Qatar
A flat ten per cent, no VAT yet, and a budget built on liquefied gas
Qatar is small in population and large in purchasing power: one of the world's biggest exporters of liquefied natural gas, funding heavy investment in infrastructure, healthcare and sport. For a European supplier it is attractive for its simple tax regime and because decisions are made quickly — if you reach the person making them.
Loading the indicators…
Setting up a company
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Legal forms
- ·Foreign ownership
- ·How long registration takes
- ·Legal forms
- ·Documents to incorporate
- ·What to watch for
Taxes
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Corporate income tax
- ·VAT
- ·Withholding tax — royalties
- ·Tax year and return
- ·Payroll contributions
Visas and residence
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Short stay
- ·Work permit
Investment opportunities
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Zones and incentives
What it makes and needs
Infrastructure and construction technology, medical equipment, food (Qatar imports practically everything), education, sports and event technology, industrial equipment for petrochemicals.
Money and payments
The Qatari riyal (QAR), pegged to the US dollar. There are no exchange controls and profits are repatriated freely.
Public and quasi-public contracts are the main source of volume here, and with them come longer payment terms and compulsory bank guarantees — bid bonds and performance bonds. A letter of credit is usual on the first deliveries; open account is a matter of trust built over several contracts.
Importing into their market
Conformity is demonstrated against Qatari QS standards, and for regulated goods a certificate of conformity issued BEFORE dispatch is required. Food and medicines fall under the Ministry of Public Health and carry halal requirements. A consignment arriving without the certificate cannot be regularised on the spot — it is returned or it sits.
Qatar is part of the GCC customs union — the common external tariff is generally 5 % on most goods, with exceptions and prohibitions on sensitive lines. The importer must hold a valid licence, and in many categories the documents require legalisation.
The importer must be on the commercial register and a member of the chamber. The consignment needs an invoice and a certificate of origin, normally certified by the chamber of commerce in the exporting country and legalised, plus a packing list and the transport document.
Toys and low-voltage electrical appliances may be sold in the Gulf only with the G mark (Gulf Conformity Mark) under GSO technical regulations. Since 1 April 2017 it is shown as the GCTS tracking symbol: the G mark with a QR code. It is mandatory in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Yemen, and is issued by a GSO notified body.
Prepackaged food is labelled under GSO 9/2013: the information must be in Arabic, and another language may appear only alongside it with identical content. Halal food follows GSO 2055-1:2015 across the whole chain from receipt to storage; GSO published a draft of its new version on 17 February 2026.
Outlook
What to watch: the North Field expansion, the country's largest investment wave, which is pulling demand for technology and services; whether and when Qatar introduces VAT under the Gulf framework; and how demand shifts from construction into operation and maintenance now the World Cup building boom is over.
Practical matters
Qatar is small and decisions run through relationships and a limited number of groups that control most distribution. A local agent is not a statutory requirement for most activities, but without one you will not practically reach a public contracting authority. Agency agreements are therefore concluded with a notice period and with the territory and the goods defined.
The working week runs Sunday to Thursday. Decisions are taken at the top and a personal relationship counts for more than an emailed offer — without a visit most projects do not move. Ramadan slows everything.
Write to us. Our representative for this market or our team receives it.
Tell us what you came to this page for and did not find. We will add it — with a source.
A visa, legalising a document, an invitation letter, the commercial attaché before a trade fair — these only go through a mission. Below are the official registers rather than transcribed addresses: missions move and consular hours change several times a year, so a link to the register stays current where a transcript would not.
Where a country has no mission in Bratislava or Prague it is usually accredited from Vienna, Berlin or Warsaw — the register says which.
Every figure names the authority that published it and the date the line was last worked on. This is not legal or tax advice — verify a figure with the named source before you act on it.