Aqid ERPWho pays
Under Income Tax Law No. 24 of 2018, a company that is wholly or partly foreign-owned and earns income from sources in Qatar is taxable. When a company has Qatari and foreign owners, the tax is worked out on the foreign partners' share of the profit, not on the whole profit.
No corporate income tax is currently charged on a company wholly owned by Qatari nationals and by GCC nationals resident in Qatar; the GTA's investors guide asks for proven residence of at least 183 days. Exempt does not mean silent, though: such a company still files a return (see below).
The rate, with an example
The general rate is 10% of taxable income. Petroleum and petrochemical operations have their own rules, and Law No. 22 of 2024 added a minimum top-up tax for groups with consolidated revenue of EUR 750 million or more, for years beginning on or after 1 January 2025; neither applies to an ordinary trading or services company.
Taxable income starts from the profit in your financial statements and is then adjusted under the law, so the figure your auditor signs is the starting point, not the answer. A company owned 51% by a Qatari partner and 49% by a foreign partner, with taxable income of QAR 800,000:
| Taxable income for the year | QAR 800,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Foreign partner's share: 49% | QAR 392,000.00 |
| Income tax at 10% | QAR 39,200.00 |
| Qatari partner's share: 51% | Not taxed |
Exempt companies still file
The GTA requires a return from every entity holding a commercial registration, trade licence or home licence, including tax-exempt companies fully owned by Qatari or GCC nationals, and whether or not the company traded during the year. An exempt company that does not file can be fined QAR 10,000.
An exempt Qatari- or GCC-owned company with capital below QAR 1 million and gross annual income below QAR 5 million can use the simplified return on Dhareeba, with its financial statements. At QAR 1 million of capital or QAR 5 million of income, the return needs audited financial statements (GTA President's Circular No. 2 of 2021).
The return and its deadline
The GTA sometimes extends the date. For the 2025 tax year it moved the deadline from 30 April to 30 June 2026, for all companies except petroleum and petrochemical companies. Do not plan on an extension: check the GTA's announcements each spring.
- The tax year is normally the calendar year; a different year-end needs the GTA's approval in advance.
- The return is filed on the GTA's Dhareeba portal within four months of the end of the tax year: by 30 April for a calendar year. A company can ask the GTA for up to four more months, at least 60 days before the deadline.
- The tax due on the return is paid with it; paying late costs 2% a month (below).
- A company with a foreign partner, or wholly foreign-owned, files audited financial statements from an auditor registered with the GTA, whatever its size.
Penalties and records
- Filing late: QAR 500 for each day of delay, up to QAR 180,000.
- Paying late: 2% of the tax due for each month of delay or part of a month, up to the amount of the tax.
- Records: the books, records and documents behind the return are kept for ten years after the year they relate to, and longer while a dispute is open.
How Aqid ERP helps
Aqid ERP does not calculate Qatar's income tax or file on Dhareeba. What it gives you is the set of books the return and the audit are built on: an append-only ledger in which a posted entry is never edited, a Qatari chart of accounts in Arabic and English, bank reconciliation, and the profit and loss account, balance sheet, cash flow and trial balance, consolidated across companies where you have more than one.
Every list exports to Excel or CSV for your auditor, and withholding tax on payments to non-resident suppliers is recorded by category on the bill, so that figure is ready when the year's numbers are reviewed.