Abu Dhabi

The outbreak of the Iran War on 28 February 2026 has abruptly plunged the Middle East into profound operational disruption. Consequently, corporate boards operating within the United Arab Emirates are instinctively looking to the doctrine of force majeure and emergency circumstances (thuroof tari’a) as legal shields. Having acted in over 300 UAE tax dispute procedures, […]

The following is an excerpted analysis of topics discussed in the book UAE Crypto Litigation, a treatise on the judicial evolution of digital asset disputes in the United Arab Emirates, available at www.uaecryptolitigation.com. A defining feature of blockchain transactions is their irreversibility. If an asset is sent to the wrong address, there is no central

The following is an excerpted analysis of topics discussed in the book UAE Crypto Litigation, a treatise on the judicial evolution of digital asset disputes in the United Arab Emirates, available at www.uaecryptolitigation.com. When a debtor defaults on a loan of 10 Bitcoin, or an employer fails to pay a salary denominated in tokens, what

The following is an excerpted analysis of topics discussed in the book UAE Crypto Litigation, a treatise on the judicial evolution of digital asset disputes in the United Arab Emirates, available at www.uaecryptolitigation.com. In the fast-paced environment of crypto-trading, formal contracts are frequently neglected in favor of instant messaging. Deals worth millions are struck via

Effective January 5, 2026, the global cryptocurrency landscape has shifted with Binance’s transition to a fully regulated structure within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), in the United Arab Emirates. In this article we analyze the legal implications of this restructuring for investors. We examine the transition from the ambiguous “Binance Operators” to the specific

The legislative framework governing taxation in the United Arab Emirates is subject to periodic revision to address evolving administrative requirements and ensure legal clarity. The foundational statute, Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022 concerning Tax Procedures (published in Official Gazette Issue 737 on 10-10-2022, effective 01-03-2023), has been subsequently amended. The first amendment occurred via

The introduction of the UAE Corporate Tax regime, effective from June 2023, has established a new and complex compliance landscape for businesses. With this landscape come novel legal questions regarding accountability. A critical issue is the extent to which an employer, having incurred penalties from the Federal Tax Authority (FTA), may successfully recover such losses

In a definitive judgment that clarifies the boundaries of criminal liability for tax evasion, the Federal Supreme Court, in its session on 5 August 2025, has affirmed the acquittal of individuals accused of evading excise tax amounting to over fifteen million dirhams. The ruling, in Case No. 1570 of 2024, provides a robust analysis of

For almost seven years UAE taxpayers and their advisers treated the lapse of the statutory time-frame given to a Tax Disputes Resolution Committee (TDRC) as a de-facto “no” and went straight to court. The Federal Supreme Court has now changed that position in Judgment No. 388/2024 issued on 14 May 2025. Judgment No. 388/2024 (14

Introduction Throughout 2022 onwards, multiple judgments of the Abu Dhabi Cassation and Appeals Courts took the view that an ICC arbitration “seated” in Abu Dhabi but administered by the ICC office in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) came under the exclusive jurisdiction of the ADGM Courts rather than the onshore Abu Dhabi Courts. The