Dubai Land Department Gift Transfer Fees & Process Guide

Property gift transfers are quite popular in Dubai, mostly when it is about succession planning or inheritance. For you to understand the concept, a gift transfer is a voluntary passing of a property’s ownership, either in part or in full, from one individual to another individual, an individual to a company, or a company to an individual. 

Even though the gifted properties in Dubai are exempted from the 4% transfer fee that’s usually payable for all property-related transactions, DLD still has certain rules and costs specified for this voluntarily ownership transfers. The fee specified by the DLD for gift transfers is 0.125% of the deemed property value. 

Now, seeing the big difference in the transfer fees of regular real estate transactions and gift transfers, a lot of people would prefer the latter and sell their properties by registering them as ‘Gift’. However, DLD doesn’t allow that and has imposed strict restrictions on who can gift a property. 

So, let’s dive into this article and learn about not just the DLD gift transfer fees in Dubai, but also in what cases that reduced cost will be applicable. 

Who Would be Benefitting from the 0.125% DLD Gift Transfer Fees?

DLD doesn’t restrict you to giving a property only to your first-degree relatives! You can literally gift your property to anyone you wish, but there are DLD-specified rules with respect to the transfer fees that you must abide by. 

Your first-degree relatives will be your spouse, children, or parents, and any other relative in your family will be considered distant. 

Now, the DLD rules have a clear mention that gift transfer of any real estate property to a first-degree relative will attract reduced transfer fees of 0.125%. If you gift your property to anyone else, the transaction would attract the standard transfer fees of 4%. 

What are the Costs Involved When Gifting a Property in Dubai?

To give you a better perspective on the total cost that you will have to bear upon gifting a property in Dubai, here are all the attributes that comprise the overall expense:

1.DLD Fees:

As specified above, DLD charges 0.125% of the property value as a transfer fee when you gift it to your first-degree relatives. However, there is a cap of AED 2000, which is the minimum gifting transfer fee that one has to pay to the DLD upon ownership transfer. 

• Valuation or Administrative Fee:

Before issuing the gifting transfer approval in Dubai, DLD requires a formal valuation of the property. Now, hiring authorized experts to get the valuation done might cost you around AED 2000 to AED 4000, depending on the location and size of the property. This valuation is then used by the DLD for determining the 0.125% fee.

• Trustee Office or Administrative Fee:

For your property gifting transaction to be legally binding, you must get it processed through an authorized Real Estate Trustee Office. You can expect to pay an administrative fee of around AED 2000 to AED 4000 for the same. 

2.Legal Fees:

Not everyone is proficient with the DLD clauses on property gift transfers in Dubai, and might need legal assistance throughout the process. In that case, if you appoint real estate lawyers in Dubai to help you with the registration, documentation, and other associated legal services, you can expect to pay around AED 1000 to AED 5000 or more, depending on what your situation demands. 

The type of property being gifted, current ownership details, and mortgage clearance can add up to the overall cost of gifting a property in Dubai. 

Let RH and HALE Help You Plan & Execute Your Property Gift Transfer in Dubai!

Even though property gifting involves certain expenses, it is still one of the most cost-effective ways to transfer real estate ownership as part of succession or inheritance planning. When compared to the traditional 4% property transfer fee, 0.125% is a drastically lower amount! 

However, you need to be smart and knowledgeable about the DLD rules and clauses associated with property transfer as a gift in Dubai. Even the slightest mismatch of documents or a wrong approach to the said procedures can add up to the overall costs. 

Therefore, it is advised that you seek the help of real estate lawyers in Dubai and plan your property gift transfer process in advance. RH and HALE, being the best law firm in the UAE, help you throughout the property gift transfer process. 

Starting with gathering accurate valuations to overlooking mortgage clearance and ownership transfer, we will be providing you with legal advisory and assistance wherever required. We intend to make property gifting a smooth experience for you while protecting your family relationships and assets. 

Reach out to us for more information!