Oman: personal income tax planned for 2028, corporate taxation and investor residency

Together with its Gulf neighbours, Oman is currently one of the few jurisdictions where an employee or a retiree pays no personal income tax. This holds true for 2026 and 2027. The sultanate has in fact published, by Royal Decree 56/2025, a law that will introduce a personal income tax, whose entry into force is announced for early 2028.

This law targets high incomes: it provides for a single rate of 5%¹ on the portion of total annual income that exceeds more than 42,000². According to the Omani press, the Tax Authority estimates that about about 99%³ of the population will not be affected. But an expatriate who chooses Oman precisely for a high income is, by definition, part of the targeted minority.

Corporate income tax, by contrast, already exists and applies to any activity carried on under a commercial registration. The long-term residency for investors, launched in 2025, is a residence permit: it confers no tax benefit of its own.

Until the end of 2027: no personal income tax

In 2026, salaries, pensions, dividends, interest, rents and capital gains received by an individual bear no income tax in Oman. The Omani income tax law currently in force is aimed at businesses: companies, permanent establishments and holders of a commercial registration, including the sole trader. A person who carries on a commercial activity under their own registration is therefore already subject to business income tax, without waiting for 2028.

The absence of income tax does not mean the absence of any taxation: VAT applies to consumption, and specific duties and taxes exist. Nor does it say anything about taxation in the country of departure, which depends on its own criteria and on the applicable treaty.

From 2028: personal income tax

Royal Decree 56/2025 promulgates the personal income tax law. Its entry into force is announced for early 2028; it does not apply to income of 2026 or 2027. Its implementing regulation must be published within up to 1 year⁴ at most from the publication of the law in the Official Gazette.

The implementing regulation was not available on the Tax Authority portal at the date of consultation (1 November 2026). The practical arrangements — calculation of social exemptions, treatment of the main residence, interaction with treaties — are therefore not established.

As presented by the Tax Authority in its frequently asked questions, the law is based on the following elements:

• taxpayers: any individual, resident or not, as well as employers, public or private, who withhold and remit the tax on salaries;
• tax residence: any person present in Oman for more than more than 183 days⁵ in the year, continuously or in several periods, whether Omani or not, is a resident;
• resident's tax base: all sums and benefits in kind received in Oman or abroad; non-resident's tax base: only sums received in Oman;
• taxation: single rate of 5%¹ on only the portion of total income that exceeds more than 42,000²; residents whose annual income exceeds this threshold must file a return;
• self-employment: choice between a flat-rate deduction of 15%⁶ of gross income and the deduction of documented actual expenses;
• foreign tax: creditable only where it relates to income that is taxable in Oman;
• retirement pensions: included in total income; residential rents received: taxable, without the exemption that applies for VAT purposes.

The Omani press, citing the Official Gazette, lists the categories of income covered: salaries and benefits, self-employment, rental income, royalties, interest, dividends and gains on securities, real estate disposals, pensions and end-of-service benefits, prizes and winnings, gifts, and fees paid to board members. It also mentions exemptions for the declared main and secondary residence, transfers by inheritance or between close relatives, and deductions linked to education, health, home loans and certain gifts.

The sources read diverge on the treatment of pensions (the official frequently asked questions include them in total income, while a press article mentions an exclusion for salaries). The text of the law, published in Arabic, could not be read reliably. This point must be verified before any projection for a retiree.

Wealth and inheritance

No primary source read documents a wealth tax or inheritance duties for individuals in Oman. The absence of any mention is not confirmation: point not verified.

The income tax law applies to all commercial registrations, whatever their category. An Omani company, a permanent establishment of a foreign company and a sole trader are therefore taxed on their annual profit, regardless of the 2028 reform.

• Standard rate: 15%⁷ of annual profit; return to be filed within up to 4 months⁸ after the close of the financial year.
• Reduced rate: 3%⁹ for small businesses whose registered capital does not exceed up to 60,000¹⁰, annual gross revenue up to 150,000¹¹ and headcount up to 25¹², provided that the activity is not a professional one. The conditions are cumulative.
• Withholding tax: 10%¹³ of the amount transferred to a foreign company with no permanent establishment, for the payments covered by the law (including royalties and certain services).

