The company stays where it was formed, but its tax position can change the day you move. Your new country may tax you on its income, and the company itself may become tax resident where you now run it. Banks will also start reporting the company to your new country.
Your new country may tax its income
Many countries have controlled foreign company rules or similar anti-avoidance rules. The OECD set out the common design of these rules in 2015. Their aim is to stop residents shifting income into foreign companies. Where they apply, part of the company's income can be taxed in your hands, even if it pays you nothing.
The company may become resident where you manage it
Many tax systems treat a foreign company as resident where its key management and commercial decisions are made. If you are the director and you now make those decisions from your new home, the company may become tax resident there. The UAE takes the same approach. A foreign company that is effectively managed and controlled in the UAE is a UAE resident for corporate tax. See Where is my company taxed if I run it from another country?
CRS reports go to your new country
Once you update your address with the company's bank, the bank will report the account to your new country of residence. If the company is a passive entity, the report names you as a controlling person.
An example
Tomasz, a Polish consultant, owns a holding company formed abroad years ago. He moves to Dubai and makes all the company's decisions from his Dubai office. The company may now be resident in the UAE for corporate tax and may need to register. His old country may also still have a claim for the period before he left. He reviews both points before the next financial year starts.
Quick questions
Do I have to close the company when I move?
Not necessarily. The point is to check how each country involved will now tax it and what it must file.
Can I avoid residence by holding board meetings elsewhere?
A single meeting abroad rarely changes anything. Tax authorities look at where the real decisions are regularly made.
Sources: OECD: Designing Effective Controlled Foreign Company Rules, Action 3, 2015 Final Report; UAE Ministry of Finance: Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 and its amendments.
General information as at October 2026, not advice. The examples are fictional and simplified, and the rules have conditions and exceptions not covered here. Take advice on your own circumstances, in each country involved, before acting.