Before you buy · As a US citizen

Buying property in Dubai as a US citizen

Dubai does not tax the rent from an ordinary lease. The United States does — wherever you live, with no tax treaty and no UAE tax to credit. What applies to you as a US citizen or green-card holder, what you report, why moving to Dubai changes less than you think, and how to buy without flying in.

Oston Real Estate · Last reviewed 5 October 2026

The short version

If you are a US citizen or green-card holder, a Dubai apartment is taxed in the US much like an apartment in the US — with slower depreciation and more forms.

The US taxes you on income from anywhere, wherever you live. Dubai rent goes on Schedule E of your Form 1040. There is no US–UAE income tax treaty, and the UAE levies no income tax on individuals, so there is nothing to credit. If your state has an income tax, it usually taxes the rent too.
A rental outside the US is depreciated over 30 years, not 27.5, and gets no bonus depreciation.
A rental loss is passive. If you actively participate, up to $25,000 a year can offset your other income (less, or nothing, if you are married and file separately), but that allowance phases out between $100,000 and $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income — the same limits for a married couple filing jointly. Otherwise the loss waits until you have passive income or sell.
Above $200,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($250,000 for a married couple filing jointly), the 3.8% net investment income tax can apply to the rent and to the gain.
When you sell, the gain is taxed in dollars: at 0%, 15% or 20% if you held the property for more than a year, and at up to 25% on the part that comes from depreciation. You cannot swap a US property into a Dubai one through a 1031 exchange.
A UAE bank account brings an FBAR once your foreign accounts together exceed $10,000 at any time in the year. The apartment itself is not reported on Form 8938 if you hold it directly; a company holding it brings more forms.
US estate tax covers the apartment. The 2026 exemption — the IRS calls it the basic exclusion — is $15 million per person, but the unlimited deduction for what you leave your spouse applies only if your spouse is a US citizen — otherwise only through a special trust, which defers the tax. Who inherits is decided under UAE rules; a will registered in Dubai settles it (the DIFC courts register wills of non-Muslims).
Moving to Dubai does not end US tax. The foreign earned income exclusion — $132,900 in 2026 — covers pay for work, not rent or gains, and your state may still treat you as resident.
You may not need to fly in. For off-plan, the developer registers the purchase; ask whether you can sign remotely. For a finished property, someone can sign for you on a US power of attorney. It needs a notary, your state, the US Department of State, the UAE Embassy or a UAE consulate with the UAE foreign ministry, and an Arabic translation — allow two to three months if each step goes by mail. Dubai also checks its wording and age.
The dirham is pegged to the dollar, so while the peg holds, the exchange rate does not change what you pay; your bank’s margin and fees still apply.

Figures are those for 2026, in force on the date this page was last reviewed. The IRS adjusts many of them for inflation each year.

“Tax-free” is not true for you

The US taxes its citizens on income from anywhere. In the words of the Treasury regulations, “all citizens of the United States, wherever resident, and all resident alien individuals are liable to the income taxes imposed by the Code whether the income is received from sources within or without the United States.” A green-card holder is a resident for tax purposes. Rents are named in the law as income. So rent from Dubai is taxable in the US whether you live in Denver or in Dubai.

There is no treaty, and nothing to credit. The UAE is on neither the IRS list of income tax treaties nor its list of estate and gift tax treaties. The foreign tax credit is only for foreign income taxes you have paid. The UAE “does not levy income tax on individuals”. UAE corporate tax does not apply to an individual’s rent or sale proceeds from UAE property unless the activity is, or must be, licensed. Using a property manager does not change that. Renting out a holiday home under a permit in your own name does: that counts as a licensed business, and UAE corporate tax can apply once your business turnover in the UAE exceeds AED 1 million (about $272,000) in a calendar year. With an ordinary lease, there is no UAE tax to credit, and you pay the full US tax.

Your state usually taxes it too. States with an income tax generally tax their residents on income from all sources. California taxes residents on “ALL income, including income from sources outside California”; New York residents pay “on all your income no matter where it is earned”. In a state without an income tax, there is no state tax on it.

For you, an apartment in Dubai is taxed much like an apartment in Denver — with slower depreciation. It also gets none of the 20% deduction for qualified business income that some US landlords can claim, which covers only business income from the US. “Tax-free” is true in Dubai and wrong in the US.

