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Illustrative cross-border scenario · Buying and importing across borders
Illustrative case study showing how a business objective can be coordinated across countries, capabilities, responsible professionals and milestones.
Buying and importing across borders: United Arab Emirates ↔ Switzerland delivery programme. An illustrative scenario showing how WONE Global coordinates the countries and areas of expertise involved. It does not describe a specific client engagement.
- 2
- areas of work
- 2
- markets
- Multidisciplinary alignment
Scope
Markets and services involved
Markets
Capabilities
Coordination
How the work is sequenced
- 1WONE Global works out the goal with the business: countries, expertise, order of work and risks.
- 2The WONE Global lead in each country and area of expertise is introduced, after conflict checks.
- 3The firms work in a sequence agreed up front, briefing each other and handing over properly.
- 4Your WONE Global contact keeps track of the whole project until it's done.
WONE Global Partners
Who would handle it in these markets
Named leads where they exist today; everything else arranged by WONE Global on request, with the name confirmed before work begins.
On request
WONE Global can find the right Banking & Capital Access professional in the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland for you.
No WONE Global Partner holds this yet. Send us your requirement: WONE Global confirms whether a vetted Associate firm can act, tells you who it is and checks for conflicts before any work begins.
Bring a requirement →What the guides say
The two markets in this matter
The essentials of each market on the topics this kind of work turns on.
United Arab Emirates
Full guide
- Corporate tax
- 0% up to AED 375,000; 9% above
- Qualifying Free Zone Person
- 0% on qualifying income; 9% on other income
- Large multinational groups
- 15% domestic minimum top-up tax from 2025
- Withholding tax
- 0%
- VAT
- 5%; mandatory registration above AED 375,000
- Mainland foreign ownership
- Up to 100% outside strategic-impact activities
Switzerland
Essentials · source-checked
- Federal profit tax
- 8.5% (plus cantonal and communal tax)
- Combined profit tax
- About 11.66% to 20.54% by location
- VAT
- 8.1% standard; 2.6% reduced; 3.8% accommodation
- Main entity forms
- GmbH (CHF 20,000) or AG (CHF 100,000)
- Local representation
- At least one Swiss-resident representative
- Real estate
- Foreign buyers generally need Lex Koller authorisation
| Topic | United Arab Emirates | Switzerland |
|---|---|---|
| Establish & Structure | Foreign investors choose between a mainland company licensed by an emirate, a free zone entity licensed by a free zone authority, or a company in the DIFC or ADGM financial free zones. Read more | Most foreign investors use a GmbH or an AG. An AG is formed by notarised deed and comes into existence on entry in the cantonal commercial register. Read more |
| Tax & Statutory | Corporate tax is federal and applies in every emirate at 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, with a 0% rate on qualifying income for Qualifying Free Zone Persons and a 15% top-up tax for multinational groups with revenue of EUR 750 million or more. Read more | Companies pay an 8.5% federal profit tax plus cantonal and communal profit taxes, so the overall rate depends on location. VAT is 8.1% at the standard rate, and 35% withholding tax applies to dividends. Read more |
| People, Payroll & Mobility | Mainland employment is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, which requires fixed-term contracts, caps probation at six months and sets end-of-service gratuity for foreign staff. Read more | Swiss employment law is mainly in the Code of Obligations and allows relatively short notice periods, with protection against dismissal during illness, pregnancy and service. Social security contributions are shared between employer and employee. Read more |
| Banking, Treasury & Payments | The dirham is pegged to the US dollar, which the Central Bank of the UAE defends by buying and selling dirhams at 3.673 and 3.672, and keeping that peg is the central bank's main monetary objective. Read more | Banks and securities firms are authorised and supervised by FINMA, and non-bank financial intermediaries must join a recognised self-regulatory organisation for anti-money laundering purposes. Read more |
| Disputes, Enforcement & Exit | Onshore, the UAE has federal courts and separate emirate-level judicial bodies such as Dubai Courts and the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, all applying the federal Civil Procedure Code. Read more | Switzerland is a long-standing New York Convention state without the reciprocity reservation, and the Swiss Arbitration Centre administers arbitration under the Swiss Rules 2021 and offers mediation. Read more |
Our full guides are checked against official sources. Guides drafted with AI are marked as such. None of this is legal or tax advice.
WONE Global Intelligence
Ask about the markets in this matter
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