How to relocate a business abroad in 2026

A plain guide to moving a company to another country: four models, seven countries with profit and dividend taxes, a company bank account, visas for the founder and team, CFC rules and a step-by-step plan.

In detail

Business relocation means moving a company's clients, money or team to another country. In 2026 this is done by opening a new company in the UAE, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, Cyprus or Hong Kong: registration takes from 1 hour to 3 weeks, profit tax runs from 0% to 20%, and first client payments arrive within 1-3 months.

What is business relocation in simple terms?

Business relocation is moving a business to another country: client contracts, revenue, taxes and often staff pass to a company registered abroad.

Two related terms are easy to mix up. Employee relocation is a company moving a worker to another country at its own expense: tickets, visa and housing for the first months. Company relocation is a change of the country where the company does business and receives money.

Many countries have no procedure for moving a company's registration abroad, so the move works through a new company: the old one keeps serving the home market, is sold or is closed. Cyprus also accepts foreign companies that transfer their registration there, a procedure called redomiciliation.

What are the four ways to relocate a business?

A business moves under one of four models, and the choice depends on where the clients are and where the owner will live.

Data for 2026.

A holding company owns shares in other companies and collects their dividends. It is placed where dividends paid onwards carry no withholding tax: Cyprus, the UAE or Hong Kong.

A sole owner without staff can simply register as an individual entrepreneur in the country of residence. For example, an individual entrepreneur in Georgia with small business status pays 1% of turnover up to $200,000 (GEL 500,000) a year.

Where do businesses relocate in 2026?

Seven countries lead business relocation in 2026: the UAE, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, Cyprus and Hong Kong. In each of them a foreigner owns 100% of a company without a local partner.

Data for 2026.

Under Kazakhstan's new Tax Code, in force since 1 January 2026, a non-resident individual with a stake of 25% or more pays 5% on dividends within 230,000 monthly calculation indices a year and 15% above that. A non-resident company pays 15%.

The UAE offers zero tax below the threshold and residence through the company, Kazakhstan and Armenia give access to the Eurasian Economic Union market without customs duties, Cyprus brings EU law, and Hong Kong opens the way to China and Asia.

How much tax do the company and the owner pay?

Tax on a business abroad comes in three layers: profit tax on the company (from 0% in the UAE to 20% in Kazakhstan), withholding tax when dividends are paid, and tax in the country where the owner is tax resident.

An example for Georgia: out of every $100 of profit the company pays out, $15 goes to profit tax, 5% dividend tax is withheld from the remaining $85, and the owner receives about $81. While profit stays in the company, Georgia charges no tax on it.

In the UAE, a small business with revenue up to $820,000 (AED 3m) a year can choose small business relief and pay no profit tax: UAE Ministry of Finance Decision No. 131 of 2026 extends it to tax periods ending by 31 December 2029. Details are on the page UAE taxes.

Since 1 January 2026 Cyprus charges 15% profit tax and withholds no tax on dividends paid to non-residents, see Cyprus taxes.

The owner then pays personal tax on dividends in the country of tax residence. Tax withheld abroad is credited under the double tax treaty between the two countries, so the same profit is not taxed twice in full.

What are CFC rules and how do they affect the owner?

Tax residence follows days and ties: in most countries a person who spends 183 days or more a year there is a tax resident. This status decides which reports on the foreign company the owner files and where.

CFC stands for controlled foreign company. CFC rules let the owner's home country tax the profit of a foreign company the owner controls, even when no dividends are paid. Every EU country has applied them since 1 January 2019 under the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive, and the US, the UK, Japan and Russia have their own versions.

What this means in practice for an owner who stays tax resident at home:

• the foreign company's profit is taxed at home when the stake and the company's tax rate fall under the local CFC thresholds;
• active companies with real staff and offices are exempt in many systems, the EU one among them;
• the home country expects annual reports on the foreign stake: for example, a Russian tax resident files a CFC notice by 30 April each year, see Russian CFC notification;
• a company managed from home becomes a home tax resident in many countries, so directors and decisions belong in the country of registration.

An owner who moves tax residence to the new country leaves the old home rules behind and pays tax where they live. A manager will check how the rules of your country apply to your structure.

How do you open a company bank account abroad?

The company account is opened after registration: in Georgia in 1-3 weeks with the director visiting in person, in the UAE in 2-6 weeks after a full file, and in Cyprus allow a month or more. The bank checks not only documents but also how clear the business is.

What to prepare for the bank:

• articles of association, a register extract and passports of the owners and director;
• a business description: what you sell, to whom and in which countries;
• contracts or letters from clients and suppliers;
• proof of the owner's source of funds: sale of a stake, dividends, savings;
• for the UAE and Cyprus, an office lease and details of staff.

We select the bank and prepare documents for a company account in the UAE and a company account in Serbia, as well as in the other countries in the table.

Start-up capital is moved by legal routes with documents for the bank; six such routes are collected on the page capital relocation.

Which visas and residence permits do the founder and team get?

In the UAE a free zone or mainland company sponsors residence visas for its owner and employees. In Armenia, Georgia, Serbia and Cyprus residence is issued separately, based on work in your own company or on investment.

• UAE. The owner gets a residence visa through the company. A 10-year golden visa goes to an investor with company capital from $550,000 (AED 2m).
• Kazakhstan. The first head and deputy head of a company with 100% foreign ownership need no work permit under Government Resolution No. 1041 of 24 November 2023.
• Armenia. Your own working company that pays taxes is grounds for the founder's residence permit.
• Georgia. Citizens of many countries stay without a visa for up to a year. Since 1 March 2026 a director without permanent residence works in the company after obtaining the right to work, and holders of an investment residence permit from $300,000 do not need it.
• Serbia. The owner and employees get a single residence and work permit.
• Cyprus. A foreign-owned company that has invested from $230,000 (€200,000) in Cyprus hires staff from outside the EU under a fast-track procedure.

Citizens of Eurasian Economic Union countries work in Kazakhstan and Armenia on an employment contract without a work permit, so moving such a team there is simplest. In the UAE the number of staff visas depends on the office size.

What is the step-by-step plan and how long does it take?

A business move fits into 8 steps, and first client payments to the new company arrive within 1-3 months.

1. Review of the business: clients, contracts, cash flows and the owner's tax residence - about a week.
2. Choice of country and model: new company, full move, holding or one-owner business - 1-2 weeks.
3. Company registration: from 1 hour in Hong Kong to 1-3 weeks in a UAE free zone.
4. Company account: 1-3 weeks in Georgia, 2-6 weeks in the UAE, a month or more in Cyprus.
5. Reports on the foreign stake to the home tax authority, if the owner stays tax resident there.
6. Residence permit or work permit for the owner and team.
7. New contracts with clients in the name of the new company, with invoices and payments to its account.
8. Decision on the old company: keep it for the home market, sell the stake or close it.

A full move with the team and closure of the old company takes 3-6 months: residence permits for staff and moving clients to new contracts take the longest. Want to know how long it will take in your case? Ask a manager for a week-by-week plan.

We will help you relocate your business abroad

Murblz handles business relocation end to end: we pick the country and model for your clients and taxes, register the company, prepare the bank file, arrange residence permits for you and your team and prepare reports on the foreign company for your home tax authority.

The first step is free: in the chat on the site a manager will review your business and suggest 2-3 countries with a tax estimate. Details and the cost of support are with the manager. Get a free consultation.

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