Tax on income in saudi arabia on work visit visa

WHT is an amount ordinarily withheld by the Saudi resident payer  to the non-resident service provider in lieu of Saudi Income Tax. It is the responsibility of the payor to pay WHT to the tax authorities.  The Saudi Tax Authorities will therefore hold the paying company accountable if there are any errors.  For related parties such as yourself, the range is 5 to 20%.

From a law standpoint, keeping in mind the spirit of the law, you are liable for WHT.  However, practically, hardly any company deducts WHT under this scenario - due to lack of clarity on the part of the company of the applicability of the same.   So far I haven't heard GAZT taking anyone to task for small payments of this nature.  Honestly, I wouldn't bother.

Thanks xtang for your response. I was wondering what you tried to say is that GZAT is not strict on imposing these tax on a non resident in KSA and also I don’t need to be bothered about this tax as my employer will take care of it from their side. Do you also knwo what will be the WHT tax rate if i am providing IT Consulting for a company in KSA and also if i am on work visit visa(6 months validity) and staying there for atleast 1 year make me a non resident in KSA.

Usually does this tax amount be inclusive in the compensation provided on the contract letter i.e., will it be deducted from the compensation provided or will be an additional expense company has to bear for bringing me in?

Thanks in advance

WHT has got nothing to do with how long you stay in the country.  It depends on your status as a non Saudi entity.

Honestly, it is not even a part of contracts for "employees" as most companies don't think it applies.  It usually is only part of contracts with overseas firms for services.  The rate could be 15 or 20% depending on how the service is classified in the contract.

Usually the amount is inclusive i.e. they are supposed to pay you 100 and they will list 100 in contract.  But will deduct 15 and pay 85.   Just look at the contract; 90% there won't even be a clause in which case, just ignore it and don't bring it up.

Saudi Arabia has not yet started tax on salaries. That would be  possible in the near future.

Ask your company to provide travel card from any bank in india and deposit that amount to the card account.

safaheem wrote:

Saudi Arabia has not yet started tax on salaries. That would be  possible in the near future.

Ask your company to provide travel card from any bank in india and deposit that amount to the card account.

I think you have misunderstood.  We are not discussing income tax which is not present in Saudi.  But withholding tax which is.  Your solution is not applicable for WHT.

I am working as a consultant in Saudi Arabia. I am here on multi entry  business visit visa but I will stay here for more than 183 days in one year. Actually, I will stay more than 300 days. According to the Income tax low, Article 3, a natural person is considered a resident in the Kingdom for a taxable year if he resides in the Kingdom for a period of not less than one hundred eighty three (183) days in the taxable year. Doesn't say anything about the type of visa which the person has or the source of income. I am getting payed from the UK company to my European account for the consultancy work I am doing in KSA.
My question is am I considered  a tax resident and can I get the tax residency certificate from KSA? I need that to cancel the tax residency in my country.

In Saudi, there is absolutely zero likelihood of you getting any certificate or official document without having "legal" residency in the country through an Iqama (residence card).  You cannot even open a bank account without this card to prove tax residency through alternate means.

The second thing you are confusing is that resident status in the law.  First of all, there is no income tax on individuals here.  Secondly, the resident status that you are referring to, if memory serves me correctly, is actually referring to Withholding tax.   

So simply put, for tax purpose and indeed for any other, you are not considered a resident in KSA.