Holding it through a company changes a lot. By default, US tax law treats a UAE company owned by its members with limited liability as a corporation. If US persons control it, you file Form 5471 every year — the penalty for not filing starts at $10,000 — and its rent can be taxed to you each year anyway as passive income of a controlled foreign corporation. If they do not control it, the rules for passive foreign investment companies can apply instead. And the company is outside the UAE’s exclusion for individuals. A US single-member LLC changes nothing for income tax: it is disregarded, and the rent and gain go on your own return, but it files its own FBAR if it holds a UAE account, and you report the same account on yours. Rent from an office or a shop also carries UAE VAT at 5%; your tenant pays it, but you may have to register for VAT in the UAE. Take these cases to your tax adviser before you buy, not after.

How the rent is taxed

On Schedule E, in dollars. You report Dubai rent and expenses on Schedule E, Part I, with the foreign address on line 1a. Every amount is converted into dollars at the rate when you receive or pay it. With the dirham pegged, that is simple: the IRS’s own yearly average rate for the dirham was 3.673 in every year from 2021 to 2025.

What you can deduct: the costs of managing and maintaining the apartment — the property manager, insurance, repairs, the building’s service charge (a special levy for improvements is depreciated instead) — and the interest on a loan for it. A UAE lender issues no Form 1098; its interest goes on line 13. Travel to Dubai counts only if the main purpose of the trip is to collect the rent or to manage or maintain the apartment, and you must split the costs; for trips abroad of more than a week with a quarter or more of personal time, a stricter split applies. The costs of buying — such as the Land Department’s registration fee — are not deducted but added to what the apartment cost you.

Depreciation: 30 years, not 27.5. US law requires the alternative depreciation system for property “used predominantly outside the United States”. For a residential rental placed in service after 2017, that means straight line over 30 years, with the mid-month convention. The 27.5 years you may know apply only to property in the US. Furniture and appliances are depreciated over 9 years. Land is not depreciable, so you split the price between building and land by their market values. Bonus depreciation is not available for property that must use this system. For an off-plan unit, depreciation starts when it is ready and available for rent — after handover, not when you sign. During construction there is no rent and no depreciation; what you pay goes into the apartment’s cost.

Short-term rentals are different. If you provide substantial services, such as regular cleaning, changing linen or maid service, the rent goes on Schedule C and self-employment tax can apply. Whether a unit rented mostly to short-term guests is still a “residential rental” is not settled: US law leaves out units in a hotel or other building where more than half the units are rented on a transient basis. If yours does not count, it is depreciated over 40 years, not 30. Ask your adviser.

The rates. The rent is added to your other income and taxed at your normal rates — in 2026 up to 37%, on taxable income above $640,600 for a single filer or $768,700 for a married couple filing jointly. Above a modified adjusted gross income of $200,000 ($250,000 married filing jointly, $125,000 married filing separately), the 3.8% net investment income tax applies as well. These thresholds are not adjusted for inflation, and no foreign tax credit can reduce this tax. Nothing is withheld from Dubai rent, so you may need to pay estimated tax during the year to avoid a penalty — or ask your employer to withhold more from your pay (Form W-4).

Losses: the passive rules

A rental loss is passive. It can offset passive income, such as profit from another rental, but generally not your salary. Two exceptions:

Active participation. If you own at least 10% and make the management decisions — approving tenants, rental terms and expenses, even with a property manager in Dubai — up to $25,000 of loss a year can offset your other income. The $25,000 shrinks by $1 for every $2 of modified adjusted gross income above $100,000 and is gone at $150,000. The limits are the same for a married couple filing jointly, and they are not adjusted for inflation. If you are married and file separately, you get no allowance if you lived with your spouse at any time in the year; if you lived apart all year, it is $12,500, shrinking from $50,000.
Real estate professionals. If more than half of your working time, and more than 750 hours a year, goes into real estate businesses in which you materially participate — that is, work in them regularly, continuously and substantially — different rules apply.

What is not allowed carries forward. A disallowed loss waits for passive income in later years, and is released in full when you sell your entire interest to an unrelated buyer in a fully taxable sale. For example, a married couple filing jointly with $180,000 of income whose apartment shows a loss after depreciation cannot set that loss against their salaries; it waits for later rental profits or the sale.

