Trakhees
Trakhees: The Regulator Behind Several Dubai Addresses
Trakhees is not a free zone in the way the others on this list are. It is the Department of Planning and Development, established under the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, and it regulates licensing and construction across a specific set of Dubai areas.
- Clarity on which regulator actually governs your address
- Licensing and civil engineering approvals sequenced correctly
- Fit-out and construction requirements scoped before you sign
- Corporate tax and accounting handled by one team throughout
A licensed Dubai tax practice, not a licence broker.
Quick Answer
Trakhees is the Department of Planning and Development, established under the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) by Decree 22 of 2009 issued by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, covering the Special Development Zone. Its services extend to lands, complexes and areas owned by PCFC, Dubai World and their subsidiaries, including but not limited to Nakheel, Limitless, Dubai Maritime City and DMCC. It comprises a Civil Engineering Department and a Licensing Department.
What Trakhees Actually Is
Trakhees was established under the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation as per Decree 22 of 2009, over the Special Development Zone.
The decree stipulates that its services cover lands, complexes and areas owned by PCFC, Dubai World, or entities and subsidiaries of either, within Dubai or within their jurisdiction. Those areas include, but are not limited to, Nakheel, Limitless, Dubai Maritime City and DMCC.
It has two departments: Civil Engineering, and Licensing.
- Established under PCFC by Decree 22 of 2009
- Covers the Special Development Zone
- Areas include Nakheel, Limitless, Dubai Maritime City and DMCC
- Civil Engineering Department and Licensing Department
Why This Matters to You
Most people meet Trakhees without expecting to.
You lease a unit in one of the covered areas, plan a fit-out, and discover that the construction and civil engineering approvals run through Trakhees rather than through the authority that issued your trade licence. Health and safety and environmental requirements sit there too.
None of that is a problem when it is expected. It becomes a problem when a project timeline was built assuming a single point of contact and the approvals turn out to involve two.
Ask who approves your fit-out before you sign the lease.
- Fit-out and construction approvals may route through Trakhees
- Health, safety and environmental requirements apply
- Your trade licence issuer may not be your works approver
- Project timelines should account for both processes
Licensing Under Trakhees
Alongside civil engineering, Trakhees runs a Licensing Department, and it licenses both free zone and local companies within its jurisdiction.
That dual capability is worth understanding, because the choice between a free zone entity and a local one is the same decision that matters everywhere else: who your customers are and whether you need to sell into the mainland.
Being able to make that choice within one jurisdiction is convenient. It does not change the corporate tax analysis, which follows the nature of the entity and its income rather than the identity of the licensing body.
- Licensing Department covers free zone and local companies
- Entity choice still follows your customer base
- Corporate tax analysis follows income, not the licensor
- Confirm which route applies to your activity
Two Departments, Two Processes
Trakhees comprises a Civil Engineering Department and a Licensing Department, and treating them as one process is the commonest planning error.
The Licensing Department deals with the company: what it is permitted to do and under what form. The Civil Engineering Department deals with the physical works: what you may build, alter or occupy, and to what standard.
A company can be licensed while its premises are still working through engineering approval, and a fit-out can be approved for a business whose licence does not yet cover the intended activity. Either mismatch stalls an opening.
Run both tracks deliberately, and check they agree with each other.
- Licensing Department: the company and its permitted activity
- Civil Engineering Department: the physical works
- The two processes run on separate timelines
- Mismatches between them delay openings
The 0% Question, Answered Honestly
No free zone grants you 0% corporate tax. The zone issues a licence; the Federal Tax Authority decides your rate. To pay 0% you have to be a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and that status is tested every year against your actual income, not your address.
Revenue billed to mainland UAE customers is generally not qualifying income. It carries 9%.
We file the corporate tax returns for companies in these zones, which is why we would rather have this conversation before you pay a licence fee than at your first return.
