When Matt Webley sat down with GenZone co-founder Kevin McKenzie, the conversation that followed was not a pitch. It was a candid, no-filter exchange between two people who had both done it the hard way and lived to tell the tale.
Matt Webley is not a household name to everyone, but in the world of online business he carries serious weight. Over 25 years building businesses on the internet, he has generated over $24 million online, including $13 million from SaaS alone.
Today he runs the YouTube channel Matt Webley where he helps business owners and entrepreneurs use AI agents to do real, revenue-generating work, and you can find him professionally on LinkedIn where he shares insights from a career most founders would envy. He also holds over 10 UK limited companies, spanning more than two decades of building, scaling, and navigating the brutal reality of British tax.
He moved to Dubai just months before this conversation. He did it entirely alone, no agency, no hand-holding, just research, frustration, and an extremely steep learning curve.
Kevin, who co-founded GenZone alongside Shayan Nasiri and has helped over 1,100 founders set up in Dubai, moved years earlier under the same circumstances. What makes this conversation different is that Matt is not a GenZone client. He is someone who went through the process without our support, and came out the other side wishing he had not.
Why High Earners Are Leaving the UK, and Why Dubai Wins
The conversation did not take long to get to the root of why entrepreneurs like Matt pack up and go.
“The tax bill and the tax burden I’ve suffered by staying in the UK has actually at times removed all motivation for me to push my business,” Matt said. “So it’s forced me into a comfort zone whereby I’m like, well, I’m making enough… the tax man is just going to take 65% or whatever it is once it’s done. I’m not just talking about income tax, but VAT, corporate tax, everything. I make a million pounds more, I get to keep 350,000. That doesn’t feel fair.”
For someone who has built multiple businesses over a quarter century, that is not a complaint. It is a calculation. And it is one that an increasing number of high-earning UK entrepreneurs are making. The pattern is covered in detail in the guide on why millionaires are leaving the UK and in the complete guide to moving to Dubai from the UK.
Kevin, who himself relocated from Canada after paying around $100,000 each year in taxes alongside his business partner, understands that feeling intimately. He laid out exactly what the UAE offers in contrast, a tax structure that has become one of the most attractive in the world for digital entrepreneurs and high earners.
The framework is simple. 0% personal income tax, regardless of salary, as long as it is reasonable. Corporate tax only kicks in once revenue exceeds 3 million Dirhams (approximately £650,000), and even then, the first 375,000 Dirhams of net income remains tax-free. For most business owners, those turning over £100,000 to £500,000, the effective tax rate is often zero or very close to it.
“For most small business owners, they’re not making millions,” Kevin explained. “Most people are going to be 100 grand, 200 grand, 300 grand, something like that. So those people, the salary essentially swallows most of that, and the salary currently is 0%.”
Matt, crunching the numbers in real time, added: “So actually your effective tax rate over, say, half a million pounds in profit is tiny.”
And for UK-based online business owners selling services or digital products outside the UAE, there is no VAT to charge either. Kevin clarified a common misconception: “Any good or service that’s exported outside of the UAE is zero rated. So you don’t charge anything.”
The Setup Process: What It Actually Looks Like
One of the most valuable parts of the conversation was Kevin walking Matt through the actual step-by-step process of establishing a business and life in Dubai. The Dubai residency guide covers the full process in detail, but here is what the conversation revealed.
The first and most important decision is mainland or free zone.
“The very first step is to determine what kind of company do I need. Do I need a physical business or a digital business, and then you can go from there. Free zone digital, mainland physical,” Kevin explained.
For digital entrepreneurs and online business owners, a free zone licence is typically the right call. For those needing to trade directly with UAE mainland clients, a mainland company is the right structure. From there, the GenZone process moves with speed that surprises most people.
Licence issued in 2 to 3 days. Entry visa processed shortly after. Medical and biometrics appointment handled same-day at VVIP speed, typically within 90 minutes. Emirates ID issued within 2 to 3 business days of residency. Business and personal bank accounts set up with zero rejections, guaranteed.
