Eighteen months ago I set up a UAE free zone company with the intention of relocating my business here. The business did not work out (market access assumptions were wrong, key client commitment evaporated, and capital ran out faster than we modelled). I am now in a position where the right call is to close everything cleanly and return to my home country, not to drag this out.
There is no drama to the closure. All vendor bills are paid, all employees have been released with full settlements paid (including gratuity), the landlord is happy and has confirmed the lease can be terminated early. What I need is someone to run the formal closure so I do not leave anything open that surfaces three years from now as a liability.
Concretely: cancel the trade license with the free zone in good standing, de-register for VAT with FTA including filing a final VAT return for the short period up to closure, de-register for corporate tax with FTA (I believe the CT registration creates a filing obligation even with zero activity), cancel employee visas (all settled, final exits processed), cancel my own founder residency visa at the point where my departure is final, close the corporate bank account cleanly (small positive balance to be repatriated to my personal account), return the establishment card and any ID cards issued, and produce a closure file that certifies everything is formally closed with each authority.
One specific concern: I want to leave without surprise. Too many founders I know have returned home thinking everything was closed, only to discover two years later that one authority continued to view the entity as active and stacked up small filing-failure penalties which then became a bigger problem when they wanted to travel again. I do not want that outcome. The deliverable is not 'closure initiated', it is 'closure certified and filed, with a copy of each cancellation letter in my hands'.
Second concern: I want to do this with dignity. The business failed. I took the shot, it did not work out. I am not trying to dodge anything, I am trying to leave cleanly. Need a consultant who will treat this with basic respect rather than try to upsell a continuation or a new setup I do not want.
Budget is real but not a blocker. I want the closure done properly, I do not want to do it three times. Timeline is roughly six weeks before I fly out.
