Buying an office in Dubai off-plan: zones, VAT, fit-out and running costs (2026)

Office space for sale in Dubai off-plan is bought much like an apartment: you reserve, sign a sale and purchase agreement, register on Oqood and pay on a staged plan. The differences are in the detail. An office carries VAT, usually comes without a fit-out, is licensed and let under business rules, and is financed on different terms.

This guide covers those differences for a buyer, whether you want a home for your own company or an office to let. Every commercial project we list, offices and shops, is on our commercial page.

It is not tax or legal advice. VAT and corporate tax depend on who buys and how the office is used, so take advice on your own position.

Yes. Non-UAE nationals can own property freehold in Dubai's designated areas, and that ownership covers offices as well as homes. Outside those areas, ownership is limited to UAE and GCC nationals.

Law No. 7 of 2006 on real property registration allows non-UAE nationals to own property in the areas the Ruler designates, and Regulation No. 3 of 2006 lists those areas. Business Bay, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Marina and much of Dubailand are among them. Our guide to freehold areas in Dubai explains how the list works and how land is added.

Check the plot, not the brochure. The project's Dubai Land Department registration shows the plot. Ask the developer to confirm that the plot is freehold and that the project is registered for off-plan sale. The checks are in how to check an off-plan project and developer.

Free zones. Some office districts are also free zones with their own licensing authority. Jumeirah Lake Towers, for example, sits in the DMCC free zone. DIFC has its own laws and property register. Ask which authority licenses businesses in the building and which register your unit will be recorded on.

Business Bay has the most new office towers on our list. Jumeirah Village Circle and Dubailand follow, with single buildings on Sheikh Zayed Road and in about ten other districts.

• Business Bay. Grade A towers and office campuses: 1970 Office Tower at Al Habtoor City, Haus of Tenet, HQ by Rove on Marasi Bay, Burj Capital, Bureau Lamar with full-floor offices, and Berkeley Tower by Ellington beside Business Bay Metro Station.
• Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Sufouh. Shahrukhz by Danube, a 55-storey office tower with 615 commercial units.
• Jumeirah Lake Towers. ME DO RE Business, with eight offices on a typical floor and a business club.
• Jumeirah Village Circle. Capital One JVC, with 124 offices, some with terraces, and office floors in mixed-use towers such as SKY LEVEL 1.
• Dubailand. Offices at Piazza Roma in DAMAC Lagoons, Cove Boulevard and Samana Business Park.
• Other districts. Vertex Pointe in Arjan, The Symphony in Mohammed Bin Rashid City, Tomorrow Commercial Tower in International City, Aspirz in Dubai Sports City, RAW District 2 in Downtown Jebel Ali, The Plaza at The Yards in City of Arabia and Azizi Emerald in Dubai Healthcare City.

Prices, plans and availability change quickly in small office buildings, so see the commercial page for today's list, or ask us for the current price list on any project above.

How to read a location. For an office you will use, the daily journey of your team and clients matters most: Metro access, parking and the road network. For an office to let, look at who rents in the area and how many other new offices will be completed at the same time.

You own your unit outright and a share of the building's common parts. Dubai law treats a tower divided into separately owned units as jointly owned property.

Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned real property sets the rules:

• Your unit and your share. You own the unit and an undivided share of the common parts, such as the lobby, lifts, car parks and plant. Your share is set by the ratio of your unit's area to the total.
• A management entity runs the building. In large projects that is usually the developer or a company it appoints; otherwise a management company selected by RERA.
• Service charges need approval. The budget must be approved by RERA before it is collected, and owners pay through the Mollak system.
• Owners have a voice. An owners committee appointed by RERA reviews the budget and passes on complaints.
• The building has rules. The jointly owned property declaration sets what each unit may be used for and what changes need consent, including fit-out.

Read the declaration and the building rules. They decide practical things for an office: opening hours, deliveries, signage, parking allocation and whether you can combine units. Our guide to service charges in Dubai covers the approval process in full.

Shell and core means the unit is handed over with its structure, outer walls and building services brought to it, but without the finishes that make it usable as an office. Many new office towers on our list are sold this way, so the fit-out is a cost and a project of its own.

