Commercial Brokerage License in Dubai 2026: Steps, Costs, Requirements and How to Apply

A commercial brokerage license in Dubai is the official permit that lets you legally work as a broker, meaning the person or company that connects a buyer and a seller and earns a commission when the deal closes. You get it from the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) if you set up on the mainland, or from a free zone authority if you set up inside a free zone, and if you plan to broker property you also register with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA).

What Is a Commercial Brokerage License in Dubai?

A commercial brokerage license is a trade license with a broker activity on it. In simple terms, it allows you to bring two parties together, help them agree a deal, and take a fee for doing so.

A few terms are worth defining before we go further, because they decide which license you actually need.

• Broker. A middleman. You do not buy or sell the goods or property yourself. You introduce the parties and help the transaction happen.
• Commission. Your income. A broker is paid when the deal completes, not for the hours worked. This matters for cash flow, which we cover later.
• Intermediary. Another word for broker. It signals that you sit between two sides and represent the deal, not the product.
• Principal. The party you act for. A goods broker often works on commission for a principal who owns or wants the stock.

The core idea is straightforward. A broker gets paid for solving a matching problem: two parties who need each other and cannot easily find each other. Dubai generates a large amount of that matching work, which is why brokerage is one of the lower cost ways into the market.

The Two Main Types of Commercial Brokerage License

The phrase "commercial brokerage" covers more than one activity, and picking the wrong one puts you outside your license from your very first deal. There are two main types, and they operate in completely different markets.

1. Brokerage of goods and commodities. You act as an intermediary in the trade of physical products, working on commission for a principal rather than trading in your own name. Your clients are producers, traders and wholesalers across sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, retail and wholesale. Your value is knowing who holds stock and who wants it.
2. Commercial real estate brokerage. You help businesses and investors buy, sell or lease commercial property such as offices, retail units and warehouses. You negotiate terms and make sure the transaction stands up legally. This type carries an extra layer of regulation because property brokerage is supervised by RERA.

Two other kinds of "broker" are often confused with the above. They are separate licenses with separate regulators, so they are outside the scope of a standard commercial brokerage license:

• Insurance brokers are regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE.
• Financial and securities brokers are regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority, or by the DFSA inside the DIFC financial free zone.

Here is a simple way to see the difference.

Type of broker	What you broker	Main regulator	Extra approval needed
Goods and commodities broker	Physical products, on commission	DET or free zone authority	None beyond the trade license for most goods
Commercial real estate broker	Commercial property deals	DET or free zone, plus RERA (DLD)	Yes, RERA registration and broker card
Insurance broker	Insurance policies	Central Bank of the UAE	Yes, separate license
Financial or securities broker	Shares, securities, financial products	SCA, or DFSA in the DIFC	Yes, separate license

If a client ever asks you to step across one of these lines, that is a second license, not a favour.

Who Regulates and Issues the License

For a Dubai mainland company, the licensing authority is the Department of Economy and Tourism, known as DET and previously called the Department of Economic Development (DED). DET reviews your activity, your legal form and your ownership, and issues the trade license.

For a company inside a free zone, the free zone authority issues the license instead. Free zones run their own registration process and often complete it faster.

If your license includes property brokerage, there is one more authority in the picture. RERA, the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, sits within the Dubai Land Department and supervises everyone who brokers property in Dubai. Holding a trade license alone does not let you practise as a property broker. You also need to register with RERA and hold a valid broker card.

The size of that market is worth knowing. According to the Dubai Land Department, Dubai issued 14,364 real estate licences in 2025, led by property sales and purchase brokerage with 6,009 licences, and the number of active real estate offices in the emirate reached 10,182. Dubai property transactions passed AED 917 billion across more than 270,000 deals in the same year, up 20 per cent on 2024, and the momentum has carried into 2026, with first quarter transactions reaching AED 252 billion, a 31 per cent rise on the same period of 2025. That is the demand a real estate brokerage license plugs into.

Commercial Brokerage License Requirements

The commercial brokerage license requirements fall into two layers. The first layer applies to almost any Dubai company. The second layer applies only if you broker property.

Layer one, the standard company documents:

• Passport copies for every shareholder and manager.
• Emirates ID and visa copy where a shareholder or manager is already a UAE resident.
• Your chosen and approved trade name.
• The business activity you want licensed, selected from the official activity list.
• A registered address, which is an Ejari registered lease on the mainland or a workspace inside your free zone.
• The Memorandum of Association for a company with more than one shareholder.

