A company in Qatar that pays a non-resident for royalties, interest, commissions or services performed in Qatar keeps back 5% of the gross amount, unless the payment relates to a permanent establishment in Qatar or a tax treaty gives relief. It pays the tax to the General Tax Authority on Dhareeba before the 16th of the following month.
What withholding tax is
Withholding tax is the way Qatar taxes income that a non-resident earns here without a permanent establishment. The foreign supplier has no tax file in Qatar, so the law makes the payer collect the tax. Article 9(2) of the Income Tax Law, Law No. 24 of 2018, sets it as a final tax of 5% of the gross amount, subject to tax treaties.
“Final” matters here. The supplier does not file a Qatari return for that income, and the amount withheld is the whole of the Qatari tax on it. The duty to withhold, pay and report sits with the company in Qatar that makes the payment.
- Of the gross amount, with no deduction for costs
- 5%
- Pay before this day of the month after withholding
- 16th
- After the due date, an unpaid amount counts as paid
- 12 months
- To notify the Authority of a contract with a non-resident
- 30 days
From the Income Tax Law and its Executive Regulations (GTA 2024 edition) and the GTA taxes page, checked 21 Oct 2026.
A worked example. A Doha trading company receives an invoice of QAR 100,000 from a consultant in another country who has no office in Qatar and holds no Qatari tax card. If no treaty relief applies, the company pays the consultant QAR 95,000, pays QAR 5,000 to the General Tax Authority and gives the consultant a withholding certificate.
Which payments it covers, and the rate
The law names four kinds of payment. There is one rate, 5%, for all of them; a tax treaty can reduce it or remove it.
| Payment to a non-resident | What it includes | Withholding |
|---|---|---|
| Royalties | Payment for the use of, or the right to use, copyright, patents, trademarks, designs, secret formulas or processes, equipment, or know-how | 5% |
| Interest | Income from debt claims of any kind, including Islamic finance contracts that work like a loan | 5%, with exceptions below |
| Commissions | Commission of any kind paid to a non-resident | 5% |
| Services | Services performed wholly or partly in Qatar, including administrative, technical and consultancy services | 5% of the full fee |
The Regulations read “performed in Qatar” widely. A service counts if any work needed to complete it is done in Qatar, such as collecting data or inspecting a site, even by someone else on the supplier’s behalf. It also counts if the service is used, consumed or benefited from in Qatar, even when the work is done abroad.
Services not covered
- Reinsurance.
- Shipping and ticket sales.
- Sea transport of oil, its derivatives and related products.
- Head office administrative and general expenses covered by Article 7 of the Regulations.
Interest not covered
- Interest on deposits with banks and financial institutions in Qatar.
- Interest on bonds and securities issued by the State, public authorities and public companies.
- Interest on transactions, facilities and loans with banks and financial institutions.
- Interest paid by a permanent establishment in Qatar to its head office or an affiliate abroad.
Dividends are not among the four kinds of payment. The law separately exempts dividends paid out of profits already taxed under the Income Tax Law, or out of a company’s exempt profits.
Who must withhold, and when
The Regulations list the payers: individuals carrying on an activity in Qatar, legal persons resident in Qatar (companies included), ministries and other government bodies, public authorities and institutions, and permanent establishments in Qatar of non-resident companies. In practice, every company with a commercial registration that pays a foreign supplier for one of the four kinds of payment should ask the question each time.
The supplier holds a Qatari tax card
Nothing is withheld. The same applies to persons registered with the Qatar Financial Centre, and in particular to a non-resident’s permanent establishment in Qatar.
The supplier is owned by Qataris or GCC nationals
Withholding still applies. The Regulations say so expressly for non-resident companies wholly or partly owned by Qatari or GCC nationals.
The payment has not been made yet
Except for amounts due to ministries and public bodies, an amount counts as paid twelve months after it falls due, so delaying payment does not delay the tax.
A new contract is signed
Contracts with non-residents that have no permanent establishment in Qatar must be notified to the Authority whatever their value, within 30 days of signing.
Withholding also reaches the annual accounts. The final accounts filed with the income tax return must include a schedule of the tax withheld at source during the year, so monthly records need to agree with the year-end figures.
Filing and paying through Dhareeba
The company must be registered with the General Tax Authority before it can submit withholding tax forms. Each month in which it withholds, it files a withholding tax statement on Dhareeba and pays the tax before the 16th day of the following month. It then gives the supplier a certificate on the Authority’s form.
- Log in
Open the Dhareeba portal through the National Authentication System.
- Start the statement
Under Other Services, read the instructions, choose the transaction type (cross-border, local or capital assets) and the month.
- Enter the details
Taxpayer information and a contact person.
- Add the payments
One by one, or by uploading the Excel template from the portal.
- Pay and declare
Review the summary, make the payment and confirm that the information is correct.
| What goes wrong | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Tax not withheld at source | A penalty equal to the tax not withheld, plus the tax itself |
| Tax withheld but paid late | 2% of the tax due for each month or part of a month, up to the tax due |
| Contract not notified to the Authority | QAR 10,000 |
Treaties and exemptions
Qatar signs double taxation agreements with other countries, and the General Tax Authority lists them on its tax agreements page. New ones keep arriving: in 2026, decrees ratified agreements with Kuwait and with the United Arab Emirates. A treaty can lower the 5% or remove it, but the benefit does not apply by itself. There are two routes.
- The company withholds 5% as usual.
- The non-resident, or its representative, applies to the Authority on its form to apply the treaty.
- The claim includes a tax residence certificate for the year, the withholding certificates, the contract and a bank certificate.
- The Authority answers within 60 days; no answer counts as a refusal.
- The paying company first obtains “approved debtor” status, shown on Dhareeba as “Trusted Entity”.
- Before payment, the non-resident gives it a request with a residence certificate, naming the treaty articles it relies on.
- The company may then apply the treaty rate or exemption directly.
- If the conditions were not met, the company owes the tax it did not withhold and the penalties.
The approved status is granted by decision of the Authority’s President for three years and can be renewed. An applicant must be registered with the Authority, answer a questionnaire on its resources, and exceed a level of withholding transactions or amounts that the President sets. Until a company holds that status, the refund route is the one that applies.
How we help
We help you sort your payments to foreign suppliers into those that need withholding and those that do not, keep a monthly withholding calendar, prepare the Dhareeba statement and the supplier certificates, and file the contract notifications on time. When a supplier asks for treaty relief, we help you gather the papers. Your accountant or registered tax agent signs off, and the General Tax Authority decides every refund and every application for approved status.
