Company renewal in Qatar is not one date but several. Your commercial registration and commercial permit are renewed for one to five years, and the request goes in during the 30 days before they expire. Staff residence permits have to be renewed within 90 days from expiry. WPS wages are monthly. The tax return is due within four months of the year end.
What expires and who issues it
Below are the dates that the official pages give. Pencil your own expiry dates in next to each row.
| Item | Issued or run by | When to act |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial registration (CR) | Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on the Single Window | Apply in the 30 days before expiry; renew for one to five years |
| Commercial permit (trade licence) | Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on the Single Window | With the CR; it cannot run longer than the CR |
| Civil Defence approval | Ministry of Interior, Civil Defence | Needed to renew the commercial licence; a mall unit needs its own certificate at renewal |
| Establishment card | Ministry of Interior | Before the date on the card; renewed on the Metrash app |
| Staff residence permits | Ministry of Interior | Within 90 days from expiry; each permit lasts one to five years |
| Wages through WPS | Ministry of Labour | Due on the first of each month; paid within seven days |
| Statement of workers | Labour department | Every six months |
| Income tax return | General Tax Authority, on Dhareeba | Within four months of the end of the tax year |
| Withholding tax | General Tax Authority | Before the 16th of the month after the payment |
| Lease registration | Ministry of Municipality | Landlord registers within two months of signing each new lease |
| Al-Nadeeb account (importers) | General Authority of Customs | Every year |
| Trademark | Ministry of Commerce and Industry | Ten years from the certificate date, renewable |
Commercial registration and commercial permit
Thirty days before expiry is when the Ministry of Commerce and Industry wants the commercial register and trade licences renewed. The Commercial Register Law says the same thing: you file in the last 30 days of the term. A CR ending on 31 August, then, is renewed from 1 August. What most people call the trade licence is officially the commercial permit, and it goes through the Single Window’s Comprehensive Renewal service with the CR.
Terms run from one to five years, your choice. A permit cannot outlast the CR. The CR renews together with all its branches; permits do not, so a branch, warehouse or ATM permit each needs its own renewal. Whoever applies must be named on the CR or permit and log in with Tawtheeq, using a valid Qatari ID.
| Renewal item | Fee on the Single Window |
|---|---|
| CR with one activity | QAR 500 |
| Each extra activity | QAR 300 |
| Each branch CR | QAR 100 |
| Commercial permit | QAR 500 |
If the CR expires
The law leaves the department two options. Say the owner has been notified, by registered letter or some other means, and 90 days later there is still no renewal: the department may delete the registration. It can also renew late instead, on request and in the public interest, once the fee for the whole period since expiry is paid. The Single Window adds a third point. The Ministry may cancel CRs and permits that were not renewed, after it notifies the listed parties and the legal grace period has passed.
What does lateness cost? According to the Single Window’s general questions page, an investor who does not renew the CR pays a violation amount of up to QAR 300, plus the CR fee. There is also the back fee, and the risk of losing the registration. Without an active CR, the commercial permit cannot be renewed either.
Establishment card and staff residence permits
It is the business owner who renews the establishment card, in the Ministry of Interior’s Metrash app (General, then Establishment, then Update or Renew Establishment). Hukoomi puts the fee at QAR 200. We found no page that says how long the card is valid, so read the date off the card and note it down.
That card matters, because staff renewals depend on it. Each expatriate resident must hold a residence permit, and the company that recruited them renews it within 90 days from its expiry date. A permit runs for at least one year, five at most. Renewal happens on Metrash2 or the Ministry’s e-services, and you will be asked for the company’s establishment ID.
Then there are two labour dates that come round all year. Monthly paid staff are owed their wages on the first of the month, and the money has to reach their accounts through WPS within seven days. Every six months, the employer also files a statement of its workers with the labour department.
Tax, lease and other dates
The income tax return is due within four months of the end of the tax year. For the year ended 31 December 2025, the General Tax Authority set the filing period as 1 January to 30 April 2026, on Dhareeba, and said that exempt companies and companies owned by Qatari or GCC nationals file too. A late return costs QAR 500 a day, up to QAR 180,000. An extension of up to four months can be requested at least 60 days before the deadline.
Under the lease law, the landlord registers each lease with the Ministry of Municipality’s lease registration office within two months of signing. A new lease for your premises therefore needs its own registration, and the MOCI licence renewal service asks for an acknowledgement of the tenancy or title deed.
Withholding tax
Tax withheld from payments to non-residents is paid to the General Tax Authority before the 16th of the following month.
Al-Nadeeb
An importer’s customs account carries a fee of QAR 100 for registration and for each annual renewal.
Trademark
A registered mark is valid for ten years from the certificate date and can be renewed for another ten.
Signboard licence
Advertising licences for signboards are issued as temporary, permanent or annual, and the Single Window offers a signage permit renewal service.
Keeping a renewal calendar
- List every document
CR, each commercial permit, Civil Defence certificate, establishment card, each staff residence permit, the lease, the trademark and any activity licence, each with its expiry date.
- Work back from each date
Mark the 30-day window before the CR expires, and the dates for the tax return and the six-monthly workers’ statement.
- Renew in the right order
The Civil Defence approval is needed for the licence, the permit cannot be renewed without an active CR, and staff renewals ask for the establishment ID.
- Keep logins valid
The Single Window needs a Tawtheeq account with a valid Qatari ID, so check the signatory’s QID date as well.
How we help
We can build the calendar with you from your own documents. We also prepare the renewal files for the CR, permit, establishment card and staff residence permits, and keep watch on the dates. The renewals themselves are decided by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Interior and the other authorities.
