Australian Desk · The UAE Practice of Cornwalls

An Australian law firm, on the ground in Dubai

Founded in Melbourne, built in Dubai: Neo Legal is the UAE practice of Cornwalls (est. 1891), with nine Australian-qualified lawyers working the Australia–UAE corridor every day. The move that looks like a UAE question — company, visa, villa — is usually an Australian one first: tax residency, CGT, the SMSF, the estate plan. We are the one firm that runs both sides as a single engagement.

Speak to an Australian lawyer in Dubai → Start with tax residency
1891
Cornwalls — our Australian parent firm
9
Australian-qualified lawyers on the bench
2 systems
Australia & the UAE, run as one mandate

The move is an Australian-law event

Everyone sells the Dubai side: 0% personal tax, fast company setup, golden visas. All true — and all worthless if the Australian side is wrong. Australia taxes residents on worldwide income, so the whole plan turns on genuinely ceasing Australian tax residency: the resides, domicile and 183-day tests, the timing of the departure, what happens to the main residence exemption, the SMSF that quietly becomes non-complying, the trusts and companies that keep you tethered to the ATO. Get that sequencing wrong and the UAE’s 0% becomes an expensive illusion.

What we do for Australians

Individuals and families: exit and residency planning coordinated with Cornwalls; UAE residence visas and Golden Visas; family office and wealth structures in DIFC and ADGM; DIFC/ADGM wills drafted alongside the Australian estate plan. Businesses: UAE expansion — free zone and mainland establishment, licensing, contracts, employment; UAE corporate tax and Free Zone Person qualification; regulated ventures across VARA, DFSA, FSRA and the Central Bank. Both directions: Gulf capital into Australia through Cornwalls, Australian judgments and debts pursued in the UAE, and construction counsel for the many Australians in the regional industry.

The Australian bench

This is not a referral desk — it is an Australian firm’s own bench, resident on the corridor: Harly Zappino, founder and managing partner (family office, UHNW, corporate and M&A); Levent Shevki, founding partner and CEO of Cornwalls (M&A, financial services, capital raisings); David Kreltszheim (banking & finance); Michael Kohn (international tax); Michael Mammen (property & development, Best Lawyers 2017–2024); Richard Hutchings (construction); Bill Moustafa (disputes & debt recovery); Ellen Karakoussis (tax, Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 winner 2026); and Anthony Blazevic (construction). Australian admissions, UAE practice — with onshore court advocacy through our licensed Emirati advocate partners.

One engagement, two jurisdictions

The failure mode we exist to prevent: an Australian accountant, a Dubai formation agent and no lawyer in the middle. As the UAE practice of Cornwalls — Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane — we run the Australian exit and the UAE build as one file: one strategy, one privilege umbrella, one point of accountability. When the ATO asks questions two years later, the paper trail was built for that day.

Australians in the UAE — frequently asked questions

Are there Australian lawyers in Dubai?
Yes. Neo Legal is an Australian-founded law firm operating in the UAE as the UAE practice of Cornwalls, one of Australia's oldest firms (established 1891). The bench includes nine Australian-qualified lawyers - including the founder and managing partner, the CEO of Cornwalls, and partners in banking, tax, property, construction and disputes - serving clients from Dubai Media City and RAKEZ, with Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane covered through Cornwalls.
Can an Australian law firm practise in the UAE?
Yes, within the UAE's framework for foreign firms: international firms operate as legal consultancies advising on international, common-law and home-jurisdiction matters alongside UAE-facing corporate, regulatory and transactional work, with onshore court advocacy conducted through licensed Emirati advocates. Neo Legal Consultancy FZ-LLC is UAE-established, and DIFC and ADGM - both English-language common-law jurisdictions - are natural venues for Australian clients' contracts and structures.
Do I still pay Australian tax after moving to Dubai?
It depends entirely on whether you cease Australian tax residency - not on where you sit. Australia taxes residents on worldwide income, and the ATO applies the resides, domicile, and 183-day tests to departures. A genuine, well-documented exit - home, family, economic ties - is what converts the UAE's 0% personal tax into a real outcome. We plan the exit on the Australian side through Cornwalls and build the UAE side to match.
What happens to the main residence exemption when I leave Australia?
Since 2020, foreign tax residents are generally denied the CGT main residence exemption on sale, subject to a six-year window and limited life-event exceptions. Selling before departure, or timing the sale against residency status, can be a six-figure decision - it belongs in the exit plan, not the aftermath.
What happens to my SMSF if I move to the UAE?
An SMSF risks breaching the residency conditions once its members and management move offshore - central management and control, and the active member test, both matter. The usual answers are restructuring the fund, converting to a small APRA fund, or winding up before departure. It needs advice before you fly, because a non-complying fund can lose close to half its assets to tax.
Is there an Australia-UAE double tax agreement?
At the time of writing there is no comprehensive double tax agreement in force between Australia and the UAE - the CEPA trade agreement is in force, and a tax treaty has been under negotiation. Planning therefore rests on genuinely ceasing Australian tax residency rather than treaty relief, which is exactly the joint Cornwalls-Neo Legal exercise.
Can one firm handle both my Australian and UAE legal work?
Yes - that is the point of the structure. UAE establishment, licensing, contracts and disputes run from Dubai; Australian tax, corporate, property and estate work runs through Cornwalls in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane; and the two sides are coordinated as a single engagement rather than two firms emailing each other.
How do Australian and UAE wills work together?
Separately, by design. UAE assets held by non-Muslims are best covered by a DIFC or ADGM will, which guarantees common-law succession and avoids default Sharia distribution; Australian assets remain under your Australian estate plan. The two documents need drafting so neither revokes the other - a detail that catches out DIY arrangements.
The construction library
Australian Tax Residency & Dubai
The resides, domicile and 183-day tests — and how exits actually fail.
Main Residence Exemption on Exit
The six-figure CGT decision hiding in your departure date.
ADGM for Australian Fund Managers
The Gulf platform play, via Cornwalls.
Australian Business Expansion
The full UAE market-entry practice page.

Moving between Australia and the UAE?

Tell us where you are in the move. An Australian-qualified lawyer in Dubai will come back to you within one business day — and if the answer is “do nothing yet,” we will say so.

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