Spanish manufacturer: an IFZA order reframed into a bankable structure
A pet-accessories manufacturer in Spain — selling globally, Asia-focused — weighed a single-owner IFZA setup for its tax base. The questions were operational: reporting regime, mandatory accountant, hidden costs, moving funds out.
With no UAE market activity, the planned structure triggered three risks before setup: economic substance (a single owner with no UAE operations risks failing the Qualifying Free Zone tests and being taxed at 9% instead of 0%); owner tax residency (UAE corporate savings don't survive attribution if the owner stays tax-resident in Spain); and bankability (a General Trading licence with no UAE counterparties is flagged as a payment-vehicle structure).
We reframed a setup order into a structuring conversation — planning the owner's residency and the bank account's viability in parallel with the company, before incorporation, so substance, residency and banking hold together rather than collapsing on first review.
Company formation, bank account opening, residency, visas, compliance
100+ applications: runs company, bank account, visa and compliance as one process — the bank account is the real test, not the company.
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Olga Zueva · Company, Banking & Visas