Saudi Arabia levies no personal income tax on salaried individuals, so most NRIs there have no local income-tax filing burden. The India-Saudi Arabia DTAA, signed 25 January 2006, mainly protects an NRI's India-source income -- such as rent, interest or capital gains -- from double taxation, and sponsors of Saudi dependent visas should budget for the monthly dependent levy on top of routine living costs.
No personal income tax, but a dependent levy applies to families
Saudi Arabia does not impose personal income tax on employment income, which remains true today.
Since 2017, however, Saudi Arabia has levied a monthly dependent fee on each sponsored dependant
(spouse, children and others) of a foreign worker, introduced at SAR 100/month and increased in annual
steps; Saudi authorities have indicated no plans to revise this levy. Because the exact current monthly
rate is periodically reviewed, NRIs sponsoring family members should confirm the current figure with
their employer's HR/government-relations team or GOSI rather than relying on an older cited amount.
Because the levy is charged per dependant per month, families with several sponsored dependants should
budget for it as a recurring line item in their overall Saudi cost-of-living calculation, not a one-time
visa-issuance cost, since it continues for as long as the dependant's residency is sponsored.
The India-Saudi Arabia DTAA
India and Saudi Arabia signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement on 25 January 2006. Because Saudi
Arabia does not tax salaried individuals' income at all, the DTAA's practical value for most salaried
NRIs lies in protecting their India-source income -- rental income, capital gains, interest and
dividends earned in India -- from double taxation, and in establishing non-resident status for Indian
tax purposes via a Tax Residency Certificate. The treaty caps withholding on dividends, interest and
royalties paid across the two countries, though fees for technical services were notably left out of
the original treaty text, which is a gap Indian consultants and technical-service providers working
into Saudi Arabia should be aware of.
Zakat and business taxation
Zakat, a religious wealth levy, generally applies to the Saudi/GCC-owned share of businesses rather
than to individual non-Muslim expatriates; a foreign-owned company's profit share is instead subject to
corporate income tax administered by Saudi Arabia's Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA). NRIs
running or investing in a Saudi business should confirm their specific entity's Zakat/corporate-tax
treatment with ZATCA or a qualified local advisor, since ownership structure materially affects which
regime applies.
