SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia Company Formation
Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East and, since the new Investment Law came into force in February 2025, one of the most open. The old foreign investment licence has been replaced by registration with the Ministry of Investment, and foreign and Saudi investors are now treated equally under the same rules. What has not changed is that Saudi rewards businesses that commit properly — real premises, real staff, real substance.
100%
Foreign ownership across most business activities
20%
Corporate income tax on the foreign-owned share of profit
15%
VAT, with registration mandatory above SAR 375,000
MISA
Register with the Ministry of Investment, then get your CR
WHY SAUDI ARABIA
Advantages of a Saudi Company
Saudi Arabia is not a low-cost, low-commitment jurisdiction, and it is not trying to be. It is the largest market in the region, spending heavily, and it has built its incentives around companies that actually operate there.
The Region’s Largest Market
Around 35 million people and by far the biggest economy in the GCC. For consumer, industrial and services businesses, Saudi is the market — not a hub from which to serve one.
100% Foreign Ownership
Full foreign ownership is available across most activities. A short list is reserved for Saudi investors, and we check yours against it before you spend anything.
Access to Government Contracts
Public spending under Vision 2030 is enormous, and a locally registered entity is how you bid for it. Larger multinationals also need a regional headquarters here to contract with government bodies.
Zero Personal Income Tax
There is no personal income tax on salaries in Saudi Arabia. Company profits are taxed, but what your people earn is not.
Genuine, Specific Incentives
Not vague “tax breaks” — a 30-year 0% corporate tax regime for qualifying regional headquarters, and four special economic zones with customs and VAT relief.
Equal Treatment Under the New Law
The 2025 Investment Law puts foreign and Saudi investors on the same footing, guarantees fair treatment, and opens arbitration and mediation for investor disputes.
STRUCTURES
Business Structures in Saudi Arabia
Almost every incoming investor lands on a limited liability company. The others exist for specific reasons — scale, group structure, or the incentives attached to them.
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
The standard vehicle for foreign investors. Liability is limited to the capital contributed, and it can hold a commercial, industrial, professional or service activity. Capital requirements vary by activity rather than following one fixed figure.
Single-Shareholder LLC
An LLC with one owner, corporate or individual. Same limited liability and the same registration route — the right form when a single parent company or founder holds everything.
Joint Stock Company (JSC)
A share-based company with a board and formal governance, closed or listed. Used for larger ventures, capital raising and joint ventures with institutional partners.
Branch of a Foreign Company
Not a separate legal entity — an extension of the overseas parent, which remains liable. Common where the parent must be the contracting party on a specific project or government contract.
Regional Headquarters (RHQ)
A dedicated licence for multinationals running MENA operations from the Kingdom. It carries its own tax and workforce incentives, and it is now effectively required to contract with Saudi government entities.
Special Economic Zone Entity
A company licensed inside one of the four SEZs, with its own customs and VAT treatment. Suited to manufacturing, logistics and cloud computing rather than serving the domestic market directly.
THE PROCESS
How to Register a Company in Saudi Arabia
Saudi registration runs through two ministries and several agencies, and the order is fixed — investor registration comes before commercial registration, which comes before everything else.
01
Activity and Structure
We map your intended activity onto the Saudi classification, confirm it is open to foreign investment, and choose the entity form. Parent-company documents are legalised, attested and translated into Arabic at this stage — it is the step that most often causes delay.
02
MISA Investor Registration
Under the new Investment Law you register with the Ministry of Investment rather than applying for the old foreign investment licence. This is what entitles a non-Saudi shareholder to own the company.
03
Name Reservation and Articles
The trade name is reserved with the Ministry of Commerce and the articles of association are drafted and notarised. Naming rules are strict, so we check availability before you commit to branding.
04
Commercial Registration
The Ministry of Commerce issues the Commercial Registration certificate — the document that makes the company real and that every other agency will ask to see.
05
Agency Registrations
Chamber of Commerce membership, a national address, ZATCA registration for tax and VAT, GOSI for social insurance, and the Qiwa and Muqeem labour and immigration platforms.
06
Banking, Visas and Staffing
Corporate bank account, general manager visa and iqama, then employee visa quotas — which depend on your Saudisation band from the day you start hiring.
OUR SERVICE
Our Saudi Business Setup Services
Saudi rewards preparation. We do the document work before it becomes a bottleneck, and stay with you through the agency registrations that follow the CR.
Activity and Eligibility Check
Before you spend anything we confirm your activity is open to foreign investment, flag any sector approval it triggers, and tell you honestly if a branch or RHQ suits you better than an LLC.
Document Legalisation and Translation
Parent-company certificates, board resolutions and powers of attorney, legalised, attested and translated into Arabic to the standard Saudi authorities accept. This is where most self-managed applications stall.