Short stays. If guests stay seven days or less on average, the rental is not a “rental activity” under these rules, so the $25,000 allowance does not apply. It is treated as a business instead, and a loss stays passive unless you materially participate in running it. Ask your adviser how your rental is classified.

Using it yourself: the vacation-home rule

If you use the apartment yourself on any day, you split the costs between rental and personal days. If you use it for more than 14 days in the year, or more than 10% of the days you rent it at a fair rent, whichever is greater, it also counts as your residence: your rental deductions cannot exceed your rental income, so there is no rental loss, and the excess carries forward to the next year under the same limit. Days used by your family count as personal even if they pay rent, unless the apartment is their main home and they pay a fair rent; so do days you rent it to anyone below a fair rent. If you use it as a residence and rent it out for fewer than 15 days in the year, you report none of the rent and deduct none of the rental costs.

Selling: capital gains tax, in dollars

The gain is taxed like a US sale. What you paid is converted into dollars at the rate when you bought, and what you receive at the rate when you sold; with the peg, the exchange rate adds practically nothing. If you held the property for more than a year, the gain is taxed at 0%, 15% or 20%. In 2026, the 0% rate applies up to a taxable income of $49,450 for a single filer ($98,900 married filing jointly) and the 15% rate up to $545,500 ($613,700). The part of the gain that comes from depreciation — counted even if you never claimed it — is taxed at up to 25%. A gain on property held for a year or less is taxed at your normal rates. In both cases, the 3.8% net investment income tax can apply on top.

Off-plan dates. For a unit bought off-plan, the holding period of the apartment generally starts the day after you receive title or, if earlier, take possession and assume the burdens and privileges of ownership — not when you sign. If you sell the purchase contract itself before completion, what you sell is a contract right, and its own holding period runs from when you signed. If you buy and sell contracts regularly, the gain can be ordinary income instead. Ask your adviser how your dates count before you sign.

No 1031 exchange into Dubai. Under US law, “real property located in the United States and real property located outside the United States are not property of a like kind.” You cannot sell a US rental and buy a Dubai apartment tax-deferred, or the other way around.

Your main home. If the apartment was your main home for two of the five years before the sale, up to $250,000 of the gain ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly) can be tax-free; the law has no rule against a home abroad. Gain from periods when it was not your main home, with some exceptions, and depreciation stay taxable. A loss on a home you used yourself is not deductible.

A dirham mortgage. On a loan for a rental, a gain or loss from the exchange rate when you repay is ordinary income or loss. With the peg, it is practically zero.

What you report

Thresholds for 2026. A married couple filing jointly in the US files Form 8938 above $100,000 at year-end or $150,000 at any time; people living abroad have higher thresholds.
What	Form	When it applies
Rent, expenses and depreciation	Schedule E (Form 1040)	Every year the apartment is rented out
Passive loss limits	Form 8582	A rental loss this year or carried forward from earlier years (small losses can be exempt)
Net investment income tax	Form 8960	Modified adjusted gross income above $200,000 ($250,000 married filing jointly)
UAE bank accounts	FBAR (FinCEN Form 114)	Foreign accounts together above $10,000 at any time in the year
Foreign financial assets, such as UAE accounts or shares in a UAE company	Form 8938	Above $50,000 at year-end or $75,000 at any time (single, living in the US)
Gifts or bequests from someone who is neither a US citizen nor a US resident, or from a foreign estate	Form 3520	More than $100,000 in the year from one of them; from a foreign company, more than $20,573

The FBAR goes to FinCEN, not the IRS. You file it online, separately from your tax return, by April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15. The penalty for a non-willful failure can reach $16,536 per report; for a willful one, $165,353 or half the account balance, whichever is greater.

The apartment itself is not on Form 8938 if you hold it directly — the IRS says “a personal residence or a rental property does not have to be reported”. If a foreign company holds it, your interest in the company is reported, and its value includes the apartment.

Estate and gift tax

US estate tax covers the apartment. For a US citizen, and for a resident domiciled in the US, the estate includes property “wherever situated”. In 2026 the basic exclusion — the exemption — is $15,000,000 per person, adjusted for inflation from 2027; above it, the top rate is 40%. Heirs generally take the apartment at its market value at the date of death as their cost, so the gain up to then is not taxed as income.