Corporate shareholders and foreign parent companies need attested company documents, which take longer, so start those first.

Layer two, the extra commercial brokerage license requirements for property brokers. These are set by the Dubai Land Department and its Real Estate Regulatory Agency, and they apply to the individuals who will act as brokers:

• Meet the Dubai Land Department's eligibility conditions. In practice applicants are expected to be 21 or over, but the official requirements are the good conduct certificate, the training and exam, and a valid Emirates ID.
• Hold a valid UAE residence visa and Emirates ID.
• Provide a good conduct certificate from Dubai Police.
• Complete the certified real estate broker training run through the Dubai Real Estate Institute.
• Pass the RERA qualifying exam.
• Apply for the broker card through the Trakheesi system, which is the online portal the Dubai Land Department uses to record real estate permits, broker cards and approvals.

Once these are cleared, the individual receives a broker registration number that shows they are allowed to work legally as a property broker.

How to Apply for a Commercial Brokerage License in Dubai

Here is how to apply for a commercial brokerage license, step by step. The order matters, because doing steps out of sequence is the most common cause of delay.

1. Confirm your exact activity. Decide whether you are brokering goods, brokering commercial property, or both. Registering both broker activities at the start is usually cheaper than adding one later by amendment.
2. Choose mainland or a free zone. This depends mainly on who your clients are. Selling to UAE based clients points to mainland. Serving international clients or working online points to a free zone. We compare the two below.
3. Pick your legal structure. A Limited Liability Company (LLC) suits most brokerages with one or more owners and keeps your liability inside the company. A sole establishment is simpler but carries personal liability.
4. Reserve your trade name. Submit a few options through the DET portal or your free zone. The name must be unique, must not breach UAE naming rules, and should match your activity.
5. Get initial approval. This is the authority confirming it has no objection to your activity, structure and ownership. It does not let you start trading yet.
6. Sign the paperwork and register your address. Notarise the Memorandum of Association where required, and register your Ejari lease on the mainland. Free zone companies use the zone address instead.
7. Pay and collect the license. Once the file is complete, the license is issued.
8. Complete regulator registration where needed. For property brokerage, this is the RERA training, exam and broker card through Trakheesi. Goods brokers can skip this step.
9. Handle the follow on tasks. Register for corporate tax with the FTA, open a corporate bank account, obtain your establishment card, and arrange visas.

For a fuller walkthrough of the licensing paperwork, our guide on how to get a brokerage license in Dubai breaks the process into practical stages, and our guide to becoming a real estate agent in Dubai covers the RERA route in detail.

Commercial Brokerage License Cost in Dubai

The commercial brokerage license cost is not a single number, because it is built from several parts. Below are indicative ranges to plan with. Always confirm the current government fees with DET or the Dubai Land Department, since official fees are set by them and can change.

The main cost building blocks are:

• License and registration fees. These depend on your activity and jurisdiction.
• Registered address. An Ejari lease on the mainland, or a workspace package in a free zone.
• Visas. Each residence visa adds a cost, and the number you can sponsor is linked to your setup.
• RERA fees for property brokers. Training, the exam and the broker card sit on top of the trade license.

As a starting point, our own setup packages begin at AED 14,000 for a Dubai mainland company and from AED 6,000 for a free zone company, with offshore from AED 5,500. A property brokerage adds the RERA training, exam and broker card on top of the license, which typically runs into a few thousand dirhams more per broker.

Your final cost is driven by three choices: which broker activities you license, whether you need physical premises, and how many visas you sponsor. Rather than guess, you can model your first year with our business setup cost calculator, then get a written line by line budget before you commit.

Mainland or Free Zone for Your Brokerage

Both routes are legitimate. The right one depends on your clients, your budget and your appetite for the extra RERA layer.

Factor	Mainland (DET)	Free zone
Foreign ownership	100 per cent for most activities	100 per cent
Corporate tax	Standard UAE rules apply	0 per cent on qualifying income if conditions are met
Best for	UAE based clients, direct property work	International clients, online and commission work
Trading with mainland clients	Direct	Usually needs a mainland branch or a distributor arrangement
Setup speed	Standard mainland process	Often faster, sometimes a few days
Cost	Higher on average	Lower entry cost

A free zone gives 100 per cent foreign ownership, a possible 0 per cent corporate tax rate on qualifying income, and full repatriation of profits, which is attractive for a commission business that needs little more than a desk. Mainland becomes the better answer when your clients or counterparties expect it, which is common on the property side. If you are still weighing this up, our overview of the types of business jurisdictions in Dubai sets out mainland, free zone and offshore side by side.