For an individual shareholder, the distribution of profit bears no personal tax as long as the 2028 law is not in force. From 2028, dividends are among the categories of income taxable above the threshold: the remuneration of the director-shareholder will need to be reviewed.

The rules on company residence and effective management, the oil regime, free zones and special economic zones, the minimum tax for large groups and the treatment of withholding tax on dividends and interest were not verified against a primary source at the date of consultation.

The residence permit and taxation are two separate questions: obtaining Omani residency does not, on its own, create tax residence; and from 2028, it is physical presence that will determine resident status for personal income tax purposes.

The Golden Residency

Launched in September 2025, the long-term residency programme offers a renewable permit of 10 years¹⁴. Invest Oman presents a minimum threshold of from 200,000¹⁵ and several investment routes:

• real estate purchase in an integrated tourism complex;
• creation of, or participation in, a company in Oman;
• state development bonds;
• shares listed on the Muscat stock exchange;
• term deposit with a licensed Omani bank;
• operation of a business employing at least from 50¹⁶ Omani nationals;
• nomination by a company governed by the foreign capital investment law, for key executives or partners.

The amounts specific to each route, the fees, the conditions for including family members and whether a shorter-duration category exists have not been verified on the application portal (portal.omanresidence.gov.om). Figures circulating in the press are not reproduced here.

Other routes

The government portal also describes a residence visa for property owners and an investor visa. Residence through employment goes through an Omani employer.

The conditions and thresholds of these other routes had not been verified as of the date of consultation.

Until the end of 2027, personal tax residence in Oman has little domestic significance, since there is no personal income tax. It does matter, however, with respect to the country of departure: an Omani tax residence certificate is often what allows a treaty to be invoked.

From 2028, the criterion of presence for more than more than 183 days⁵ in the year becomes decisive: a resident will be taxed on worldwide income above the threshold, a non-resident only on income received in Oman.

• Someone arriving in 2026 or 2027 has no guarantee that the absence of tax will continue after 2027: no transitional regime or grandfathering clause has been identified.
• Unrealised capital gains accrued before 2028: their treatment on a later disposal will depend on the implementing regulation; not established.
• Employment contracts and deferred remuneration signed before 2028 and paid afterwards will need to be examined in light of the taxable event adopted by the law.

The transition rules (income accrued before 2028 and received afterwards, acquisition value of assets held when the law enters into force) were not found in the readable sources. To be verified in the implementing regulation.

We do not publish a living budget or property prices for Oman: no documented, comparable official series was consulted for this page. Acquisition by a foreigner is in principle limited to certain zones, in particular integrated tourism complexes; the exact scope must be verified with the Omani authorities.

1. Choose the residence route (employment, investment, Golden Residency) and verify its conditions on the official portal at the time of filing;
2. for a business activity, register the entity with the commercial register and register with the Tax Authority, as corporate income tax applies from the first financial year;
3. organise the tax departure from the country of origin according to its own criteria and, where relevant, request an Omani tax residence certificate;
4. factor the 2028 horizon in now in any multi-year projection of income, dividends and disposals.

• Do not present Oman as a jurisdiction with lasting absence of income tax: the law is published, only its application is deferred.
• The threshold is high but applies to total income; assets generating substantial dividends and rents can exceed it without any salary.
• The announced social exemptions depend on a regulation not yet published; do not count on them.
• Investor residence does not settle the tax question; the tax criterion will be presence.

Does Oman levy personal income tax in 2026?

Not on employees, retirees and passive-income earners. A law published in 2025 creates this tax, with entry into force announced for the beginning of 2028. Activity carried out under a commercial registration, however, is already subject to corporate income tax.

Who will pay the tax from 2028?

Individuals whose total annual income exceeds more than 42,000², on only the portion above that threshold, at a rate of 5%¹. Residents on their Omani and foreign income, non-residents on their income received in Oman.

Does the Golden Residency protect against the 2028 tax?

No. It is a residence permit; no source reviewed links it to any tax exemption. Tax residence will be assessed on the basis of physical presence.

Is a small Omani company taxed?

Yes. It falls under the standard rate or, if it meets all the conditions on capital, income and headcount and does not carry out a professional activity, under the reduced rate of 3%⁹.