
Sources
- Executive Council Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Dubai Legislation Portal: the economic department's fee and fine schedule. Schedule 1 nos. 3 and 17 to 19, Schedule 2 nos. 5 and 6, Article 5 and the definition of an establishment. Read 21 October 2026.
- DMCC schedule of charges: company winding up, de-registration and licence termination. Read 21 October 2026.
- GDRFA Dubai, cancellation of all types of residence permits: the fee, the two dirham charges, the ministry's extract, the 48 hours and the 60-day grace period. Read 21 October 2026.
- FTA, VAT deregistration: 30 business days, free, the final return within 28 days, and the documents for a cancelled licence. Read 21 October 2026.
- FTA, corporate tax deregistration and FTA Decision No. 6 of 2023: free, 40 working days, and the three-month deadline. Read 21 October 2026.
- Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, as amended, row 4, and Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as amended, row 3: the late deregistration penalties for VAT and corporate tax. Read 21 October 2026; the corporate tax text is the Ministry of Finance's consolidation of March 2024.