“In under four weeks you can totally change your life,” Kevin said. “From the UK it could be around 54% in tax, and then you have corporate tax, VAT, all income tax, dividend tax, international insurance, the list. And in under four weeks that’s all gone.”
The documentation required to get started is minimal.
“People ask me: Kevin, do I need to provide bank statements for my home country, attested documents, university degrees? No. Literally just a passport copy, like a photo of your passport. That’s all you need for your licence issuance.”
The full cost breakdown of what company setup actually costs is covered separately for anyone who wants the specific numbers before committing.
Banking: Where Most People Hit a Wall
Matt, who built his name helping business owners cut through inefficiency using AI systems and automation, did not hold back when describing what banking looked like for him going it alone.
“I went back, they then sent me to see a different person at the same branch and they’re like, ‘No, you need this, this, this and this’, a different bunch of stuff. I’m like, well, I got told I needed… it feels a very subjective process, almost like there’s a human being there making a decision rather than just do this, this and this.”
It did not end there. He found himself scrambling to print sensitive documents at a random shop near the bank, WhatsApping passport copies and financial records to a stranger, just to get back in queue.
“I paid him something like £25, £30 for printing all this stuff, and then I went back and the process was painful, frustrating, never ending.”
Kevin’s response put into sharp relief what having the right process looks like: “With your Emirates NBD, I could have literally booked you in, sent a few key documents that I already had. You wouldn’t need to even print anything. And you wouldn’t even need to bring anything but your Emirates ID and passport. That’s it. Within 30 minutes, your account would have been open. Credit card issued, debit card issued, and shipped to you within two days.”
GenZone guarantees bank account approvals across both business and personal accounts, with zero rejections. “We take care of everything for our clients,” Kevin said. “And then at that point, they’re fully set up.”
For founders who want to understand why UAE banks reject applications and how to prevent it, the guide on why Dubai banks reject business accounts covers every reason in detail. For those considering digital banking options, Wio Bank is the most accessible starting point for newly incorporated companies and is used by over 1,500 GenZone clients.
Tax Residency: The 90-Day Rule Most People Get Wrong
A recurring theme in Matt’s questions was around tax residency, specifically when someone actually becomes a tax resident in the UAE and how that protects them from the UK’s increasing appetite to claw money back from departing earners.
Kevin addressed one of the most common misconceptions. You do not need to spend six continuous months in the UAE for most people.
“After 90 days, you get domestic tax residency. But depending on your case, you might need the six months, if you have assets, family in the UK, these kind of things.”
For the majority of GenZone clients, solopreneurs, couples, small family units, 90 cumulative days across the year in the UAE is sufficient. And crucially, those days count retroactively once the threshold is met. “Once you spend your 90 days, your previous 90 days are retroactively included into your tax residency.”
The full breakdown of how many days you need to spend in Dubai, what counts as a UAE day, and how to manage presence across multiple countries is covered in the dedicated guide. The difference between UAE residency and UAE tax residency is also commonly misunderstood and worth reading before making any assumptions.
Kevin also flagged what he sees as an inevitable development in the UK tax landscape, something Canada already has in place: an exit tax.
“When you leave Canada and you have any assets, you have to pay an exit tax on all of your assets, even if you do not sell them.” He was blunt about where the UK is heading: “If the UK Labour government does not impose an exit tax within the next five years, my mind will be blown, because it will happen.”
Matt, who has already made the move and is in the process of establishing tax residency, pressed the point: “Essentially me being here now, being actually physically resident here, with the intention of getting tax residency as soon as I can, that would mean the exit taxes, as they apply to Canadian citizens, wouldn’t apply to me. Is that right?”
“Yeah. You don’t have any exit tax for now. You’re totally good,” Kevin confirmed.
The Real Cost: Transparent, No Traps
One of the clearest pain points Matt raised, and one that had stopped him from using an agency in the first place, was the horror stories about hidden contracts, recurring fees, and small print that locks clients in year after year.
Kevin’s answer was as direct as it gets.