A spouse who is not a US citizen is different. The unlimited deduction for property left to a spouse applies only if the spouse is a US citizen. For a spouse who is not, the property must pass through a qualified domestic trust (QDOT), with at least one trustee who is a US citizen or a US company, and the estate tax is then deferred rather than removed: it falls due on distributions of capital and on the spouse’s death. A QDOT worth more than $2 million — or one in which real property outside the US, such as a Dubai apartment, makes up more than 35% of its value — must have a US bank as trustee or furnish a bond or letter of credit. If you and a spouse who is not a US citizen hold the apartment jointly with a right of survivorship, the rule that counts half for each spouse does not apply: your estate includes all of it, except the share your spouse can show they paid for with their own money, not money from you. Ask your adviser how US law treats co-ownership on a Dubai title deed. Lifetime gifts to a spouse who is not a citizen are free of gift tax up to $194,000 in 2026; to anyone else, up to $19,000 per person a year.

No treaty or foreign tax credit reduces it. There is no estate or gift tax treaty between the US and the UAE, and the UAE government’s list of its taxes includes no inheritance tax, so there is nothing to credit.

Who inherits the apartment is decided under UAE rules. UAE law applies to a foreigner’s will about property in the UAE. Without a will, UAE rules point in different directions for an owner who lives abroad. One points to the law of your nationality, another to the law in force in Dubai for property in the emirate. The UAE’s law for non-Muslim foreigners living in the UAE gives half of the estate to the spouse and half to the children in equal shares, unless the person relies on the law of their own country. No official text we found settles which applies.

A will registered in Dubai settles it. If you are not and have never been Muslim, the courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) register wills for people with assets in the UAE, including people who do not live there. You can attend the appointment online. A will covering up to five properties costs AED 7,500 (about $2,040). Dubai Courts keep a register of non-Muslim wills too. Make sure your US will — and any living trust — and your Dubai will do not contradict each other.

Moving to Dubai does not end US tax

Citizens stay taxable wherever they live. The foreign earned income exclusion — $132,900 in 2026 — covers only pay for work: wages, salaries and professional fees earned while your tax home is abroad and you either live there for a whole tax year or spend at least 330 full days abroad in 12 months. Rent and gains from the Dubai apartment are not covered, and for the 3.8% net investment income tax, the excluded pay is added back when the threshold is tested. Because the UAE levies no income tax, there is no foreign tax to credit either. Green-card holders can use the whole-tax-year test only if they are citizens of a country with a US income tax treaty; otherwise only the 330-day test.

Housing. If you work in Dubai, part of your housing costs can be excluded (as an employee) or deducted (if self-employed): for 2026 the costs that count are capped at $57,174 for Dubai, and the first $21,264 does not count.

Filing. If on April 15 you live abroad and your main place of business is abroad, you get an automatic extension to June 15 to file and pay — but interest runs from April 15.

Your state may not let you go. California treats someone domiciled there who is away “for a temporary or transitory purpose” as a resident; there is a safe harbor for people abroad under an employment contract for at least 546 consecutive days, unless your intangible income exceeds $200,000 in a year or the main purpose is to avoid tax. New York keeps you domiciled until you show “with clear and convincing evidence” that you have given up your New York domicile and set up a new one.

Giving up citizenship has its own tax. If your net worth is $2 million or more, or your average annual income tax over the last five years is above $211,000 (2026), or you cannot certify five years of compliance, you are a “covered expatriate”, with narrow exceptions such as some dual citizens from birth: most of what you own — the Dubai apartment included — is treated as sold the day before, with $910,000 of gain excluded in 2026. Long-term green-card holders can be covered too. The State Department’s fee for renouncing is $450 since April 13, 2026.

If you are planning a move, talk to your adviser before you go.

Buying without flying in

Off-plan. The developer registers your purchase with the Land Department through its developer portal, Oqood. For a non-resident buyer, the Land Department lists a copy of the sale and purchase contract and a copy of a valid passport, and the sale must be registered within 90 days of signing. The Land Department’s description does not ask you to be there in person. Whether you can sign the contract remotely is the developer’s practice, not a published rule — ask before you reserve, and ask the developer for proof of the registration.

A finished property is transferred at a registration trustee office licensed by the Land Department, between the parties “or their legally authorized representatives”. If you are not there, someone signs for you on a power of attorney.