Tax Rules Every Commercial Broker Should Know

This is the part most brokers underestimate, and it is where an accountant earns their keep. A brokerage earns commission income, and that income is taxable like any other business income in the UAE.

Corporate tax. The UAE applies a federal corporate tax under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. The rate is 0 per cent on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9 per cent on taxable income above AED 375,000. The UAE government specifically lists brokerage among the activities within the scope of corporate tax, so there is no ambiguity about whether it applies to you. It does.

Every company must register for corporate tax with the Federal Tax Authority and file a return each year, even if the tax due is zero. Registering late carries a fixed penalty of AED 10,000, so this is not a step to leave until you are busy. A free zone brokerage may access a 0 per cent rate on qualifying income, but only if it meets the strict Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions, including real substance and audited accounts.

Brokerages with revenue of AED 3 million or less, in this period and every earlier one, may elect Small Business Relief and be treated as having no taxable income for that tax period. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 extended the relief by three years, so it now covers tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. The revenue threshold is unchanged, a Qualifying Free Zone Person or a member of a group with worldwide revenue of EUR 750 million or more cannot elect it, and electing it means you cannot carry forward tax losses for that period, so it is worth checking your eligibility and the trade-offs every year rather than assuming.

VAT. Value Added Tax is a tax on the consumption of goods and services, charged at a standard rate of 5 per cent in the UAE. A brokerage commission is a taxable service, so your fees generally carry 5 per cent VAT. Registration for VAT becomes mandatory once your taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 in a 12 month period, and you can register voluntarily from AED 187,500. Both registration and filing are handled through the FTA. As with corporate tax, late VAT registration carries an AED 10,000 penalty.

You can read the primary sources directly on the Federal Tax Authority website and the official UAE Government corporate tax page. Handling both registrations correctly from day one is one of the most common reasons brokers choose to work with us, through our corporate tax and VAT services.

Renewal and Staying Compliant

A commercial brokerage license is valid for one year and must be renewed every year. Miss the renewal and you risk fines, a frozen bank account and stalled visa renewals.

For property brokers, the RERA broker card is also valid for one year and is renewed annually, which usually requires continuing professional development training and a valid visa and Emirates ID. Practising on an expired card is a regulatory violation.

Alongside the license, keep your compliance tidy. That means proper accounting records from month one, on time corporate tax and VAT filings, and clear written commission agreements for every deal. Where the whole revenue event is a single payment on completion, an unwritten fee arrangement is the most expensive kind of informality. If you want a simple way to confirm your license status, our note on how to check a trade license online in the UAE shows you the official portals.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

After years of setting up companies in Dubai, the same avoidable errors cause most of the delays we see.

• Choosing the wrong broker activity. Goods brokerage and property brokerage are not interchangeable. The wrong code causes rejected applications and rejected bank onboarding.
• Forgetting the RERA layer. A trade license alone does not let you broker property. The broker card is not optional.
• Signing a lease too early. Rent starts running while approvals are still pending. Map the approvals first.
• Ignoring the tax clock. Your company exists the day the license is issued, and the corporate tax registration obligation starts then, not when the first deal closes.
• Buying the cheapest package without reading it. No visa allocation and a steep renewal price are the usual surprises. Read year two before paying for year one.

A short planning call removes all of these. It is the cheapest insurance in the whole process.

How Bestax Helps

We are chartered accountants who set up brokerage companies and then stay on to run the tax and books. See our business setup services in Dubai. That means the people who license your company also understand what the license means for corporate tax, VAT, audit and banking, so decisions get made once and made right.

• One team, one relationship. License, RERA coordination, bank account, bookkeeping, VAT and corporate tax, handled by people who already know your file.
• FTA registered tax agency. Tax Agency Approval Number 30008692, published and checkable, so your registrations happen on time as standard.
• Everything in writing. Activity shortlist, document checklist and a year one and year two budget, all before you pay.
• A proven record. More than 10 years in the UAE, over 35 professionals, more than 10,000 projects delivered for over 1,000 clients, and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from more than 290 Google reviews.

Tell us what you plan to broker, and we will come back with the right license type, the exact checklist, a realistic timeline and a written cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a commercial brokerage license in Dubai?

