Salary and allowances of working individuals are not subject to personal income tax in Qatar.
Due to the small population of Qatar and high GDP individuals are not required to pay any social security taxes. However, employers must pay social insurance for Qatari workers.
Currently, corporate income tax is not imposed on legal entities fully owned by citizens of Qatar or citizens of countries of the Persian Gulf residing in Qatar.
An enterprise that is fully or partially in foreign ownership and receives income from sources in Qatar is subject to taxation in Qatar.
If an enterprise is not specifically exempted from paying tax, it will be taxed in Qatar if it has received income from a source in Qatar irrespective of the place of its incorporation.
Taxable income is usually taxed at a fixed rate of 10%, with a few exceptions.
Currently, Qatar does not impose VAT or sales tax on transactions in Qatar.
VAT, however, is expected to be introduced in Qatar as part of the general GCC structure in the near future. The tax rate is supposed to be 5%.
There is no real estate tax in Qatar. However, fees may be paid to the Government by the owner when registering property and the lessor then registering lease contracts.
Any taxable profit from the sale of fixed assets is taxed like ordinary income. Special rules exist in relation to profit from the sale of real estate.
A flat 5% withholding tax rate applies to all services that are used or benefit in the State of Qatar even if they are fully or partially provided outside the state.
A withholding tax also applies, among other things, to interests, license fees, engineering fees, commission fees, broker’s fees and other service fees.
Dividends are not subject to a withholding tax.
Dividends are not taxed in Qatar if they are received from profit taxed in Qatar or from companies exempt from tax in Qatar.
However, any dividend received by a Qatari legal entity from a foreign legal entity not connected with the permanent establishment of the Qatari legal entity is subject to taxation in the State of Qatar.
Interests arising in Qatar and bank interests realized outside Qatar, if they are a result of activity of a taxpayer in Qatar, are taxed like ordinary income.
In addition, any interest received by a Qatari legal entity from a foreign legal entity not connected with the permanent establishment of the Qatari legal entity is subject to taxation in the State of Qatar.
There are no CFC rules in Qatar.
Historically, related party transactions were supposed to be made on market conditions and in accordance with the comparable uncontrolled price (CUP) method or any other pricing method acceptable to the OECD.
However, there are no specific requirements regarding filing documents on transfer pricing.
Qatar has entered into 70 double tax conventions (DTCs) with the following jurisdictions:
70 DTCs: Austria, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Barbados, Belarus, Bulgaria, Brunei, Great Britain, Hungary, Venezuela, Vietnam, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Greece, Georgia, Jersey, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Iran, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Cyprus, China, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Mexico, Monaco, Nepal, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, the Isle of Man, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Romania, Seychelles, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Syria, Slovenia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, the Philippines, France, Croatia, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, South Africa, South Korea, Japan.
In addition, Qatar has signed and ratified the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI). The multilateral convention came into force for Qatar on 1 April 2020.
There are no foreign exchange controls in Qatar.