Almost every piece we write runs into the word "licence": without one a broker is not a broker, waste activity needs a permit, and a natural person's rental income falls outside Corporate Tax only where no licence is required. That licensing layer is set by Law No. 13 of 2011: an economic activity may be conducted only through a licensed business, the licence runs for one year (up to four by approval), it is tied to SPECIFIC premises, and those premises may not be used for other purposes. Businesses licensed in free zones fall outside this law's definition.
Verified against official sources on 2026-09-15: the text of Law No. 13 of 2011 comes from the Dubai Legislation Portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae), credited to the Supreme Legislation Committee of the Emirate, 2016. The portal notes that the English version is a translation and that the Arabic text prevails in case of conflict. This is not legal advice: a specific activity is judged on its own documents.
In our pieces the word "licence" keeps deciding the outcome. A broker without a licence and a register entry may not practise. Waste activity runs on a permit. A natural person's rental income falls outside Corporate Tax precisely where the activity is not, and need not be, conducted through a licence. It makes sense to look at the licensing layer itself.
The document is Law No. (13) of 2011 Regulating the Conduct of Economic Activities in the Emirate of Dubai, issued on 24 August 2011; it is published in the Official Gazette and comes into force on the day of publication (Article 37).
First, a caveat about the authority's name
The law is written around the DED — the Department of Economic Development. In the instruments we covered later, the emirate's licensing authority is the Department of Economy and Tourism, established by Law No. 20 of 2021 (named in the preambles of the waste bylaw 34/2026 and the free zone resolution 11/2025).
We do not resolve that transition and claim nothing about which body performs which function under this law today. Below we keep the designation used in the text itself.
The base rule: only through a licensed business
"A natural or legal person may conduct an Economic Activity in the Emirate only through a Business licensed by the DED." — Law No. (13) of 2011, Article 6
Economic activity is defined broadly (Article 2): any commercial, industrial, artisan, occupational, agricultural, service or other for-profit activity authorised in the Emirate.
The definition of "business", meanwhile, carries a boundary that matters for our node: a company or sole proprietorship licensed to conduct an economic activity in the Emirate, excluding businesses licensed in free zones. How a free zone company steps outside its zone is a 2025 instrument of its own.
The term of the licence, and what may be done with it
| What | As the law puts it | Article |
|---|---|---|
| licence term | one year, renewable for the same period | 8(a) |
| a longer term | on the business's request and with the Department's approval in coordination with the competent entity — up to four years | 8(a) |
| renewal | within the last month before expiry | 8(b) |
| changing details or disposing of the licence | only with prior approval of the Department and the competent entities | 10(a) |
| publication of changes | in at least one daily newspaper of the Emirate at the owner's expense — on change of legal form, withdrawal of a general partner, change of trade name, revocation of the licence and other cases | 10(b) |
Article 14 lists the permitted legal forms: sole proprietorship; civil works company; commercial company; branch of a national or foreign company or of a company operating in a free zone.
Premises: the licence is tied to a place
This is the rule that matters most to a property owner.
"An applicant for a Licence must specify the premises in the Emirate through which its Economic Activities will be conducted. The premises must be suitable for the activities to be licensed… The premises may not be used for purposes other than those determined in the Licence issued by the DED." — Law No. (13) of 2011, Article 17
Two consequences. For a landlord: the use stated in the tenant's licence is not a formality but a condition of the lawfulness of their activity. For an owner letting residential space: where an activity requires a licence, a "home office" is not something the parties can settle between themselves by contract.
Article 18 carves out an exception: the Department may issue licences authorising UAE nationals to conduct certain activities from home or through business incubators, under rules adopted by the Department. The class of persons in that article is named exactly as quoted.
Duties of a business
Article 19 lists, among others: comply with the legislation in force in the Emirate; observe the conditions and rules of the licensed activity; notify the Department of any change in the information and documents on which the licence was granted, within ten working days; use the trade name specified in the licence in all dealings with third parties; give authorised employees access to the premises and to its information and records.
A separate layer is the commercial authorisation for marketing activity (Articles 24–26): commercials, advertising boards, clearance offers, promotional campaigns, exhibitions, conferences. Note that real estate brokers have their own advertising permit through the Trakheesi system — a different layer of rules, not to be conflated.
Liability: a range, closure, amicable settlement
Article 29: without prejudice to any stricter penalty under another law — a fine of no less than AED 100 and no more than AED 100,000; the specific acts and amounts are determined by a resolution of the Chairman of the Executive Council.