“It’s pretty complicated, just kidding. Literally, no small print. We don’t even have a contract.”
GenZone charges a one-time upfront fee of $2,500 USD (around £2,000 GBP), which covers the company setup, visa, Emirates ID, and bank account, all processed at VVIP speed. The total package, including government fees, lands at around £6,000 GBP at the time of writing, with no renewal fees charged by GenZone on top of standard government renewal costs. Annual maintenance costs are covered separately so there are no surprises in year two.
“Whatever you’re paying because you did it alone, we can manage it for you too. We can actually switch it under us and do everything for you. Anything free. Just pay the government price,” Kevin added.
Matt, thinking about the £10,000 he had spent on extended Airbnb stays during his own drawn-out setup, the miscommunications, the wasted trips, had one immediate reaction: “Kevin, take my money. Give me a time machine.”
Accounting: Former PWC Talent at Startup Prices
Beyond setup, GenZone also offers ongoing accounting and compliance support, and this is where Kevin’s transparency clearly stood out to Matt.
“You don’t just offer business setup relocation kind of services. You actually have tax accountants on. You told me you got some guys employed from PWC,” Matt noted.
Kevin confirmed it. Former PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants, now handling GenZone’s client books in-house. The starting package is £1,300 GBP per year, covering bookkeeping, accounting, compliance, and general tax guidance.
Pricing is transaction-based, not revenue-based, meaning a business turning over £50,000 and one turning over £5 million pay the same rate for the same transaction volume.
“I don’t think that’s fair, who cares if it’s one more digit? You’re not working any extra,” Kevin said. “We charge on a transaction basis.”
For Matt, that alone was a revelation: “That’s going to be a massive relief for a lot of people.”
Beyond Business: The Real Reason Nobody Leaves
The conversation took a personal turn near the end, and it may have been the most persuasive part of all.
Matt, who openly admits he came to Dubai primarily for tax reasons, described what surprised him most about actually living there.
“I call it a restorative peace. You come to Dubai and you get a restorative peace. Your soul is more peaceful. You’re not worried about getting your Rolex robbed. You’re not worried about getting stabbed. You’re not worried about home invasion.”
For someone who spent 25 years grinding in the UK, building businesses, paying taxes, navigating stress, that shift carries real weight. The real cost of living in Dubai gives a grounded picture of what day-to-day life actually costs, and the Bali vs Dubai comparison covers how Dubai stacks up against the other popular entrepreneur destinations.
Kevin, who had spent months going back to Canada and experiencing the contrast first-hand, echoed it: “Whenever I go back to Canada, I wake up and I’m like, ‘What’s that noise? What’s going on?’ I come back to Dubai and I’m just so peaceful.”
And the proof is in the numbers. In all the companies GenZone has helped establish, over 1,100 at the time of writing, Kevin said he has never had a client leave Dubai because they did not like it.
“I’ve only had a client leave Dubai because their business failed. I’ve never had a client leave because they did not like the place, and that’s a lot of people.”
The Bottom Line
Matt Webley is not a GenZone client. He is a $24 million entrepreneur with 25 years of business experience, over 10 UK limited companies, a YouTube channel dedicated to helping others build smarter businesses with AI, and a LinkedIn following of people who trust his judgment. He did the Dubai move alone, went through the pain, and came out the other side with a very clear perspective on what he would do differently.
“From what I’ve researched, understood, I’ve been watching the videos for ages, I’ve been talking to people that have used them, I’ve heard nothing but good from them. All of my fears that stopped me using a provider, you guys have dealt with them. No fine print, no renewal fee. For me, it’s a no-brainer. It’s an absolute no-brainer.”
That kind of endorsement, from someone with no financial stake in saying it and every reason to be sceptical, carries a different weight entirely.
You can follow Matt’s journey and his AI business content on YouTube and LinkedIn. And if you are an entrepreneur in the UK, Europe, or Canada who is serious about making the move, book a free call with the GenZone team. It costs nothing, and the conversation Matt had on camera is one you can have privately, on your terms, before you commit to anything.