MOCI new rules in 2026 and what changed for companies in Qatar

The 2026 change log of MOCI new rules and other changes

Oldest first. Each line was opened on Al Meezan or the issuing ministry’s site on 22 October 2026.

What changed at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry

From 1 June 2026, MOCI began updating the activities recorded for existing companies to the GCC’s unified guide for classifying economic activities. The first phase covered activities that match one code, the second, from 15 June, those that match several, and the third, from 30 June, mixed activities such as commercial and industrial. MOCI says the update is automatic, needs no action from owners and changes neither the nature of the activity nor the CR.

Since 16 March 2026, no commercial activity may be carried on through a website without MOCI’s e-commerce licence, and the decision counts social media platforms as websites. The applicant must be entered in the commercial register, and each website needs its own licence. MOCI opened the licence in September for 194 approved activities, with an issue fee of QAR 500.

In March, MOCI told all factory owners and commercial establishments, whatever their activity, to link their systems with the Ministry’s: transfer data from ERP or similar systems and record stock quantities as they change. Failing to link, or giving inaccurate data, is treated as a violation of Law No. 12 of 1972 on compulsory pricing.

MOCI also added services. Under agreements it signed with banks in January and July, companies can open a corporate bank account through the Single Window. There is a guidance office in Lusail now, a Regulatory Record Report that shows a company’s licence status, complaints, violations and closures if the company consents, and an app that issues eight common certificates and extracts and handles comprehensive renewal.

• E-commerce licence in Qatar

Labour and wages

In June, Law No. 9 of 2026 amended the Labour Law, and five of its points change daily practice for employers.

• Take a sales manager whose contract has a non-compete clause. The clause may now run up to two years after the contract ends instead of one, but only once the labour department approves it, and it is void if the contract ends during probation.
• Joint committees are now compulsory from 100 workers. Before the amendment, an establishment with 30 or more could form one but did not have to.
• Part-timers and people working under self-employment systems fall outside the Labour Law, unless the Cabinet extends it to them or issues special rules.
• The Minister can suspend some or all of a violating establishment’s dealings with the Ministry. Two things carry on regardless: contract attestation, and renewing its workers’ permits and residence.
• For some professions, workers will need a training and test certificate from a Ministry-accredited centre. The Ministry publishes the list.

The suspension rule also reaches the change of employer, which many people still call a sponsorship change. A worker affected by it may ask to move to another employer, or to end the contract with the employer paying the cost of return. Who may file an ordinary change of employer, and the notice it needs, is on our hiring plan page.

• Hiring plan for a new company

Labour Minister Decision No. 50 of 2026, in force since 8 September, rewrote the WPS rule on timing. Wages of workers paid monthly or yearly fall due on the first day of each month, other workers’ every two weeks, and the employer transfers them through WPS to an account in Qatar within seven days.

Tax

Most local companies can pass over this one. It concerns multinational groups whose revenue passed EUR 750 million in two of the previous four years. For them, Cabinet Decision No. 2 of 2026 brought the global and domestic minimum tax, which the General Tax Authority applies from financial years starting on or after 1 January 2025, at an effective rate of at least 15%.

Take a Doha company that pays a consultant in a treaty country every month. Since 16 March, under Cabinet Decision No. 4 of 2026, an approved resident payer like that can apply the treaty rate or exemption at the time of payment, once it has accepted the non-resident’s request. The GTA calls this the “trusted entity” service on Dhareeba. Otherwise the tax is withheld and a refund claimed afterwards.

Law No. 2 of 2026 replaced the excise goods tables from 7 July 2026 and taxes sweetened drinks by their total sugar content. Anyone holding excise goods for commercial purposes on that day had 90 days to give the General Tax Authority an audited stock statement. Cabinet Decisions Nos. 30 and 31 of 2026 then amended the regulations and set the goods tables with their HS codes. Qatar also ratified tax treaties with Kuwait, the UAE, Côte d’Ivoire and Estonia this year.

• Withholding tax in Qatar

Leases, brokerage and Companies House (Dar Al Shirkat) in Qatar

Lease registration now has a flat fee: QAR 250 for each residential, commercial or other unit, set by Law No. 8 of 2026 and open to change by the Cabinet. The same law sends every landlord and tenant dispute to the Rental Disputes Settlement Committee first, including leases its Article 2 otherwise exempts. Only after the committee decides can a court hear the case, and appeals go to the Court of Appeal within 15 days.

Brokers face a move too. On 1 January 2027, Law No. 13 of 2026 puts real estate brokerage under the General Authority for Regulating the Real Estate Sector, which reports to the Minister of Municipality. Brokers licensed today should watch for the Authority’s procedures before that date.

On 14 September 2026, MOCI launched Companies House, in Arabic Dar Al Shirkat (دار الشركات). It will register and license companies in Qatar’s economic zones, keep the public registers of the QFC, the Qatar Free Zones Authority, QSTP and Media City Qatar, and provide tax and immigration services to them. The announcement covers the economic zones only; mainland companies still register through the Single Window.

• Real estate broker licence in Qatar
• Office, lease and Tawtheeq

Does this affect my CR?

How we keep this page current and how we help

We re-open every line of the change log on Al Meezan and the issuing ministry’s site each month, add new decisions with their number and date, and change the “last checked” date only when that check is done. When one of these changes reaches your company, we help you prepare whatever it needs, whether that is an amendment, a renewal, a new licence or a registration. The ministries decide each application.