A US power of attorney goes through five steps before you can use it in Dubai. The US is a party to the Apostille Convention; the UAE is not. So an apostille alone does not work for the UAE — each authority confirms the signature of the one before it:

You sign it on paper in front of a US notary public. Get the exact wording from your Dubai lawyer, the developer or the trustee office first (see below). Avoid an online notarization: some states cannot certify one.
Your state certifies the notary’s signature, usually the Secretary of State. In New York, the county clerk certifies it first. Some states, such as California and Texas, issue an apostille even for the UAE; others, such as New York and Florida, issue a separate certificate for countries outside the Convention. Either way, the next step is still needed. State fees are about $10 to $20 a document; New York’s county clerk charges separately. New York, Texas and California do it the same day at the counter; by mail it can take two weeks or more.
The US Department of State’s Office of Authentications authenticates the state’s certificate — $20 per document, with Form DS-4194. By mail, it processes requests within five weeks; at its walk-in counter in Washington, D.C. (Monday through Thursday, 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.), within seven business days.
You apply on the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, logging in with UAE Pass, the UAE’s digital ID (non-residents can create an account). A courier collects the original and returns it, and you receive an emailed copy, digitally attested by the UAE Embassy or consulate and the Ministry. Since August 21, 2025, VFS Global has handled attestation for the UAE Embassy in Washington and the Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Time and cost: the Ministry says processing through a service provider abroad may take up to 15 business days. The missions do not publish their fees. The Ministry’s general fees are AED 150 (about $41) for a “power of attorney of personal nature” and AED 2,000 (about $545) for commercial documents, among which it lists a “power of attorney of commercial nature” and a “general power of attorney”; a power of attorney with commercial content counts as commercial. Budget AED 2,000 plus the courier’s service fee, unless the mission confirms that yours counts as personal.
A translator on the UAE Ministry of Justice’s list translates it into Arabic. Apart from translators the courts or the public prosecution appoint themselves, no UAE authority may certify, and no court may accept, a translation by anyone not on that list — so a US translator does not count unless they are on it too.

On the official processing times alone, allow two to three months from signing in the US to using it in Dubai if each step goes by mail.

Since July 2025, Dubai also checks the paper, the wording and the age. The Land Department’s Circular No. 29/R/2025 is known from Dubai law firms’ summaries. One of them reports that the Land Department wants to see the original paper document, not an uncertified electronic or scanned copy, and accepts a power of attorney issued abroad only if it names the transaction explicitly — for a purchase, wording such as “purchase for oneself with explicit specification of the ownership share”. General wording such as “full authority to manage property” is not enough. Whether the Land Department accepts the UAE side’s digital attestation together with the original is not settled. Before you apply, ask the developer or the trustee office whether they accept it.

How old it may be is less settled. The law firms read the circular as two years for any transaction. The Land Department’s own FAQ gives two years for selling, mortgaging or gifting a property and five years from the date of notarization for buying one. Assume two years: sign it close to when it will be used, not when you reserve, and have the wording checked in Dubai before you sign it in the US.

If you later sell on a power of attorney, the same law-firm summaries say the circular also sets who may receive the sale price. The sale price is paid by manager’s cheque — a cheque issued by the bank itself, like a cashier’s check — in your name as the owner on the title deed. A check to your representative is possible only on conditions, for example a receipt stating that it was received on your behalf. One firm reports that checks may again be made out to the representative if both the sale contract and the power of attorney expressly say so. So have both say who may receive the money. See Proving where your money came from.

The currency: pegged to your dollar

The Central Bank of the UAE keeps the dirham at a fixed rate against the US dollar: it buys dirhams at 3.673 and sells them at 3.672 per dollar, around a peg of 3.6725 dirhams to the dollar. The IMF classifies the arrangement as a conventional peg.

For you, that means the exchange rate does not move between the day you reserve and the last installment — the currency risk that buyers paying in euros or pounds carry does not apply while the peg holds. Your bank’s rate includes its margin, so compare it with 3.6725. A peg is a policy, not a promise in law; the Central Bank backs it with foreign reserves that must normally be at least 70% of the monetary base.

Sending the money. There is no limit on how much money you take or send abroad, and a normal bank transfer does not have to be declared. Carrying more than $10,000 in cash or similar instruments into or out of the US does: you declare it to US Customs and Border Protection on FinCEN Form 105. Your bank, the receiving UAE bank and your broker will want to see where the money came from — see Proving where your money came from.