- Qualifying income, tested against your real invoices
- Adequate substance maintained inside the zone
- Transfer pricing compliance, including with related parties
- Audited financial statements, not optional for a QFZP
- Election and registration handled on time, every year
Practical Advice
Three things save time when Trakhees is involved.
Establish early who regulates what at your specific address. The answer differs between areas, and assuming it is the same as a friend's experience elsewhere is how timelines slip.
Build the approvals into the project plan rather than treating them as a formality at the end. Civil engineering approval is a technical review, not a rubber stamp.
And engage a contractor who has worked under Trakhees before. The difference between one who knows the submission requirements and one learning them on your project is measured in months.
- Confirm the regulator for your specific address first
- Build approvals into the project plan, not the end of it
- Civil engineering approval is a technical review
- Use contractors experienced with Trakhees submissions
Related Exiloz Services & Guides
What is Trakhees?
Trakhees is the Department of Planning and Development, established under the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) by Decree 22 of 2009 issued by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, over the Special Development Zone. It comprises a Civil Engineering Department and a Licensing Department.
Which areas does Trakhees cover?
Per the decree, lands, complexes and areas owned by PCFC, Dubai World, or entities and subsidiaries of either, within Dubai or within their jurisdiction. Those include but are not limited to Nakheel, Limitless, Dubai Maritime City and DMCC.
Is Trakhees a free zone?
Not in the ordinary sense. It is a planning, development and licensing regulator covering specific areas, and it licenses both free zone and local companies within its jurisdiction. Most businesses encounter it through construction and fit-out approvals rather than through choosing it as a location.
Do I need Trakhees approval for an office fit-out?
If your premises sit within a Trakhees-covered area, construction and civil engineering approvals typically route through Trakhees rather than through the authority that issued your trade licence, along with health, safety and environmental requirements. Confirm this before signing a lease, since it affects the project timeline.
Does Trakhees issue trade licences?
It operates a Licensing Department covering both free zone and local companies within its jurisdiction. The choice between the two follows the same logic as anywhere else: whether your customers are mainland UAE businesses and consumers, or overseas parties.
How long do Trakhees approvals take?
It depends on the complexity of the works, since civil engineering approval is a technical review rather than a formality. The largest single factor in practice is whether your contractor has worked under Trakhees before and knows the submission requirements, which can be the difference of months.
Who is Trakhees run by?
It was established under the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), and the Ministry of Economy & Tourism registrar record names its CEO as Eng. Abdulla Belhoul. It comprises a Civil Engineering Department and a Licensing Department.
Does Trakhees cover DMCC?
The decree stipulates that Trakhees services cover lands, complexes and areas owned by PCFC, Dubai World, or their entities and subsidiaries, and that list expressly includes DMCC alongside Nakheel, Limitless and Dubai Maritime City. In practice this most often matters for construction and fit-out approvals rather than for the trade licence itself.
What is the Special Development Zone?
It is the designation over which Trakhees was established by Decree 22 of 2009. The practical effect is that a defined set of Dubai areas has its own planning, development and licensing regulator, separate from the authority that may have issued a company's trade licence.
The rest of what we do
Licence, visas, bank account, books and the first tax return — handled by the same team, so the structure has to survive its first year.
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Mainland vs Free Zone
Pick the jurisdiction before the licence. The decision that survives year one.
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PRO & Document Clearing
Establishment card, immigration file, visas, medicals and attestation.
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VAT Registration
Threshold checks, grouping and registration handled against the FTA's current rules.
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VAT Return Filing
VAT201 prepared, reconciled and filed, with the position documented.
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Corporate Tax Registration
Every taxable person must register, including free zone companies applying 0%.
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Corporate Tax Filing
Returns, elections and the qualifying income analysis behind them.
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Accounting & Bookkeeping
Books kept audit-ready from month one, not reconstructed at year end.
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Audit Preparation
Schedules, reconciliations and the evidence your auditor will ask for.
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Setting Up in a Trakhees Area?
We will confirm which regulator governs your address, sequence the licensing and approvals, and keep the tax side straight throughout.
