Dubai tax residency: the illusion sold by TikTok and OffshoreCorpTalk gurus

[JohnnyDoe]

I had to ask him the dates just to confirm...
He moved to Dubai in January 2019. He started renting first.
He was a frequent business visitor of Dubai before that.
He cashed out most of his Bitcoins in 2023 to buy the house, cars, etc. Everything fully paid! $3.6M.

He was one of the most ardent proponents of Dubai I knew IRL.

Sad story… but he paid zero taxes 🤣

 

[Marty McFly]

It’s foolish to think to make money by buying a random apartment in Dubai. Real estate investing is something different.

 

[jafo]

It’s foolish to think to make money by buying a random apartment

NGL, I used to believe this delusional bullshit, too, when I was much younger.
I'm so happy, this delusion was BEATEN out of me. F******ck!

 

[Fiscal]

I have to admit, I've never seen anything pushed so hard as the UAE 'dream' and everything that entails. From real estate to business packages, the marketing companies are countless. I still get approached regularly. It's a well-oiled machine that works to a certain extent, because rents kept rising (artificially or not, I don't know) hard until the recent attacks.

I keep seeing videos of rocket impacts. Recovery flights are proving difficult, and the exodus seems quite significant now. I'm very curious how long this will last. And I'm also very curious how much reputational damage this has caused long term.

 

[CEO]

I have to admit, I've never seen anything pushed so hard as the UAE 'dream' and everything that entails. From real estate to business packages, the marketing companies are countless. I still get approached regularly. It's a well-oiled machine that works to a certain extent, because rents kept rising (artificially or not, I don't know) hard until the recent attacks.

I keep seeing videos of rocket impacts. Recovery flights are proving difficult, and the exodus seems quite significant now. I'm very curious how long this will last. And I'm also very curious how much reputational damage this has caused long term.

Dark marketing, all shit.

 

[Paratore]

Dark marketing, all shit.

Come now. It’s not all shit for the psychotic bedouins or the slavic whores. Well, ok, it probably is for the slavic whores.

 

[marioIT]

🤣 🤣 🤣

 

[Marty McFly]

View attachment 705

🤣 🤣 🤣

They are just trying to seek validation for their own stupid choices.
If you don’t like London, move to the Cotswolds. Oh wait, perhaps that’s way too much more expensive than renting an apartment in the desert?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

I have just met at Tesco a couple of friends who, on Instagram, are stuck in Dubai.

 

[Fiscal]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030312524361478434

 

[marioIT]

It's fine after all... the DXB airport area was just hit and another building (drone?)

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030197052605616461

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030335768032313674

but yeah nobody is leaving....

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030343843091222789

 

[JohnnyDoe]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030312524361478434

it screams cheap construction. $300k to build it.

 

[Paratore]

I knew they would panic, but I still don’t understand why. Laughing at the influencers trying to maintain their grift aside, some North American and European cities are actually more dangerous than Dubai right now. It’s just a few (and decreasing) missiles and drones being randomly flung around, mostly in the direction of places these people wouldn’t be. The property market in UAE was inevitably going to experience a downturn. This only hastened it.

Flights through the region are a mess. Etihad and Emirates are prioritizing getting their citizens back and getting people on short term visas out. Qatar is going to resume limited flights in and out of Doha next week. Transfer passengers, short term visas, and golden visa types are stuck and being denied at the airport. Flights into Saudi and Muscat are still operating but it’s hard to find available seats. I’ve had no luck yet. It’s a fairly easy drive in and out via the UAE-Omani border and they are still letting people through. I’m not sure about land transport to and from Saudi (only ever personally been across the causeway from Manama to Dhahran) though Canada bussed some of its citizens from Doha to Riyadh for repatriation flights.

Cargo is still coming in and out by air and land, albeit with some interruptions. Sea cargo isn’t happening at the moment. Ships are hanging out on either side of the strait and occasionally getting blown up by drone or small boat.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

It’s just a few (and decreasing) missiles and drones

It’s just a bit of war, what’s the problem? After all, what do you need to be happy?

 

[Paratore]

It’s just a bit of war, what’s the problem? After all, what do you need to be happy?

You’re more likely to get stabbed by an African at Roma Termini than hit by an Iranian drone in Dubai. These are low probability events. Now, if you own property in Dubai? Yeah, you’re getting sheared like a sheep and you should be concerned. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for laughing at the fear of the influencers and the pathetic attempts to maintain the grift in the face of mob panic. I’m just keeping in mind an accurate risk assessment of the actual hazards.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

You’re more likely to get stabbed by an African at Roma Termini than hit by an Iranian drone in Dubai. These are low probability events.

No doubt (current) probabilities are similarly low.
But crime and war are not in the same class of risk. Organized state violence is not the same as getting stabbed by a lunatic at a train station.
Causes and consequences live in completely different universes, so comparing them is like comparing pickpockets to artillery.
Beware of the bedouins.