Company liquidation in Dubai
Company Liquidation in Dubai: Fees Breakdown
Company liquidation in Dubai costs anywhere from about AED 4,000 for a simple single-owner free zone company to AED 22,000 or more for a mainland LLC with staff, a lease and creditors. The gap is wide because the bill has three separate parts: the authority fee, the liquidator fee, and the small clearance fees for visas, cards and tax. This guide breaks down each part, authority by authority, with the figures we could verify, so you can budget your closure before you start it.
The cost in one view
What company liquidation in Dubai costs, in one view
A liquidation bill is never one fee. It is a stack of separate charges, each raised by a different party, and the total depends on which lines apply to your company. A single-owner free zone company with no staff has a short stack: a licence cancellation fee, an establishment card cancellation, and an audit report. A mainland LLC with staff, a lease and a bank account has a long stack: the same licence fees, plus visa cancellations, a newspaper notice, a liquidator, and final tax filings.
How to read these figures: official authority fees are set by DET, a free zone authority, the FTA or the immigration authority, and they are fixed for the service named. Market ranges are what firms charge for liquidator work, audit reports and newspaper notices, and they move with the size and complexity of the company. Where no published figure exists, we say so. Fees change, so confirm the current schedule with the authority in writing before you budget. Last verified 5 Nov 2026.
Cost components at a glance
| Cost component | Typical range | Who charges it |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland licence cancellation (DET) | AED 1,020 | Authority |
| Mainland company dissolution (DET) | AED 2,520 | Authority |
| Free zone licence cancellation | Nil to AED 5,000, by zone | Authority |
| Establishment card cancellation | AED 500, or AED 200 in ICP lines | Authority |
| Liquidator fee | AED 1,500 to AED 15,000 | Liquidator (market) |
| Liquidation audit report | From AED 1,499 fixed price | Auditor (market) |
| Newspaper liquidation notice | AED 500 to AED 3,000 | Newspaper (market) |
| Visa cancellation, per visa | AED 120 to AED 1,500, by route | Immigration authority |
| VAT and corporate tax deregistration | AED 0 | FTA |
| Late penalties | AED 200 to AED 1,000 a month, plus one-off late fees (DMCC late bands to AED 5,000) | Authority |
Figures as last verified 5 Nov 2026. Market ranges are what firms charge, not official fees. Totals in this guide are illustrative examples only.
Two warnings before you add anything up. The DET certificate line of AED 520 is listed separately from the AED 2,520 dissolution fee, and the sources do not say whether it is included in that figure or charged on top, so this guide never adds the two together. A bank closure letter is required for most closures, but no published bank closure fee was found, so no bank fee appears in any total here. Ask your bank directly and get its answer in writing. For the order of events behind these fees, see the liquidation process itself.
Mainland Dubai
Mainland Dubai: DET fees
A mainland company closes through the Department of Economy and Tourism, known as DET, and the fees are listed on Invest in Dubai, the official portal. The licence cancellation fee is AED 1,020, and the company dissolution fee is AED 2,520. These two lines are separate charges on the same portal, and both apply to a mainland LLC that closes by liquidation. A third line appears on the same portal: AED 520 for the certificate of the company's dissolution and the liquidator appointment, subject to the legal adviser's approval. The sources do not say whether the AED 520 sits inside the AED 2,520 or on top of it, so this guide lists it on its own and never adds it into a mainland total. DET also adds a Knowledge and Innovation Dirham of AED 20 per transaction.
The newspaper notice is the other mainland cost that surprises owners. Invest in Dubai requires an announcement in two Arabic newspapers for one day, with a 45-day creditor period, but it states no price. The market price runs from AED 500 to AED 3,000, most commonly AED 1,500 to AED 3,000 for two dailies. That range is what newspapers and service firms charge, not an official fee. Take a mainland LLC in Business Bay with a leased office and three staff: its DET lines alone come to AED 3,540, before the notice, the visas and the liquidator. The authority part is the predictable part of a mainland closure, and mainland company setup costs show the same pattern, with the licence fee fixed and the service fees varying by provider.
Mainland DET fees
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Licence cancellation | AED 1,020 | Listed on Invest in Dubai |
| Company dissolution | AED 2,520 | Listed on Invest in Dubai |
| Certificate of dissolution and liquidator appointment | AED 520 | Listed separately; do not add into the AED 2,520 total |
| Knowledge and Innovation Dirham | AED 20 per transaction | DET surcharge |
| Newspaper notice, two Arabic dailies | AED 500 to AED 3,000 | Market range, most commonly AED 1,500 to AED 3,000 |
DET figures verified via two independent secondary sources quoting the Invest in Dubai page, check date 12 Oct 2026. Last verified 5 Nov 2026.
