GCC comparator · 2026
UAE vs Saudi Arabia vs Qatar vs Bahrain
Side-by-side 5-year projections across nine GCC entity tracks. Statutory CIT + VAT rates, social-insurance asymmetry by nationality, RHQ / QFC / DMTT incentives, and the cliff-risks (QFZP de-minimis, RHQ substance, Pillar Two top-up) each carries. Decision support, not tax advice.
Your scenario
Stored in your browser only. Applied uniformly across every selected jurisdiction.
Operating costs / revenue.
In-jurisdiction revenue share — drives VAT.
Non-resident customers — zero-rated for VAT.
Employees only (excluding founder).
Advanced inputs
Pillar Two, ownership splits, local-nationals %, QFC concessionary activity. Defaults work for most founders running the calculator the first time.
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Advanced inputs
Pillar Two, ownership splits, local-nationals %, QFC concessionary activity. Defaults work for most founders running the calculator the first time.
Saudization / Qatarization / Bahrainisation drives social-insurance asymmetry.
Consolidated group revenue ≥ €750M in 2 of last 4 fiscal years.
Saudi/GCC-national share. Drives the Zakat vs CIT split for general LLC.
Qatari/GCC share. Drives 0% CIT for the mainland track.
Investment manager / reinsurer / captive — qualifies for 0% QFC rate.
Outbound payments → withholding tax
Annual outbound dividends to non-resident shareholders, % of revenue.
Annual outbound interest to non-resident lenders.
Annual outbound royalties to non-resident IP-holders.
Annual outbound technical / management services to non-resident affiliates.
When true, the engine applies a blended treaty-reduced WHT rate (~60-70% of statutory). Per-treaty rates vary; verify before relying.
Transfer-pricing compliance overhead
Annual volume. Above AED 40M triggers Master + Local file. AED 55k/yr docs + AED 25k/yr CbCR (if group in scope).
True when the consolidated group revenue ≥ EUR 750M (OECD CbCR trigger).
Free-text label of the sub-jurisdiction you're targeting (e.g. DIFC, ADGM, JAFZA, Riyadh-RHQ, QFC-Lusail, BLZ). Surfaces an advisor prompt — no engine math change.
FX rate overrides (0 = default)
Defaults: 1 SAR = 0.98 AED, 1 QAR = 1.01 AED, 1 BHD = 9.74 AED. GCC currencies are USD-pegged so movement is minimal; override only if your finance team uses a different internal rate.
Tracks to compare
Pick up to nine. Default selection (UAE FZ-QFZP, KSA general, Qatar mainland, Bahrain) covers the most common four-way founder decision.
5-year picture
Total cash outflow per track
Cheapest 5-year total: UAE Free Zone — QFZP (0% qualifying income) at AED 9.3M.
UAE Free Zone
UAE Free Zone — QFZP (0% qualifying income)
CheapestCIT
0.0%
VAT
5%
Y1 setup
AED 30K
Renewal/yr
AED 12K
5-year total
AED 9.3M
Saudi Arabia (KSA)
General LLC (20% CIT or 2.5% Zakat)
CIT
20.0%
VAT
15%
Y1 setup
AED 34K
Renewal/yr
AED 12K
5-year total
AED 12.4M
Risks
- · Saudization — local-headcount threshold
Qatar
Mainland Qatar (10% on foreign-owned share)
CIT
10.0%
VAT
n/a
Y1 setup
AED 30K
Renewal/yr
AED 10K
5-year total
AED 11.2M
Bahrain
Bahrain (0% CIT, non-oil/gas)
CIT
0.0%
VAT
10%
Y1 setup
AED 15K
Renewal/yr
AED 5K
5-year total
AED 9.8M
Risks
- · Bahrainisation — local-headcount target
Advisor questions across tracks
UAE Free Zone — QFZP (0% qualifying income)
- · QFZP status assumes 100% qualifying free-zone income. The de-minimis test (the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5M) on disqualifying income is a strict cliff — a breach disqualifies the entire entity for the period.
General LLC (20% CIT or 2.5% Zakat)
- · Saudization (Nitaqat) green-band floor is typically ~25% Saudi nationals. Your scenario has 20% — non-compliance restricts work-permit issuance and contracting eligibility. Sector + headcount band determines the exact floor; verify with MHRSD.
Mainland Qatar (10% on foreign-owned share)
- · 70% of revenue from non-resident customers — Qatar applies 5% withholding tax on most cross-border service payments TO non-residents (not the inverse). If your customers withhold Qatari WHT on their side, verify treaty relief is available.
- · Qatar has not yet implemented VAT (GCC framework signed 2017, indefinitely deferred). Engine returns AED 0 for VAT, but a future activation date will materially change the cost picture.
- · Mainland Qatar permits 100% foreign ownership in most sectors since the 2019 reforms (Law 1 of 2019), but a few activities still require Qatari majority partners. Verify the activity classification with MoCI.
Bahrain (0% CIT, non-oil/gas)
- · Bahrain levies 0% CIT for non-oil/gas businesses. If your consolidated group revenue grows past €750M, the DMTT (15% effective rate) kicks in for the following fiscal year.
- · Bahrainisation Programme target is typically ~25% Bahraini nationals for non-oil/gas sectors. Your scenario has 20% — below-target ratios trigger LMRA fee escalations on expat work permits.
Before you act on this
Decision support, not tax advice
Each jurisdiction has substantive depth this comparator can't capture — transfer-pricing rules, treaty networks, withholding-tax interactions, sector-specific incentives, and the local administrative burden of compliance. The 5-year totals here are statutory baseline math, useful for ranking options before deeper diligence. Engage a tax advisor licensed in your target jurisdiction before relying on these figures.