4 ms·

This looks like a paid advertisement to convince people to buy some of the stagnant real estate of Dubai.

by zerostar07 8y ago

csomar 8y ago
That's a horrible article coming from the economist. It is short, empty on details and plain stupid.
- Nokinside 8y ago
  You realize that what you read was first page or of special report you must buy to see?
  - zerostar07 8y ago
    this is part of the special report, but reading the other titles does not justify the fairytale image painted here. https://www.economist.com/sections/special-reports https://www.economist.com/sections/special-reports
  - csomar 8y ago
    No I thought that article was the special report. Apparently it is only available in print?
charlesdm 8y ago
Dubai is still an attractive location for people who are making money, because they don't levy income and capital gains tax. I know a few proven but relatively unknown entrepreneurs (people with exits in the tens or hundreds of millions) living there and doing well. That might change in the coming years / decades (as I also believe VAT is being introduced) but nevertheless a good base if you're operating internationally.
- zerostar07 8y ago
  > living there and doing well I 'm sure there are but its not clear a) if they started their businesses there and b) if dubai played an essential role other than being low-tax.
  - charlesdm 8y ago
    Some did, others didn't. Some have built their next company out of Dubai (and are doing well), others have opted to base it somewhere in Europe with the staff being based in Europe (and they commute a few days per week from Dubai). However, they are all spending their money in Dubai (property, purchases, etc), so generally a net win for the local economy. A lot of foreign brands (i.e. supermarkets, car manufacturers, certain fashion brands) are concessions that are held by local Emirati families granted to them decades ago by the Sheikh. So those profits mostly flow back to the local Emirati population.
    - zerostar07 8y ago
      Understand. I think Dubai offers a level of luxury due to abundant cheap labor, general safety and an abundance of of supercars, but not sure how it fares as an entrepreneurship center. Or how they are going to fare if other cities with similar "luxury" offerings catch up in asia. IIRC real estate prices are still falling in Dubai, but people keep on building new empty buildings, which sounds unsustainable and goes against the optimistic image painted in the article. Dubai is also benefiting from the general tax and secrecy crack-down in all of EU and OECD countries like malta, cyprus ireland, switzerland, singapore (Dubai was until very recently non-cooperative jurisdiction) but it's not clear whether this will last forever. It will be interesting to see whether the UK will seek to lower taxes post-brexit.
- geff82 8y ago
  A VaT of 5% has been introduced.
- Nokinside 8y ago
  This. I don't live in Dubai, but Dubai is good place to do business, meet Asian business partners, make deals and form holding companies under Dubai's independent English language common law judiciary. Good things about Dubai: easy to travel, free trade zone, no taxes, and judiciary that meets western standards (for business, the civil law in the Emirate is medieval).
- pentae 8y ago
  It always surprises me why people choose Dubai because theres so many better countries you can effectively get this type of tax arrangement in with some basic legal advice. A few that come to mind: Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, England (non-domicile), Monaco and i'm sure there are others not from the top of my head.
  - charlesdm 8y ago
    It's highly personal. Maybe you don't like (the congestion of) Asian cities. Or the culture. Maybe you don't like the gilded cage that is Monaco, or you think it is bad value -- $1m will likely not even get you a nice studio apt in Monaco, but it will go a lot further in Dubai. If you're renting $10k or 20k a month will get you a lot more in Dubai than it will in Monaco. But you do want the tax benefits of not paying any tax. England is great as a non dom, but there are restrictions on what you can and cannot do. Perhaps you are British and you cannot get non-dom status. Perhaps your main business lies in the UK and thus you can't avoid UK tax. Perhaps you want geographical proximity to a certain area, i.e. (Eastern) Europe, or Africa, or India. There are many reasons why people opt for certain jurisdictions.
    - zerostar07 8y ago
      Simiar with dubai, it is desert climate which means a lot of activities are impossible or insufferable. Malls and luxury hotels are OK but at some point you 're going to get fed up of so many gilded poles.
- XJOKOLAT 8y ago
  How about pay your fucking share of taxes? Is what I would have said on this scum sucking site.