Free zones
Free zone fees, authority by authority
Free zone fees vary far more than mainland fees, because each authority sets its own schedule. The same company can cost AED 4,015 to wind up in one zone and nothing in another, so the zone is the first question in any free zone budget. DMCC charges AED 4,015 per winding-up request, which covers liquidation, deregistration and licence termination together, plus AED 20 in Knowledge and Innovation Dirham. A DMCC company that was registered but never licensed pays AED 2,015 for deregistration only, and each extra licence termination costs AED 2,000. DIFC is the cheapest on paper: winding up and de-registration cost nil for all legal structures under the DIFC fee table, while a voluntary strike-off costs $200.
JAFZA charges AED 5,000 for de-registration of an FZE or FZCO, plus AED 1,500 for the advertisement and 5% VAT, or AED 6,500 to cancel the lease and the licence together. Some firms quote AED 6,500 as the deregistration fee alone, so confirm the breakdown in writing. Meydan Free Zone sells liquidation as packages on its own site: AED 1,000 for the Liquidation Report only, AED 9,000 for the Starter package for a company with no employees, and AED 12,600 for the Liquidation 50 package for up to 50 employees. IFZA charges AED 2,000 for licence cancellation and AED 500 for establishment card cancellation. Dubai South, also known as DWC, is reported at AED 2,000 plus AED 500, but that figure comes from a service firm page, not from the DWC schedule itself, so treat it as reported rather than verified. DAFZA has no single published figure, so this guide gives no DAFZA number and uses only the cross-zone advisory range of AED 2,000 to AED 8,000, clearly labelled as advisory, never as a DAFZA fee. For comparison only, RAKEZ in Ras Al Khaimah, not Dubai, charges AED 3,000 for offices and co-working space and AED 4,500 for industrial facilities.
Free zone liquidation fees
| Zone | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DMCC | AED 4,015 winding up; AED 2,015 deregistration only; AED 2,000 per extra licence | Plus AED 20 Knowledge and Innovation Dirham |
| DIFC | Nil for winding up; $200 voluntary strike-off | Official DIFC fee table |
| JAFZA | AED 5,000 plus AED 1,500 advertisement plus 5% VAT | Or AED 6,500 to cancel lease and licence together |
| Meydan Free Zone | AED 1,000 report only; AED 9,000 Starter; AED 12,600 for up to 50 staff | Official Meydan packages |
| IFZA | AED 2,000 licence plus AED 500 establishment card | IFZA schedule of fees |
| Dubai South (DWC) | AED 2,000 licence plus AED 500 card | Reported, not verified on the DWC schedule |
| DAFZA | No single published figure | Advisory cross-zone range AED 2,000 to AED 8,000 only |
| RAKEZ (Ras Al Khaimah) | AED 3,000 offices; AED 4,500 industrial | Comparison only, not a Dubai zone |
Figures as last verified 5 Nov 2026. DAFZA has no verified single figure, so none is given. Confirm the current schedule with the authority before paying.
Professional fees
Liquidator and professional fees
The liquidator fee is usually the largest single line in a liquidation, and it is also the least fixed. No authority sets it. Firms quote it as a market range, and the range is wide: roughly AED 1,500 to AED 15,000, depending on the company. Published firm ranges back that spread up. Farahat quotes AED 3,000 to AED 5,000. Riz and Mona quote AED 2,500 to AED 10,000 and more. Aviaan quotes AED 7,000 to AED 15,000. Arnifi quotes AED 1,500 to AED 15,000 for a licensed liquidator plus the audit report. Read those numbers as a market, not a tariff: a simple company sits at the low end, and a company with staff, assets and creditors sits at the high end.
Four things move the price: employees, assets, creditors, and whether an audit report is needed. Employees add visa cancellations and final settlements, assets add stock counts and valuations, and creditors add notices and proof that debts are cleared. An audit report adds a separate fee, and in some zones it is a fixed price: Fastlane charges from AED 1,499 for a liquidation audit report for IFZA, DIFC, DSO and DWC companies. That AED 1,499 is a starting market price for the report, not a liquidator fee. Ask for each line separately and in writing, with the scope stated, because a quote that bundles everything into one number hides the real cost. We provide all services, ourselves and with our licensed partners, and a written quote from us lists the authority fees, the liquidator fee and the audit report as separate lines.