It is a trade license that lets you work as a broker, meaning an intermediary who connects buyers and sellers and earns a commission when a deal completes. It is issued by DET on the mainland or by a free zone authority, and property brokers also register with RERA.

How much does a commercial brokerage license cost in Dubai?

The cost depends on your activity, your jurisdiction and your visa needs. As a starting point, mainland setups begin around AED 14,000 and free zone setups from around AED 6,000, with RERA training, exam and broker card fees added on top for property brokers. Confirm current government fees with DET or the Dubai Land Department.

Who issues a commercial brokerage license in Dubai?

The Department of Economy and Tourism issues it for mainland companies, and the relevant free zone authority issues it for free zone companies. Property brokers must also register with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, which is part of the Dubai Land Department.

Can a foreigner own 100 percent of a brokerage company in Dubai?

Yes. Since the Commercial Companies Law was amended, foreign investors can own 100 per cent of mainland companies for most activities, without a local partner. Free zone companies have always allowed full foreign ownership.

Do I need a RERA card to work as a real estate broker in Dubai?

Yes. To broker property in Dubai you must complete the certified training, pass the RERA exam, and hold a valid broker card issued through the Trakheesi system. A trade license on its own does not permit property brokerage.

How long does it take to get a commercial brokerage license in Dubai?

A straightforward free zone license can be issued in a few days. A mainland real estate brokerage usually takes about two to six weeks once external approvals and the RERA broker card steps are included.

What is the difference between a commercial broker and a real estate agent in Dubai?

A commercial broker is the general term for an intermediary who works on commission. A real estate agent is a broker who deals specifically in property and must be registered with RERA. Goods brokers do not need RERA registration.

Do commercial brokers in Dubai pay tax?

Yes. Commission income is business income. Corporate tax applies at 0 per cent up to AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9 per cent above it, and the government lists brokerage within the scope of corporate tax. Every company must register with the Federal Tax Authority.

Do I need to register for VAT as a commercial broker in Dubai?

You must register for VAT once your taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 in a 12 month period, and you may register voluntarily from AED 187,500. Brokerage commissions are generally subject to 5 per cent VAT.

Can I run a brokerage business from a free zone in Dubai?

Yes, and it is a popular choice for commission based work because it needs little office space. A free zone brokerage suits international and online clients. To deal directly with mainland clients you usually need a mainland branch or a distributor arrangement.

What documents do I need to apply for a commercial brokerage license?

For most founders, passport copies, a visa or Emirates ID if you are a resident, an approved trade name, your chosen activity and a registered address. Property brokers also need a good conduct certificate, completed RERA training and a passed RERA exam.

Does a commercial brokerage license need to be renewed every year?

Yes. Both the trade license and, for property brokers, the RERA broker card are valid for one year and must be renewed annually. Renewing on time avoids fines and keeps your bank account and visas active.

References

• Dubai Land Department. (2026). Dubai's rental sector records strong growth in 2025, underscoring market stability and the strength of the emirate's real estate ecosystem. https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/news-media/dubai-s-rental-sector-records-strong-growth-in-2025-underscoring-market-stability-and-the-strength-of-the-emirate-s-real-estate-ecosystem/
• Dubai Land Department. (2026). Dubai's real estate transactions surge 31% to reach AED 252 billion in Q1 2026. https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/news-media/dubai-s-real-estate-transactions-surge-31-to-reach-aed-252-billion-in-q1-2026/
• Federal Tax Authority. (2026). Registration for VAT. https://tax.gov.ae/en/taxes/Vat/vat.topics/registration.for.vat.aspx
• Government of Dubai Media Office. (2025). Dubai real estate transactions exceed AED431 billion in H1 2025. https://www.mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2025/july/20-07/dubai-real-estate-transactions-exceed-aed431-billion-in-h1-2025
• Ministry of Finance. (2026). Corporate Tax in the UAE. https://mof.gov.ae/en/public-finance/tax/corporate-tax/
• The Official Portal of the UAE Government. (2026). Corporate tax (CT). https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/finance-and-investment/taxation/corporate-tax
• The Official Portal of the UAE Government. (2026). Full foreign ownership of commercial companies. https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/business/doing-business-on-the-mainland/full-foreign-ownership-of-commercial-companies
• The Official Portal of the UAE Government. (2026). Value Added Tax (VAT). https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/finance-and-investment/taxation/vat/valueaddedtaxvat