Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: 6 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in Saudi Arabia
The 6 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where Saudi Arabia is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports Crude petroleumPetroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crudeUS$186.9 bn · 14.1% of world exports of 136 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports Polypropylene and other olefin polymersPolymers of propylene or of other olefins, in primary formsUS$5.1 bn · 11.3% of world exports of 145 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Polymers of ethylene, in primary formsUS$11.2 bn · 13.0% of world exports of 162 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Saudi Arabia. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Saudi Arabia.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Saudi Arabia: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Saudi Arabia belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- Gulf Cooperation Council: customs union and common market
- Customs union · since 25 May 1981
Covers goods, a common external tariff, movement of people, services, establishment, capital, investment.
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The Cooperation Council shall be formed of the six states that participated in the Foreign Ministers' meeting held in Riyadh on 4 February 1981.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 20%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Micro and small companies are exempt from appointing an auditor (Art 19), except where the articles require one, it is listed, issues debt instruments or preferred stock, is a foreign company or is in a group with a larger company; criteria: two of income and assets each not above SAR 10 million, workforce not above 49Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-10
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exempted micro and small businesses from the need to appoint auditors
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- SAR 1,600Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-10
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1600 for a joint stock company or a simplified joint stock company
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Saudi Arabia, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- 15%
VAT was introduced on 1 January 2018 at 5% and the standard rate was raised to 15% on 1 July 2020.
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In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, VAT-registered individuals must charge VAT at a standard rate of 15%, where applicable.
- Other rates
- Not stated
- Registration threshold
- SAR 375,000
annual taxable supplies; previous 12 months, or the next 12 months where supplies are expected to exceed it
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Individuals whose annual revenues exceed SAR 375,000. Registration is optional for those whose annual revenues exceed SAR 187,500 and less than SAR 375,000.
- Voluntary registration
- Yes
A resident person whose taxable supplies or taxable expenses are at least SAR 187,500 over twelve months, or are expected to be, may register voluntarily.
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Individuals whose annual revenues exceed SAR 375,000. Registration is optional for those whose annual revenues exceed SAR 187,500 and less than SAR 375,000.
- A foreign company
- Registers from its first taxable supply; no local representative required
A non-resident person obligated to pay tax on supplies made or received in the Kingdom applies to register within 30 days of the first supply on which it was obligated to pay tax, whatever the value of the supplies. It may apply itself or through a tax representative approved by the Authority, whose particulars must be listed on the application.
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A Nonresident Person who is not registered with the Authority but is obligated to pay Tax on Supplies made or received by that Person in the Kingdom must apply to the Authority for registration within thirty (30) days of the first Supply on which that Person was obligated to pay Tax.
- Returns filed
- Quarterly
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For Taxpayers whose annual value of Taxable Supplies exceeds forty million (40,000,000) SAR during the previous twelve months, the Tax Period shall be monthly.
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Saudi Arabia, tax year 2025, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 120 days after the end of the accounting period · each year
a company files its zakat and corporate income tax return within 120 days of the end of its fiscal year (Article 60 of the Corporate Income Tax Law); if the last day is an official holiday it moves to the first working day after.
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Article 60 of the Corporate Income Tax Law, which mandates the submission of tax returns within 120 days of the end of the tax year represented by the return
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 120 days after the end of the accounting period · each year
the final corporate income tax for the year is due within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year, together with the return; the same 120-day period governs the return whose submission Article 60 requires.
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Article 60 of the Corporate Income Tax Law, which mandates the submission of tax returns within 120 days of the end of the tax year represented by the return
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Not in our records
zatca.gov.sa/en/eServices/Pages/eServices-036.aspx inaccessible when checked
- Personal income-tax return
- Not levied here
Saudi Arabia levies no personal income tax on individuals: a Saudi or GCC national pays zakat, and a non-Saudi pays income tax only on business income from sources in the Kingdom. There is no resident individual income tax return to state.
- Personal income tax, final payment
- Not levied here
Saudi Arabia levies no personal income tax on individuals, so there is no individual balancing payment of income tax to state.
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Not levied here
Saudi Arabia levies no personal income tax on individuals, so there is no advance payment or payment on account of individual income tax to state.
- VAT return
- 1 month after the end of the month · each month
the VAT return is due by the last day of the month following the taxable period; businesses with annual supplies above SAR 40 million file monthly and others quarterly (for the March 2026 month and the first quarter of 2026 the deadline is 30 April 2026). The rule records the standard monthly case.
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with goods and service revenues exceeding SAR 40 million to file their tax returns for the March 2026, while urging businesses whose annual supplies do not exceed SAR 40 million to submit their returns for the first quarter of 2026. The deadline for submission is no later than April 30, 2026
- Payroll withholding
- Not levied here
Saudi Arabia levies no personal income tax on salaries, so an employer withholds no income tax from salaries and no salary-withholding remittance exists. ZATCA does operate a withholding tax on payments to non-residents, reported monthly, but that is not salary withholding and is not this obligation.
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Saudi Arabia yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Saudi Arabia exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Saudi Arabia’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude HS 2709 | 63.6% | 63.3% | 60.7% | US$186.9 bn |
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than crude; preparations not elsewhere specified or included, containing by weight 70 % or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations; waste oils HS 2710 | 11.8% | 11.8% | 9.4% | US$28.9 bn |
| Polymers of ethylene, in primary forms HS 3901 | 3.8% | 3.4% | 3.6% | US$11.2 bn |
| Telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528 HS 8517 | 0.11% | 0.20% | 2.1% | US$6.6 bn |
| Polymers of propylene or of other olefins, in primary forms HS 3902 | 1.9% | 1.7% | 1.7% | US$5.1 bn |
| Acyclic alcohols and their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives HS 2905 | 1.3% | 1.5% | 1.6% | US$4.8 bn |
| Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons HS 2711 | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.5% | US$4.5 bn |
| Mineral or chemical fertilisers containing two or three of the fertilising elements nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; other fertilisers; goods of this chapter in tablets or similar forms or in packages of a gross weight not exceeding 10 kg HS 3105 | 1.1% | 0.98% | 1.1% | US$3.3 bn |
| Other vessels, including warships and lifeboats other than rowing boats HS 8906 | 0.27% | 0.44% | 1.0% | US$3.2 bn |
| Cyclic hydrocarbons HS 2902 | 0.94% | 0.90% | 0.94% | US$2.9 bn |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$307.7 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.