Questions for your tax adviser and estate attorney

How do I report the Dubai rent on Schedule E, and which costs can I deduct — the service charge, furnishing, the interest on a UAE mortgage? Do I need to pay estimated tax, or can I adjust my withholding?
How do I split the price between building and land, and when do I start depreciating after handover?
Will my loss be allowed this year, or carried forward under the passive rules?
If I rent it out short-term through an operator, is it still a rental — Schedule E or Schedule C?
How many days can my family and I use it before the vacation-home rule limits my deductions?
If I sell the purchase contract before handover, what is my holding period?
Which accounts and forms do I report, and should I hold the apartment myself, through a US LLC or through a UAE company?
My spouse is not a US citizen. What does that mean for estate tax, and do we need a QDOT?
How should my US will, any living trust and a Dubai will fit together?
If I move to Dubai, what stays taxable in the US and in my state?

Questions and answers

Is rental income from a Dubai property tax-free for US citizens?

No. US citizens and green-card holders are taxed on income from anywhere, wherever they live, so rent from a Dubai apartment goes on Schedule E of Form 1040. The UAE levies no income tax on individuals and there is no US–UAE income tax treaty, so there is no foreign tax to credit and you pay the full US tax — and state income tax too, if your state has one, plus the net investment income tax above the thresholds.

Is there a tax treaty between the US and the UAE?

No. The UAE is on neither the IRS list of income tax treaties nor its list of estate and gift tax treaties. With no UAE income tax either, no treaty relief and no foreign tax credit reduce the US tax on Dubai rent, on a sale or on an estate.

How is a rental property in Dubai depreciated for US tax?

Over 30 years, straight line, under the alternative depreciation system, which US law requires for property used mainly outside the US — not over the 27.5 years used for US rentals. Furniture and appliances are depreciated over 9 years. Land is not depreciable, and bonus depreciation is not available. For an off-plan unit, depreciation starts when it is ready and available for rent. A unit rented mostly to short-term guests may not count as residential and would then be depreciated over 40 years.

Do I pay US tax when I sell my Dubai property?

Yes. The gain is worked out in dollars and taxed like a US sale: at 0%, 15% or 20% if you held the property for more than a year, at your normal rates if not, and at up to 25% on the part that comes from depreciation. The net investment income tax can apply above the thresholds. A US property cannot be exchanged into a Dubai one tax-deferred under section 1031. If the apartment was your main home for two of the last five years, up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly) can be excluded — but not the part from depreciation or, with some exceptions, from years it was not your main home.

Do I have to report my Dubai property or bank account to the IRS?

The apartment itself, held directly, is not reported on Form 8938, but its rent and expenses go on Schedule E. A UAE bank account is different: if your foreign accounts together exceeded $10,000 at any time in the year, you file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114), and above higher thresholds the account also goes on Form 8938. If a foreign company holds the apartment, your interest in the company is reported and further forms apply.

Is my Dubai property subject to US estate tax?

Yes, for US citizens and for residents domiciled in the US: the estate includes property anywhere in the world. In 2026 the basic exclusion is $15 million per person and the top rate is 40%. Property left to a spouse who is not a US citizen gets the marital deduction only through a qualified domestic trust, which defers the tax. There is no US–UAE estate tax treaty and no UAE inheritance tax.

Can I buy property in Dubai with a US power of attorney?

Yes, once it has been notarized in the US, certified by your state, authenticated by the US Department of State, attested by the UAE Embassy or a UAE consulate together with the UAE foreign ministry, and legally translated into Arabic. An apostille alone does not work, because the UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention. A Dubai law firm’s summary of a Land Department circular from July 2025 adds that it must name the transaction explicitly and be shown as the original paper document; whether the Land Department accepts the UAE side’s digital attestation is not settled. Assume it is valid for no more than two years.

Does moving to Dubai end my US tax liability?

No. US citizens stay taxable on income from anywhere. The foreign earned income exclusion — $132,900 in 2026 — covers pay for work done abroad, not rent or gains from a Dubai apartment, and with no UAE income tax there is nothing to credit. Your state may also still treat you as resident until you have clearly given up your domicile there. For a citizen, only formally giving up citizenship — and filing Form 8854 — ends US tax on income from anywhere, and that can bring an exit tax.

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