The Possible Penalties of Not Renewing your Business License

Trade License renewal is mandatory for business owners in the UAE and should be done annually. It is highly vital to meet the deadlines of renewing your license and to have your documents ready and attend to your payments to the authority on time. Failing to renew your license can attract undesired forfeits that are not only limited to financial fines. Failing to renew your license can have many other undesired consequences, some of which might end in shutting down your business. In this article we will discuss the penalties that a business owner or an investor could face if they do not renew their trade license on time.

It is needless to say that running a business in the UAE without a trade license is considered illegal. According to the Department of Dubai Economy (DED) there are several fines that are imposed for different reasons related to trade license and trade license renewal. For example, running a business in Dubai without a license may result in a 5000 AED fine. Failing to renew a trade license also results in a 250 AED fine. Running a business activity in an unregistered area can also result in a 1000 AED fine.

Failing to renew your trade license can also lead to other penalties other than the financial ones.  Even the smallest delays can have a negative effect on your business records which may restrict your business expansion in the future. Not renewing your license can also blacklist your company. This means cancellation of all your employees’ visas and sponsorships, the stopping of your transactions and the annulment of your residence visa.  

So what should you do to make sure you avoid any penalties regarding your business license?

You need to have your papers prepared and submit all the documents and payments required for your license renewal on time every year.

The required documents are:

A typed BR/1 form (Registration and Licensing Application Form)

Copy of tenancy certificate and Ejari Registration Certificate   

Photocopy of current trade license

Photocopies of all business partners’ passports  

In order to avoid any delays and penalties regarding your trade license, it is better to hire a specialized agency that would do the process for you and save you the hassle. Global Link offers renewal services to all types of documents whether it’s trade licenses or visas.

Contact us and let us get all your documents done.