That is a frame, not the price of a particular violation: the "violation → amount" list sits in a separate resolution we have not read.
Article 30 adds closure of the business or revocation of the licence — on failure to renew coupled with cessation of activity (after a public notice in a daily newspaper and no objections within two weeks), on a violation punishable by closure, or where the licence was issued on false information. Revocation does not prejudice the rights and obligations of the business or its owner towards third parties.
Article 31 offers amicable settlement: on the violator's application submitted within two months of the violation, on payment of no less than 50% of the prescribed fine, and provided no similar violations were committed by the business in the year preceding it.
Article 13 answers the common question about a "dormant" licence: the owner may ask the Department to suspend the licence due to cessation of activities, and the business is not subject to licensing fees or to fines for non-renewal where the licence expires with activity ceased or where such an application is filed.
Grievances and the transition period
Article 33: any affected party may submit a written grievance to the Director General within thirty days of becoming aware of the decision or measure. Article 34: grievances are heard by a committee formed by resolution of the Director General, which must decide within no more than thirty days of referral, and its decision is final.
Article 35 gave businesses licensed before the law one year to comply, extendable once; businesses licensed pursuant to orders of the Ruler are exempt from compliance and are governed by the Department's rules.
What we do NOT claim here
- Which body performs the DED's functions under this law today. The 2011 law names the Department of Economic Development; later instruments name the Department of Economy and Tourism under Law No. 20 of 2021. We do not resolve the transition.
- How later federal legislation affects Article 15. Article 15(b) of the 2011 text requires non-UAE nationals conducting occupational or artisan activities to have a local service agent, and Article 16 describes that agent's responsibility. We reproduce this as written in the 2011 law and deliberately draw no conclusion about the position today: federal company legislation has been re-promulgated since, and we have not read those instruments on this point.
- The fine for a particular violation. The law gives only the range of AED 100 to AED 100,000; the lists of acts and amounts sit in a resolution of the Chairman of the Executive Council that we have not seen. Neither end of the range may be carried onto a specific case.
- Licence fee amounts. Article 28 refers them to a resolution of the Chairman of the Executive Council; we have not read the tariffs.
- The activity classification directory. Article 5 defers to the Emirate's economic activity classification directory; we have not worked through it and will not map a specific real-estate activity onto a code or requirement.
- The version in force. We read the text published on the portal; we have not checked it article by article against possible amendments.
Sources
- Law No. (13) of 2011 Regulating the Conduct of Economic Activities in the Emirate of Dubai — Dubai Legislation Portal: issuance on 24 August 2011 and entry into force on the day of publication (Article 37); definitions of economic activity, of a business excluding businesses licensed in free zones, of the licence, the commercial authorisation and marketing activity (Article 2); objectives including a single window for coordination between competent entities (Article 3); the Department's functions including classification of activities, keeping trade names, issuing commercial authorisations and inspections (Article 4); classification per the Emirate's directory (Article 5); the ban on conducting activity other than through a licensed business (Article 6); the licensing procedure (Article 7); a one-year term extendable up to four years and renewal in the last month (Article 8); registration of companies in the commercial register (Article 9); changes to licence details only with approval and publication of changes at the owner's expense (Article 10); representation of universal successors (Article 11); suspension or alteration of licence terms by reasoned decision (Article 12); suspension of a licence on cessation of activities and relief from fees and non-renewal fines (Article 13); four legal forms including a branch of a free zone company (Article 14); occupational and artisan activities and the local service agent requirement for non-nationals (Article 15); the local service agent's responsibility and the notarised agency agreement (Article 16); the licence tied to premises and the ban on using them for other purposes (Article 17); licences to operate from home or through business incubators for UAE nationals (Article 18); duties of a business including notification of changes within ten working days (Article 19); the procedure for a commercial authorisation for marketing activity (Articles 24–26); the probative force of the Department's electronic documents (Article 27); fees by resolution of the Chairman of the Executive Council (Article 28); a fine of AED 100 to AED 100,000 with acts determined by the Chairman's resolution (Article 29); closure of a business and revocation of the licence, including the two-week objection window after publication (Article 30); amicable settlement on application within two months and payment of no less than 50% of the fine (Article 31); the law-enforcement capacity of the Department's employees (Article 32); a thirty-day window to file a grievance with the Director General (Article 33); the grievances committee with a thirty-day limit and a final decision (Article 34); one year to comply and the exemption of businesses licensed pursuant to the Ruler's orders (Article 35); repeal of conflicting provisions of local legislation (Article 36).
