Methodology & data sources

HiddenFees publishes dirham figures that feed real financial decisions, so you are entitled to know where each number came from. This page explains that plainly — including the figures we do not have an official source for.

Every figure is one of two things

Each line in each calculator carries one of two labels, shown directly beneath it:

Official fee — the amount is published by a named government authority. We link the page that publishes it and show the date we last checked it.
Estimate — a private-market price with no government tariff behind it, such as insurance premiums, flexi-desk packages, or school extras. We state what the estimate rests on, and we never present it as an official fee.

The official tariffs we cite

These were checked against the official pages on 31 July 2026. The links go straight to the source so you can verify them yourself:

Dubai Municipality housing fee — 5% of annual rent, split into 12 instalments on the DEWA bill — UAE Government / Dubai Municipality
DEWA refundable security deposit — AED 2,000 flat, AED 4,000 villa. Supply activation AED 155 — DEWA
Emirates ID — AED 100 per year of residence, plus AED 100 smart service fee — ICP
Status amendment (change of status inside the UAE) — AED 500, plus AED 10 Knowledge and AED 10 Innovation Dirham — GDRFA Dubai
Salik tag — AED 100 at authorised agents, AED 122.50 online. Activation free. 5% VAT applies from 1 June 2026 — Salik
Tourism Dirham — AED 7 to AED 20 per room per night, capped at 30 consecutive nights — Government of Dubai
Health insurance — DHA sets the Essential Benefits Plan band at AED 550 to AED 750 including VAT, for the lower salary band — Dubai Health Authority (ISAHD)
Motor insurance — comprehensive cover for saloon vehicles is capped at 6.5% of vehicle value, with no-claims discounts of 10%, 15% and 20% — CBUAE — Insurance Authority Decision No. 30 of 2016
School uniforms, books and transport — regulated under the KHDA School Fees Framework, with a published Fees Fact Sheet for every private school in Dubai — KHDA — School Fees Framework

Figures we could not source officially

We name these rather than hide them. The Ejariregistration fee is not published as a consolidated tariff on the Dubai Land Department's service pages, and the RTA does not publish a consolidated first-registration schedule for vehicles. The numbers we use for both are planning estimates, and they are labelled that way in the calculators.

Likewise, the 5% agent commission and the 5% / 10% security deposit are widely followed market conventions set by brokers and landlords — they are not rates fixed by RERA. Many people assume they are official. They are negotiable.

Renovation costs — building NOC packages, site logistics, permit buffers, and the MEP change allowance — have no published source at any level. They are set per building and per contractor. Treat those lines as planning bands only.

A figure that is often double-counted

Several major free zones bundle a flexi-desk into the licence price rather than charging for it separately — Meydan Free Zone, for example, publishes packages from AED 12,500 with the desk included. If you add our flexi-desk line on top of a quote that already covers it, you count it twice. Check what your licence quote includes before adding that line.

How often we re-check

Government tariffs change. Every line carries the date it was last checked, and we re-verify the official sources at least every six months. If you spot a figure that has moved before we catch it, tell us at support@hiddenfees.ae and we will correct it.

Who operates this site

HiddenFees.ae is operated by Selarya Information Technology Consultancy, a sole establishment licensed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates under economic licence number CN-6396371, owned and managed by Nermin Kaya. The licence covers data classification and analysis services and e-commerce through websites, which is precisely what this site does.

What we are not

We are not financial, legal, or real-estate advisors, and we do not provide advice of that kind. HiddenFees is a research site that collects fee data and presents it. What you read here is planning information, not financial advice. Always confirm figures with the relevant authority or provider before you sign or pay.

See also About HiddenFees and our Terms of Use.