Is there inheritance tax in the UAE? What expats should know

By MyHaven Team·Published 31 October 2026·7 minute read

There is no inheritance tax or estate tax in the UAE: the government’s own list of the taxes it levies covers VAT, excise tax and corporate tax on businesses, and nothing on what a person leaves when they die. That is only half the answer for an expat, though, because some fees still apply here, and your home country may tax your estate wherever you live.

The short answer

Your family pays no UAE tax on what they inherit from you, whether it is a bank balance, a flat in Dubai or a car. There are administrative costs on the way, such as court and land department fees, and they are set out below.

The bigger question for most expats is the country on their passport. The UK, the United States and the Philippines all tax estates, in some cases including assets held in the UAE. India does not. Each is summarised below, with sources at the foot of the page.

What the UAE does and does not tax

The UAE government’s official portal, u.ae, sets out the taxes the country levies. It says the UAE does not levy income tax on individuals. It charges 5 per cent VAT on goods and services, excise tax on specific goods that are harmful to health, and corporate tax on the profits of businesses, plus a short list of sector taxes such as hotel charges and a tax on foreign banks in Dubai. An inheritance, estate or gift tax on individuals is not among them.

One corner is worth knowing about if you run a business in your own name. The Federal Tax Authority’s guide to taxing natural persons says that when a sole trader dies, any corporate tax due for the period before death is settled from the estate before it is shared among the heirs. That is a tax on the business’s past profits, not on the inheritance itself.

The costs that do arise

No tax does not mean no cost. These are the fees a family can expect, and they depend heavily on whether there is a registered will.

Registering a will

If you make a will now, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) charges 950 AED to register one will, or 1,900 AEDfor a couple’s mirror wills. That fee is paid to the court, once. If you later want to change the will, you register a new one and the court fee applies again. Every other cost of making a will is in how much a will costs in the UAE.

The court process after a death

Before a bank or a land department will act, the court has to confirm who inherits. That process carries its own court fees, and foreign documents such as death or marriage certificates usually need certified Arabic translation first. Without a will, the court also has to work out who the heirs are under the default rules, which adds time rather than tax. What that process looks like is in dying without a will in the UAE.

Transferring property in Dubai

The Dubai Land Department publishes the fees for moving a property into the names of heirs. These are its listed figures; check the service page for the current amounts before you rely on them.

There are smaller map and processing charges on top. The DLD also asks for the court’s inheritance certificate before it acts, which is why the court step comes first. The full picture for property is in what happens to Dubai property when an expat dies.

The catch: tax in your home country

Moving to the UAE does not end your relationship with your home country’s tax system. Some countries tax by residence, some by citizenship, and the rules change. These summaries come from each tax authority’s own pages and are a starting point, not advice: for your own estate, check with a tax adviser in your home country.

United Kingdom

From 6 April 2025, UK inheritance tax on overseas assets depends on long-term UK residence, not domicile. HMRC treats you as a long-term UK resident if you were UK tax resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years. Long-term residents are taxed on assets worldwide, which can include a flat in Dubai or a UAE bank account. The status does not end the day you leave: it can last up to 10 tax years after departure, and for someone with 10 to 13 years of UK residence it ends after 3. Someone who has lived in the UK for less than 10 of the last 20 years pays only on UK assets. The standard rate is 40% on the part of an estate above the £325,000 threshold. Read inheritance tax if you’re a long-term UK resident on gov.uk, and ask a UK tax adviser how it applies to you.

United States

The US taxes the estates of its citizens wherever they live. The IRS instructions for Form 706 say the gross estate includes all property the person had an interest in, including property outside the United States, and a return is due for every US citizen or resident whose gross estate (plus certain lifetime gifts) exceeds $15,000,000 for deaths in 2026. The IRS lists a non-resident US citizen among those who file. Start with the IRS estate tax FAQ and a US tax adviser who works with Americans abroad.

India

India has no estate duty. The Income Tax Department’s circular on the 1985 amendment records that estate duty stopped applying to property passing on deaths on or after 16 March 1985. Indian property still passes under Indian succession law, so a lawyer in India is the right person to ask about your Indian assets.

The Philippines

The Philippines charges estate tax at 6% of the net estate. The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Revenue Regulations No. 12-2018 say that for citizens and residents the estate includes all property, real and personal, wherever situated, so a Filipino citizen’s UAE assets can be counted. See the Bureau of Internal Revenue and check with a tax adviser in the Philippines.

Everyone else

Many other countries tax estates or inheritances, each on its own test of residence, citizenship or where the asset sits. Some have tax treaties that prevent the same asset being taxed twice. If you hold assets in more than one country, a short conversation with an adviser at home is worth having before you write either will.

Where a UAE will fits in

A UAE will does not change what your home country taxes. What it does is decide who receives your UAE assets and how quickly they can reach them. Without one, your estate here follows the default rules in UAE inheritance law for expats, and your family waits on the court to establish who the heirs are before any account or property can move.

• It works alongside a home will. A will on the ADJD’s template covers your estate in the UAE only, so it can sit beside the will you keep at home. How the two fit together is in is a foreign will valid in the UAE.
• It names your executor. The person you choose is the one who deals with the court, the bank and the land department, and who can work with your adviser at home on any tax return there.
• It covers all seven emirates. A will registered with the ADJD covers your UAE assets wherever they sit in the country.

What to do next

If you have assets in the UAE, the useful order is simple: find out what your home country taxes, then make sure your UAE assets pass the way you want with a registered will. The ADJD charges 950 AED in court fees to register one, and that one will covers your UAE assets in every emirate.

Our free assessmentasks a few questions about your family and what you own and tells you which route fits before you pay anything. For the UAE’s own tax list, see u.ae.

MyHaven is not a law firm and this guide is not legal advice. It explains how the process works so you can make your own decisions. What that means