Small fees that add up
Visas, cards and tax clearances: the small fees that add up
The small fees are easy to miss because each one is cheap, but a company with three or four visas pays each line three or four times. GDRFA Dubai charges AED 100 plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham plus AED 10 Innovation Dirham, which comes to AED 120 on the card, for cancelling a residence permit. That AED 120 covers the government lines only; channel or Amer service fees may apply on top. Outside Dubai, ICP charges AED 50 for the application plus AED 100 for smart services, with an extra AED 100 exceptional fee where it applies. For the establishment card, ICP charges AED 50 as the card fee, AED 50 for the application and AED 100 for smart services in free zones. For a Dubai establishment card through GDRFA, no main service fee line was found, only channel commissions, so this guide reports that as no main fee published, not as free. IFZA sets its own visa numbers: AED 750 to cancel a visa inside the UAE and AED 1,500 outside, per visa. MOHRE work-permit cancellation is reported as free on MOHRE's own channels, with a service centre commission capped at AED 72, but no official MOHRE page was opened, so treat it as reported, not verified.
The good news sits with tax. VAT deregistration with the FTA is free of charge, and corporate tax deregistration with the FTA is also free of charge, with corporate tax deregistration processed in about 30 business days for a complete application. Dubai Chamber membership cancellation carries no fee. If your company is registered for corporate tax, read our guide to choosing a corporate tax consultant in Dubai before you file, so the final return and the deregistration are handled together. The bank is the last small item, and it has no number at all: most authorities ask for a bank closure letter before they cancel the licence, but no source states a bank closure fee or states that closure is free. Do not put a bank fee in your budget, and do not assume it is free either. Ask your bank for the letter and for any charge in writing. Staff costs follow the same rule: a visa at AED 120 looks small until you multiply it by four staff and add the final payroll run. Our payroll services cost guide for Dubai shows what the final payroll and gratuity side usually runs to.
The cost of waiting
What late closure costs
Delay is the most expensive part of a liquidation, because penalties run every month while the company is still open.
Late closure penalties
| Penalty | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DET late licence renewal, mainland | AED 250 plus AED 200 a month | AED 250 one-off for failing to renew, then AED 200 for each month of delay; a part-month counts as a full month |
| JAFZA expired licence | AED 1,000 a month | On top of the AED 5,000 plus AED 1,500 fees |
| DMCC expired licence | AED 2,500 for 31 to 60 days; AED 5,000 for 61 to 90 days | No grace period |
| IFZA late cancellation | AED 1,000 plus AED 1,000 a month each | Applies to licence and establishment card |
| Dubai South expired licence and card | AED 1,000 a month each | AED 2,000 a month combined, no grace period |
| Meydan expired licence and card | AED 500 one-off licence late fee, plus AED 250 a month card penalty | Licence late fee is one-off; immigration-card penalty runs monthly |
| Late VAT deregistration | AED 1,000 a month, capped at AED 10,000 | Deadline 20 business days |
| Late corporate tax deregistration | AED 1,000 a month, capped at AED 10,000 | Deadline 3 months from cessation |
| Overstay after visa cancellation | AED 50 a day | Per person, after the grace period |
Penalty figures as last verified 5 Nov 2026. A company that was never registered for corporate tax faces a separate AED 10,000 late registration penalty.
VAT deregistration must be filed within 20 business days, and corporate tax deregistration within 3 months of cessation, or the AED 1,000 a month penalties start. Note: the FTA deregistration page currently states 30 business days, while Article 14(1) of the VAT Executive Regulation states 20, so this guide uses the 20-day figure and you should file within 20 business days to be safe. An overstaying visa adds AED 50 a day per person on top of that. The cheapest liquidation is usually the one that starts on time.
Worked examples
How to budget: three worked examples
The three examples below are built only from the verified lines in this guide, and each one is labelled illustrative, because real quotes vary.
Example A: single-owner free zone company, no staff. Take an IFZA company with one owner, no employees and no creditors. The authority lines are AED 2,000 for licence cancellation and AED 500 for establishment card cancellation, which come to AED 2,500. Add a liquidation audit report from AED 1,499, and the illustrative total is AED 3,999, before any liquidator fee. VAT and corporate tax deregistration cost AED 0. If a liquidator is needed, add the market range of AED 1,500 to AED 15,000 on top, with a simple company at the low end.
Example B: mainland LLC with three staff and a lease. Take a mainland LLC in Business Bay with three staff, a leased office and no outstanding debts. The DET lines are AED 1,020 for licence cancellation and AED 2,520 for dissolution, which come to AED 3,540, plus AED 20 per transaction in Knowledge and Innovation Dirham. The newspaper notice runs AED 1,500 to AED 3,000. Three visa cancellations at AED 120 each come to AED 360. The liquidator market range is AED 1,500 to AED 15,000. Add the low ends and the illustrative total is AED 6,920; add the high ends and it is AED 21,920. The AED 520 certificate line is not added into either total, because the sources do not say whether it sits inside the AED 2,520 fee. VAT and corporate tax deregistration cost AED 0, and no bank fee is included, because none was published.
