Structuring a Holding Company for Tax Group 

Wealthy individuals and families who are handling different businesses are looking at how they can organize their companies after the implementation of corporate tax in the UAE. One good way is to set up a holding company. This brings all their businesses under one roof, makes it easier to follow tax regulations, and can efficiently optimize taxes. Vertix Auditing helped an investment group to put all their businesses under one main company and optimize for corporate tax.

Client Background 

The client is an investment group and owned by a wealthy family in Sharjah. They owned five separate businesses in different sectors, like real estate, general trading, a marketing agency, an online store, and a technical services company. Each business had its own trade license, bank account, and different family members listed as owners.

The businesses were not linked under a holding company. The family wanted to get ready for corporate tax, protect their assets, and make the tax management easier. The group was earning over AED 15 million a year, so they were concerned about following tax rules, managing complicated reports, and making sure the business would be ready for the next generation to take over.

Challenges Faced in Business Restructuring 

The Client mainly faced these challenges:

• Every business used a different accounting method and filed taxes independently.
• No combined financial reports or central management.
• Overlapping ownership and unclear roles among family members.
• Uncertainty about how to set up a legal holding company in the UAE.
• Needed a structure accepted by the FTA, banks, and investors.

Our Solution for Holding Structure 

Vertix Auditing created a plan to set up a main holding company, with the existing businesses placed under it as subsidiaries.

• We carried out a detailed review to see if setting up a holding company would work well legally and for tax purposes. This included checking for any transfer pricing problems and making sure the new setup could qualify for tax group and tax benefits in the future.
• We helped the client set up a new holding company in Dubai mainland that fully owned all five of their other businesses. We also worked to update the MOAs of each company and adjust the ownership to match the new structure.
• To make things easier to manage, we set up QuickBooks accounting software, so all the businesses could do their accounting and reporting in one system. We also created simple and consistent rules for recording income, splitting costs, and handling deals between the companies.
• We applied to form a tax group by using the holding company so that all the entities are considered a single taxable person.
• After the approval of the tax group, taxes of all the companies are not filed under one group tax return which has significantly reduced the compliance at each company level.
• We helped the family create a governance charter and set up a board for the holding company. This clearly explained who is responsible for what, how decisions are made, and how profits will be shared.

Results and Client Feedback 

By the end of our work together, the family had a well-organized holding structure that made managing their businesses much easier. Tax compliance became simpler, their finances were brought under one roof, and decision-making within the family became more structured.

Continue Reading: 5 Practical Corporate Tax Case Studies in 2025