Updated September 2026 · 6 min read · Hadjer Ben, COO
Every page that ranks for this question is published by a company that sells trade licences. Ask a free zone whether you need one and the answer arrives with a price list attached. That is not dishonesty, it is an incentive, and it produces a flat yes where the real answer has a condition in it.
This page states what Amazon and the UAE Federal Tax Authority actually publish, with links, and then names the part neither of them answers.
If your business operates in the UAE, yes. Amazon’s own wording is conditional, and the condition is the part that matters. Amazon’s commercial licence page states: “Yes, if your business is operating in the UAE, you need a valid commercial license”, and adds that this applies “whether you operate from mainland UAE or a freezone”.
Read that sentence again. It is conditioned on operating in the UAE. It does not say that a business operating from outside the UAE needs a UAE licence, and Amazon does not publish an answer either way for that case.
The pages telling you the answer is an unconditional yes are selling the thing that answer requires.
Six items, and one of them is written for residents. Amazon’s beginner’s guide lists a business email address, a reachable phone number, a national ID, a trade licence, a proof of address less than three months old, and a UAE bank account.
| What Amazon asks for | The detail that matters for a foreign brand |
|---|---|
| Business email address | Register with a business address, not a personal shopping account you already own. |
| Reachable phone number | Used during verification. It must be a number you can answer while the check runs. |
| National ID | Amazon writes “National ID e.g. Emirates ID”. The “e.g.” is doing real work — a passport covers an owner with no Emirates ID. |
| Trade licence | “Trade License if you are owner and a Power of Attorney only if you are a legal representative.” |
| Proof of address, under three months | Bank statement, credit card statement or utility bill. Older documents are rejected. |
| Bank account | Where Amazon sends your sales proceeds. |
The list is written for a UAE-resident seller. Verification is handled case by case, which is why forum threads on this question contradict each other so freely. For the full registration walkthrough, see our guide to selling on Amazon UAE.
If you are not resident in the UAE, the AED 375,000 threshold does not apply to you. The Federal Tax Authority states that registration is mandatory when “the business makes taxable supplies in the UAE, even if the value of supplies does not exceed the threshold, unless there is another party in the UAE responsible for settling the VAT on those supplies”.
There is no threshold for a non-resident. Registration is triggered by the first taxable supply, not by a level of turnover you grow into.
This is the single most expensive thing on this page and almost nobody writing about Amazon.ae licences mentions it. The AED 375,000 figure repeated everywhere, including in Google’s own AI summary of this question, is the resident threshold. Applied to a foreign brand it is simply the wrong rule.
Saudi Arabia works the same way and for the same reason. If Amazon.sa is also on your plan, the obligation there is likewise triggered by a taxable supply rather than a threshold.
Three, and they differ in who carries the VAT obligation rather than in how much paperwork they involve.
Set up a UAE entity. Mainland or free zone. You hold the licence in your own name, you are resident for VAT purposes, and the AED 375,000 threshold applies to you normally. This is the route the free zone pages describe, and for a brand that intends to hold stock and trade in the region it is usually the right one.
Sell as a non-resident. No UAE licence from a local authority, and VAT registration in the UAE from the first taxable supply. Workable, and materially more administration than most brands expect at the point they decide it.
Sell through a UAE-resident party who accounts for the VAT. A distributor or an importer of record settles the VAT, which is the exemption the Federal Tax Authority’s own wording carves out. You give up margin and direct control of the listing in exchange.
Which one fits depends on whether you want to own the customer relationship, and that is a commercial decision rather than a compliance one.
Whether the category is even open to you. A licence does not help if your category is gated on Amazon.ae, and it does not help if your products need UAE conformity approval before they clear import.
Both are checkable in an afternoon and both stop launches that were otherwise fully funded and fully licensed. Check them before you buy anything. If the category turns out to be open, how the listing is built decides most of what happens next.
We are an Amazon agency, not a law firm and not a tax advisor. Everything above is what Amazon and the Federal Tax Authority publish, linked so you can read the originals. Confirm your own position with the relevant authority or a licensed advisor before you act on it.
What we can tell you is whether the account is worth opening. If you are weighing Amazon.ae and want to know what your category actually looks like before you spend on a licence, request a free audit. We will tell you what we would change, including when the answer is that the market does not justify the entry.
Request a free Amazon.ae audit →