MISA Registration and Commercial Registration
Investor registration with the Ministry of Investment, name reservation, notarised articles, and the Commercial Registration certificate itself.
Agency Onboarding
Chamber of Commerce, national address, ZATCA tax and VAT registration, GOSI, and the Qiwa and Muqeem platforms — set up correctly the first time.
Saudisation Planning
We model your Nitaqat band before you hire, so your visa quota and your hiring plan agree with each other rather than colliding six months in.
Banking, Premises and Visas
Corporate account opening, office or warehouse search and lease negotiation, general manager iqama and employee visas for the team you actually plan to bring.
TAX AND EMPLOYMENT
Tax, Zakat and Saudisation
Saudi is not a zero-tax jurisdiction, and its tax treatment depends on who owns the company. These are the four obligations that shape your real cost of operating.
Corporate Income Tax and Zakat — Split by Ownership
Saudi taxes a company according to who owns it. The share of profit attributable to non-Saudi ownership is charged corporate income tax at 20%. The share attributable to Saudi and GCC owners is assessed to Zakat at 2.5% of the Zakat base rather than income tax.
A wholly foreign-owned company therefore pays 20% on all of its profit; a joint venture pays a blend. Oil and hydrocarbon production is taxed separately at much higher rates.
VAT — 15%
Saudi VAT rose to 15% on 1 July 2020, the highest headline rate in the GCC. Registration is mandatory above SAR 375,000 of annual taxable supplies and voluntary from SAR 187,500.
A non-resident making taxable supplies in the Kingdom must register regardless of turnover. Customs duties on imports run up to 25% where local production is being protected.
Withholding Tax — 5% to 20%
Payments from a Saudi entity to a non-resident are subject to withholding tax at rates between 5% and 20%, depending on the type of payment — services, royalties, management fees, dividends and interest are each treated differently.
This catches out groups that plan to charge management or licence fees back to the parent. It is worth modelling before you set the intercompany arrangements, not after the first invoice.
Saudisation and GOSI
Nitaqat sets a minimum proportion of Saudi nationals in your workforce by sector and company size, and your band directly controls your expatriate visa quota. Fall out of compliance and hiring stops.
GOSI social insurance is 21.5% of wages for Saudi employees (9.75% employee, 11.75% employer) and 2% employer-only for non-Saudis, on basic wage plus housing and commissions, capped at a monthly SAR 45,000.
INCENTIVES
RHQ, Special Economic Zones and What They Actually Give You
Saudi’s incentives are real and specific, but they are conditional. Both of the schemes below demand genuine substance in the Kingdom — premises, people and decisions made locally.
Regional Headquarters (RHQ)
For multinationals running MENA operations from the Kingdom: 0% corporate income tax on qualifying RHQ income and 0% withholding tax on dividends and related-party payments, for up to 30 years from licence issue.
Non-tax benefits include a 10-year exemption from Saudisation requirements and unlimited employee visas.
The catch: real substance is required — suitable premises, board meetings held in the Kingdom, a resident director, staff and operating expenditure proportionate to the activity, plus annual economic substance reporting. Since 1 January 2024, eligible companies without an RHQ in Saudi Arabia are largely barred from contracting with Saudi government entities.
The Four Special Economic Zones
Saudi Arabia launched four SEZs in 2023: King Abdullah Economic City (logistics, automotive, medtech), Ras Al-Khair (shipbuilding and marine), Jazan (heavy industry and metals) and the nationwide Cloud Computing SEZ headquartered in Riyadh.
Licensed entities get customs duty suspension on eligible goods brought into the zone, a 0% VAT rate on qualifying supplies within and between zones, exclusion from the Zakat regulations, and in the sector-specific zones an exemption from withholding tax.
The trade-off: an SEZ entity is built for export, manufacturing and logistics. If your business is selling into the Saudi domestic market, a conventional MISA-registered company is usually the right answer.
The licence you were told to get no longer exists
Most Saudi setup guides still tell you to obtain a SAGIA licence or MISA foreign investment licence before you can incorporate, and to file with the Ministry of Commerce and Investment. Both are out of date.
The ministry was split in 2020 into the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Investment (MISA). And the new Investment Law — Royal Decree M/19 of July 2024, in force since February 2025 — replaced the Foreign Investment Law of 2000 and abolished the foreign investment licence altogether. Foreign investors now simply register with MISA, and the law guarantees equal treatment with Saudi investors in like circumstances.
In practice this means fewer gates but the same underlying diligence. We work to the current regime, not the one the internet still describes.
START YOUR SAUDI COMPANY
Register Your Saudi Company
Tell us what you intend to do in the Kingdom and who will own it. We will confirm the activity is open to you, recommend the right structure, and give you a written quote with government fees and our fee shown separately — checked against the current schedules before you commit.
