Withholding Tax WHT Advisory

Withholding tax (WHT), the tax deducted on certain types of payments made by a country’s residents to business entities or persons outside the country, is applicable in most of the GCC now. Except for the UAE and Bahrain, WHT applies in the other four countries for payments of interest, dividends and royalties paid to non-residents as follows:

• Qatar: WHT of 5% on fees, royalties, interest, commissions, and other services.
• Saudi Arabia: 15% on royalties, commissions, attendance fees and other services, and 5% on technical fees, interest, and dividends.
• Kuwait: WHT of 5% of payment value, releasable with an NOC from the Kuwait Tax Authority
• Oman: WHT of 10% of gross payments

At MBG Corporate Services, our WHT services help with:

• WHT implications of GCC entities’ transactions with businesses both domestic and abroad
• WHT diagnostic evaluation and health check
• WHT implications of related-party Interest, Fees for Technical Services, and royalty payments
• Study, guidance, and advice on WHT rates, exemptions and exclusions under relevant Double Tax Treaties, tax retention implications, etc.