Shell and core. Haus of Tenet, Burj Capital, Capital One JVC, Vertex Pointe and The Plaza all hand over offices shell and core. A fit-out usually covers ceilings, lighting, internal walls and glazed partitions, cooling diffusers and controls, floor finishes, power and data, kitchenette and washrooms where the unit has its own, and fire and life safety changes.

Furnished and serviced. HQ by Rove is sold fully furnished and serviced, with modules that can be combined, so a business can move in at handover.

Approvals take time. A fit-out needs the building management's approval of your drawings, and permits from the relevant authorities for building, fire and life safety work. Ask the developer for its fit-out guide, the approval fees and any refundable deposit before you reserve, and build the approval time into your move-in date.

Who pays. If you let the office shell and core, tenants usually fit it out themselves, often in return for a rent-free period agreed in the lease. If you fit it out first, you can let it as ready to use. Either way, agree it in writing.

The price, plus 5% VAT on the price, plus the 4% Dubai Land Department fee, plus registration and admin fees, the fit-out and then yearly running costs. On a round AED 2,000,000 office, price, VAT and the 4% fee come to AED 2,180,000.

The 4% fee is the same as on a home; our DLD fee guide explains how it is calculated and paid. Every other buying cost is in the true cost of buying off-plan. Try other plans in the payment plan calculator.

VAT applies at 5% to the sale and the lease of commercial property. The Federal Tax Authority defines commercial real estate as any land or building that is not a residential building, a building used by a charity for a relevant charitable activity, or bare land. Offices, shops and warehouses fall in it.

On an off-plan purchase, VAT follows each payment. The Federal Tax Authority's real estate guide says that where the price of commercial property is paid in instalments, VAT is due on each instalment paid. The date of supply is triggered by the earliest event, which can be a payment. In practice the developer issues a tax invoice with each instalment and adds 5%.

On a resale, the buyer pays the Federal Tax Authority. When commercial property is sold by anyone other than its developer, the buyer pays the VAT directly to the Federal Tax Authority, or through a nominated bank where available, before the Dubai Land Department completes the transfer. Without the payment reference the transfer cannot proceed. This special process does not apply to sales by the developer or to leases.

Mixed-use buildings. In a tower with homes, offices and shops, each unit takes its own treatment. An office is standard-rated at 5% even when the floors above are homes.

Leases and service charges. Rent on an office is standard-rated at 5%. Service charges also carry 5% VAT.

Recovering the VAT. If you are VAT-registered and use or let the office for taxable business, you may be able to recover the VAT you pay on the purchase through your VAT return. If you are not registered, the VAT is a cost. The guide also says the registration threshold for non-residents who make taxable supplies in the UAE is nil, so a non-resident who lets an office must register for VAT. Take tax advice before you buy.

Our guide to property tax in Dubai sets VAT on offices against the rules for homes, and explains corporate tax on rental income.

An office pays the service charge approved by RERA for its building, calculated on the unit's area, plus 5% VAT. There is no single office rate: each building has its own budget.

Before handover, it is an estimate. A new building has no approved budget until it is completed. The developer can give an estimated rate per square foot; ask for it in writing, along with what it covers.

After handover, it is published. Once the building is running, its approved rate appears on the Dubai Land Department's Service Charge Index, and invoices come through Mollak. You can compare buildings in the same area there.

What it covers. Security, cleaning, maintenance of lifts and plant, common-area utilities, insurance of the building, management fees and a reserve fund. Chilled water for cooling is often billed separately by the district cooling provider.

Owners pay, not tenants. Under Law No. 6 of 2019 the owner remains liable for service charges even when a lease says the tenant pays. Recover the cost in the rent, not by assuming the tenant will pay the building.

To run a business from your office you need a business licence from the right authority. To let the office, you need a written lease registered on Ejari.

Using the office for your own business. On the mainland, business licences are issued by Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism. In a free zone such as the DMCC, the free zone authority issues the licence, and the office must usually be in that zone. Ask the authority which documents it accepts to prove your business address, and check that the building and the unit allow your activity.

