Corporate Tax in Qatar: 10% Income Tax, Registration and Filing

Who is taxed, and at what rate?

According to the General Tax Authority, income tax in Qatar is charged by source of income: business profits earned in Qatar, income from contracts performed there, and income from property located there. The rate is 10% of taxable income across all activities.

The exceptions are petroleum operations and petrochemical industries, at no less than 35%, and agreements signed with the government before the law came into force, which keep the rate they specify, or 35% if they specify none.

Who is outside the law or exempt?

What the General Tax Authority publishes on scope and exemptions:

• The law does not apply to salaries, wages, allowances and the like.
• It does not apply to ministries, government bodies and public authorities and corporations.
• Profits of legal persons resident in Qatar are exempt in proportion to the share of their Qatari partners.
• The Authority's simplified guide states that the exemption covers the share of Qatari or GCC natural persons resident in the State.
• Non-Qatari investment projects may be exempted from income tax under the rules of the Income Tax Law (Article 10 of Law No. 1 of 2019).

Worked example

A company wholly owned by a foreign investor with taxable income of QAR 1 million pays 10% × 1,000,000 = QAR 100,000.

Where there is a Qatari partner, tax is calculated on the non-Qatari share only. The General Tax Authority guide gives this example: tax due = 10% × 49% × 1,070,000 = QAR 52,430.

Registration, filing and deadlines

Procedural obligations as published by the General Tax Authority:

• Register on the Dhareeba portal within 60 days of commercial registration or of first income in Qatar.
• Registration is required even for a taxpayer that benefits from an exemption and owes no tax.
• File the tax return electronically within four months of the end of the tax year.
• Notify the Authority within 30 days of any change that affects the tax obligation.
• Late payment penalty: 2% of the tax due for each month of delay or part of a month, not exceeding the amount of the tax.

5% withholding tax

Royalties, interest, commissions and fees for services performed wholly or partly in Qatar, paid to non-residents for activities not connected to a permanent establishment in the State, are subject to a final 5% withholding on the gross amount, subject to tax treaties.

The tax withheld is remitted to the Authority before the 16th day of the month after the withholding. Nothing is withheld on amounts paid to holders of a tax card or to persons registered with the Qatar Financial Centre. A payer who fails to withhold faces a penalty equal to the tax not withheld, in addition to paying the tax.

QFC and the global minimum tax

According to Invest Qatar, QFC entities are taxed at a flat 10% of taxable profit under the QFC tax regime, and profits count as local source if they arise in or derive from Qatar.

Qatar applies a global minimum tax with an effective rate of at least 15% to multinational groups with annual revenues above EUR 750 million in two of the last four years, for fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2025.