Russian Ministry of Finance will remove the UAE from the “blacklist” of offshore zones from January 1

Moscow. November 12. INTERFAX.RU – The Russian Ministry of Finance has prepared a draft order to exclude the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the list of offshore zones starting from January 1, 2026. The draft order “On introducing amendments to the Special List of states and territories providing a preferential tax regime and/or not requiring disclosure and provision of information in financial transactions (offshore zones), approved by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on March 28, 2024, No. 35n” has been published on the official internet portal of regulatory legal acts. From January 1, 2026, the intergovernmental agreement between Russia and the UAE on the elimination of double taxation regarding income and capital taxes and the prevention of tax evasion came into force on February 17, 2025, replacing the 2011 agreement concerning only the income of state investment funds. The new agreement regulates the taxation of profits (income) of all residents of the two countries, with tax rates not exceeding 10% applied to dividend, interest, and royalty income. The document also addresses the exchange of information between the competent authorities of both countries.