Letting the office. Law No. 26 of 2007 governs leases in Dubai, including commercial ones. Every lease must be registered on Ejari, the Dubai Land Department's tenancy system; our Ejari guide explains how. Charge VAT at 5% on the rent, and register for VAT if the rules require it.

Rent disputes. Commercial tenancy disputes go to the Rental Disputes Centre, as residential ones do. See our guide to the Rental Disputes Centre.

With the developer's payment plan first, then cash or a bank loan for the handover balance. Banks lend on commercial property on their own commercial terms, which can differ from home loans.

Use the payment plan. Office plans on our list range from 60/40 at 1970 Office Tower and Cove Boulevard to 50/50 at RAW District 2 and 40/60 at The Plaza. Some, such as Shahrukhz, let you pay part of the price after handover. Compare plans on our payment plans page, including post-handover plans.

Get bank terms in writing early. Ask two or three banks for their loan-to-value, term, rate and fees for a commercial unit, and whether they lend to you personally or to your company. Do not assume that home-loan limits or calculators apply. Our off-plan mortgage guide explains how banks treat off-plan purchases generally, and the mortgage calculator shows repayments once you have a rate.

Plan the VAT cash. VAT is paid on top of each instalment, so the cash you need at each stage is 5% higher than the plan's percentages suggest.

The federal conditions refer to property worth at least AED 2 million without limiting it to homes, but confirm with the Dubai Land Department that your office qualifies before you buy for the visa.

The Ministry of Economy and Tourism lists the conditions for a real estate investor as one or more properties with a total value of not less than AED 2,000,000, wholly owned by the investor, with any loan from a local bank. For off-plan, it refers to one or more units worth at least AED 2,000,000 bought from local companies approved by the competent authority. It also requires health insurance for the investor and family.

Two practical points for an office buyer. First, the value tested is the official valuation, not the asking price, so leave headroom. Second, if you buy through a company rather than in your own name, ask how ownership is treated before you sign. Our guide to the Golden Visa through UAE property explains how the value is tested and how off-plan purchases are counted.

The steps are the same as for a home, with VAT on each payment and more to check on use, fit-out and licensing.

The registration, escrow and Oqood steps are explained in detail in how to buy off-plan property in Dubai and Oqood in Dubai. For what happens on completion, see the off-plan handover process; for an office, add the fit-out approvals to it.

1. Freehold and register. The plot is freehold, the project is registered with the Dubai Land Department, and you know which register the unit goes on.
2. Use. The building and the unit allow your business activity, and the licensing authority for the zone will license it.
3. Delivery standard. Shell and core, fitted or furnished, written into the agreement, with the specification attached.
4. Fit-out. The developer's fit-out guide, approval fees, deposit and timeline.
5. Area. Whether the price is on the net internal area or a gross figure, and how the final area is measured.
6. Parking. The number of bays included, and the cost of any more.
7. Service charge. The estimated rate per square foot, what it covers, and how cooling is billed.
8. VAT. That each invoice adds 5%, and whether you can recover it.
9. Plan and finance. What the schedule asks for before handover and at handover, plus VAT, and written terms from a bank if you need a loan.
10. Exit. Whether you may assign the contract before handover, and the developer's conditions and fees for doing so; see selling off-plan before handover.

• Shell and core. A unit handed over without finishes: structure, outer walls and services to the unit, with fit-out left to the buyer.
• Fit-out. The ceilings, lighting, partitions, cooling outlets, floors and services that make a shell usable as an office.
• Jointly owned property. A building divided into separately owned units with shared common parts, governed by Law No. 6 of 2019.
• Commercial real estate (VAT). Any land or building that is not residential, charitable or bare land, taxed at 5% on sale and lease.
• Oqood. The Dubai Land Department's interim register for off-plan sales.
• Ejari. The Dubai Land Department's system for registering tenancy contracts, residential and commercial.
• Service Charge Index. The Dubai Land Department's published list of approved service charges by building.

See every office and retail project we list on the commercial page, or start with a district such as Business Bay. Tell us how many square feet you need, whether the office is for your own business or to let, and your budget including VAT, and we will send the projects that fit with today's prices, plans and fit-out terms.