Example C: DMCC company with two licences. Take a DMCC company holding two licences, with no staff and no creditors. The DMCC winding-up fee is AED 4,015, the extra licence termination is AED 2,000, and the Knowledge and Innovation Dirham adds AED 20, which come to AED 6,035. Add a liquidation audit report from AED 1,499, and the subtotal before the liquidator is AED 7,534. Add the liquidator market range of AED 1,500 to AED 15,000, and the illustrative total runs from AED 9,034 to AED 22,534. The second licence alone adds AED 2,000, which is why a company holding a licence it no longer uses should cancel that licence before it starts the closure.
Keep the bill down
How to keep the bill down
Four habits keep a liquidation bill close to the low end of every range in this guide, and all four are about timing and paperwork rather than bargaining. Cancel visas before the licence lapses, because a lapsed licence adds AED 200 to AED 1,000 a month in penalties, plus one-off late fees, while the visas are still open, and an overstaying visa adds AED 50 a day per person. File VAT and corporate tax deregistration on time, because both are free to file and AED 1,000 a month to file late, capped at AED 10,000 each. The deadlines are 20 business days for VAT and 3 months from cessation for corporate tax, so put both dates in writing on the day the closure starts.
- Cancel all visas before the licence lapses, so no overstay or renewal penalty starts.
- Deregister VAT and corporate tax on time, because both are free to file and AED 1,000 a month to file late.
- Get the liquidator quote in writing, with the scope stated and each fee on its own line.
- Confirm the authority fee schedule in writing before paying, because fees change and zones differ.
- Ask the bank for the closure letter early, and get any charge confirmed in writing.
- Cancel any licence you no longer use before the closure starts, so you do not pay to wind it up.
The last habit matters most for companies with more than one licence or visa: every line you close before the liquidation starts is a line you do not pay to liquidate. A spare licence, a dormant visa or a second establishment card each carries its own cancellation fee and its own late penalty. Start with a written list of every licence, visa, card, bank account and tax registration the company holds, then close the spare items first. That list is also what a liquidator needs to quote accurately, so it saves money twice.
Frequently asked questions
Company liquidation cost: questions, answered
How much does it cost to liquidate a company in Dubai?
There is no single price. A simple single-owner free zone company can close for around AED 4,000 in authority fees and an audit report, before any liquidator fee, while a mainland LLC with staff, a lease and creditors can run from about AED 7,000 to about AED 22,000 or more. The authority, the number of licences and visas, and the liquidator fee decide the final bill, so get a written quote that lists each line separately.
What is the cheapest way to close a free zone company?
The cheapest route is usually a clean, simple closure: no staff, no outstanding bills, visas cancelled before the licence lapses, and tax deregistration filed on time. DIFC charges nil for winding up, and a single-owner company in a low-fee zone costs far less than a company with staff and two licences. What saves the most money is timing, because late penalties of AED 1,000 a month in several zones quickly cost more than the closure itself.
Are there government fees for VAT and corporate tax deregistration?
No. VAT deregistration with the FTA is free of charge, and corporate tax deregistration with the FTA is also free of charge. The cost comes from missing the deadlines: late VAT deregistration carries AED 1,000 for the first month and AED 1,000 for each further month, capped at AED 10,000, and late corporate tax deregistration carries the same AED 1,000 a month up to the same AED 10,000 cap.
Do I still pay a liquidator if my company has no assets?
In most cases, yes, a liquidator or an audit report is still needed, because the authority asks for a liquidation report or a liquidator appointment before it cancels the licence. The fee is lower for a company with no assets, no staff and no creditors, and fixed-price audit reports start from AED 1,499 in some zones. A company with no assets still needs the paperwork closed properly, or the licence keeps renewing and penalties keep building.
What happens if I let the licence expire instead of liquidating?
The company does not simply vanish. Licence renewal penalties start, at AED 250 plus AED 200 a month on the mainland and AED 1,000 a month in several free zones, and DMCC charges AED 2,500 for 31 to 60 days late and AED 5,000 for 61 to 90 days late. Visas tied to the licence can overstay at AED 50 a day, and VAT and corporate tax deregistration deadlines keep running. A proper liquidation costs money once, while an abandoned licence keeps costing money every month.
Can BizNex handle the liquidation and the cost side?
Yes. We provide the service ourselves and with our licensed partners, and we handle the liquidation and the cost side together: the liquidator, the authority filings, visa cancellations and tax deregistration. Ask us for a written quote that lists the authority fees, the liquidator fee and any audit report separately. Book a Free Finance Review and we will price your closure from your licence, staff and zone.
Related guides
Keep reading: closing a company in Dubai
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