some truths about living in DXB

Brief and straightforward, is Dubai really tax free?

Yes, Dubai is tax-free, if you live and work in the emirate your income will be paid to you gross and if you buy a house to live in you will not be subjected to property taxes because direct personal taxation is against the law in Dubai.

When they say direct personal taxation is against the law, they are like saying that indirect personal taxation is acceptable.

The salary might be tax-free, but with all the municipality fees and charges, school fees and registration fees and the high rents and all the other bits and bobs they fail to mention when you are being enticed into moving here, you might as well be paying 50% tax.

We got a letter from the school that they are increasing the fees from September to 5%. The fees of my KG1 daughter, even before the increase is equal to or maybe more than what my sister in a fairly expensive university pays every month. My company is paying for half of my kid’s tuition fee, all because my company owns the school, meaning, I could not transfer anywhere without tipping all the contents of my packet and tell the school cashier to help herself. Luckily, P loves her school right now and I could not ask for more. I am contented with the teachers and the curriculum and dear daughter is coming home happy. I just hope it stays that way.

I read Dubai mom’s forum today and more and more parents are cringing at the fact that most schools have announced the increase of fees by up to 25%!!  

How do these schools expect us parents to magic up the extra school fees and all the other additional costs that keep cropping up? Most likely, the schools are doing this because they know that most expat family’s company pays for the tuition fees (part of some expat package). But not all companies give enough money to cover the fees and it is a real pity to move your kid to another school when he is happy with the his old one because of financial matters.

Next…

Housing is a basic essential and the greedy people are abusing this. In the first half of 2005, annual rents in Dubai have shot up by around 40% — possibly the fastest inflation rate in the world for accommodation.

How could anyone implement this kind of crap is so beyond me. There are no particular reason for the increase. No additional facility being built in the apartment buildings, no fancy blings of improvement inside the flats. The landlords just increase it to keep up with the property boom b*llsh*t. Tenants who refuse to pay has to pack up and leave.

This year, the government of Dubai has imposed an annual 7% rent cap. Prior to this move, landlords would increase the rents by as much as 70% forcing expats to send their families home as their life here is less than sustainable already. Most people I know live in cramped spaces, usually sharing a small bedroom with other 5-6 people! A small thin partition to give you privacy if you are lucky, sometimes, you only have your blanket.

One lady who stays in the same building asked me how many people live in my flat and I answered that it’s just me, the hubby and the kid. In a two-bedroom (really small) flat. She was in disbelief and told me we were ‘extravagant’ and ‘living in class’!I’d say that is normal but she lives in the same sized flat with 9 other ladies! I didn’t have the chance tell her my company pays for the flat as the elevator door opened to her floor and she got out still with a shocked face.

As reported, rocketing rents in the UAE have forced millions of Asian workers to sleep in their cars or on the streets (it rarely rains and is warm all throughout the year so this option is always there). Foreign labourers mainly from the Indian subcontinent, make up around 85 percent of the United Arab Emirates’ 4 million population.

An oil-driven real estate boom is pushing rents higher in the UAE by up to 50% each year, with an average one bedroom apartment in Dubai costing around 56,000 dirhams ($15,250) annually. I thought Tokyo was supposed to be the most expensive city in terms of property prices? Dubai is definitely taking over that spot in a flash.

Other living costs such as schooling, food, utilities and leisure are also climbing sharply.

Are they trying to push the expat community to the level here? and get us out of Dubai? Because if these things continue to happen, all of us are going to be priced out of Dubai!