This looks like a paid advertisement to convince people to buy some of the stagnant real estate of Dubai.

csomar 8y ago

That's a horrible article coming from the economist. It is short, empty on details and plain stupid.

Nokinside 8y ago
You realize that what you read was first page or of special report you must buy to see?
- zerostar07 8y ago
  this is part of the special report, but reading the other titles does not justify the fairytale image painted here. https://www.economist.com/sections/special-reports https://www.economist.com/sections/special-reports
- csomar 8y ago
  No I thought that article was the special report. Apparently it is only available in print?

charlesdm 8y ago

Dubai is still an attractive location for people who are making money, because they don't levy income and capital gains tax. I know a few proven but relatively unknown entrepreneurs (people with exits in the tens or hundreds of millions) living there and doing well. That might change in the coming years / decades (as I also believe VAT is being introduced) but nevertheless a good base if you're operating internationally.

zerostar07 8y ago
> living there and doing well I 'm sure there are but its not clear a) if they started their businesses there and b) if dubai played an essential role other than being low-tax.
- charlesdm 8y ago
  Some did, others didn't. Some have built their next company out of Dubai (and are doing well), others have opted to base it somewhere in Europe with the staff being based in Europe (and they commute a few days per week from Dubai). However, they are all spending their money in Dubai (property, purchases, etc), so generally a net win for the local economy. A lot of foreign brands (i.e. supermarkets, car manufacturers, certain fashion brands) are concessions that are held by local Emirati families granted to them decades ago by the Sheikh. So those profits mostly flow back to the local Emirati population.
  - zerostar07 8y ago
    Understand. I think Dubai offers a level of luxury due to abundant cheap labor, general safety and an abundance of of supercars, but not sure how it fares as an entrepreneurship center. Or how they are going to fare if other cities with similar "luxury" offerings catch up in asia. IIRC real estate prices are still falling in Dubai, but people keep on building new empty buildings, which sounds unsustainable and goes against the optimistic image painted in the article. Dubai is also benefiting from the general tax and secrecy crack-down in all of EU and OECD countries like malta, cyprus ireland, switzerland, singapore (Dubai was until very recently non-cooperative jurisdiction) but it's not clear whether this will last forever. It will be interesting to see whether the UK will seek to lower taxes post-brexit.
geff82 8y ago
A VaT of 5% has been introduced.
Nokinside 8y ago
This. I don't live in Dubai, but Dubai is good place to do business, meet Asian business partners, make deals and form holding companies under Dubai's independent English language common law judiciary. Good things about Dubai: easy to travel, free trade zone, no taxes, and judiciary that meets western standards (for business, the civil law in the Emirate is medieval).
pentae 8y ago
It always surprises me why people choose Dubai because theres so many better countries you can effectively get this type of tax arrangement in with some basic legal advice. A few that come to mind: Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, England (non-domicile), Monaco and i'm sure there are others not from the top of my head.
- charlesdm 8y ago
  It's highly personal. Maybe you don't like (the congestion of) Asian cities. Or the culture. Maybe you don't like the gilded cage that is Monaco, or you think it is bad value -- $1m will likely not even get you a nice studio apt in Monaco, but it will go a lot further in Dubai. If you're renting $10k or 20k a month will get you a lot more in Dubai than it will in Monaco. But you do want the tax benefits of not paying any tax. England is great as a non dom, but there are restrictions on what you can and cannot do. Perhaps you are British and you cannot get non-dom status. Perhaps your main business lies in the UK and thus you can't avoid UK tax. Perhaps you want geographical proximity to a certain area, i.e. (Eastern) Europe, or Africa, or India. There are many reasons why people opt for certain jurisdictions.
  - zerostar07 8y ago
    Simiar with dubai, it is desert climate which means a lot of activities are impossible or insufferable. Malls and luxury hotels are OK but at some point you 're going to get fed up of so many gilded poles.
XJOKOLAT 8y ago
How about pay your fucking share of taxes? Is what I would have said on this scum sucking site.