Full Name:	State of Qatar (دولة قطر)
Official language(s):	Arabic
Other major languages:	English
Type of government:	Unitary constitutional monarchy
Legal system:	Mix of civil and Islamic law
Area:	11,586 km²
Timezone:	UTC+3
Population:	2.1 million (of which over 1.5 million are expats)
GDP per capita:	140,000 USD
Currency:	Qatari Riyal (QAR), pegged at 3.64 QAR = 1 USD

Incorporation and Business

Reputation

From a purely financial services point of view, Qatar has a clean reputation.

General Information

Regular incorporations usually require 51% local ownership. To attract foreign ownership, Qatar has set up a more easy-going regulatory environment in the Qatar Financial Center. Here, certain categories of business activities can be set up with full foreign ownership and management.

The permitted categories of non-regulated business are:

• Audit, accounting, tax, or consultancy services.
• Headquarters of a company or a management office, trust, or similar.
• Holding companies.
• Company management services.
• Financial grading or rating services.
• Shipping agencies or brokers.

Regulator

Regular incorporation does not have a specific regulator but companies formed in the Qatar Financial Center are supervised by the QFC and, if they require regulation, are regulated by the QFCRA.

Legal Entities

Most foreign-controlled companies in Qatar are formed as Limited Liability Companies (LLC) but Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) are also available.

Taxation

Qatar has a territorial taxation system, where only income derived from Qatar is taxable. The tax rate is 10%.

Record Keeping

Required but need not be submitted. Audits are required once a company reaches 100,000 QAR turnover in a year.

Public Records

Companies are subject to public disclosure.

The QRA public records contain registration status, registration number, place of incorporation, date of incorporation, legal form, directors (name), significant shareholders (name), registered address, capital information, and licensing details.

Banking

Qatar has quietly developed a strong and modern banking sector. Foreign deposits are mostly regional but the jurisdiction is trying to attract foreign investment.

This is not an easy-going banking sector such as the ones found in the Caribbean. It’s more akin to UAE and Lebanon, focused on established or quickly-establishing companies and large-scale investments from high-networh individuals and entities.

You’re very unlikely to get accepted at a Qatari bank with an offshore IBC, LLC, or even as a small business incorporated in a reputable jurisdiction.

Open a Bank Account in Qatar

The process is not much different from comparable jurisdictions. It is generally preferred that clients appear in person but as this can be a problem due to the Qatar’s relatively restrictive visa requirements on entries, where nationals of wealthy countries are welcome but others need difficult-to-obtain visas, remote account opening or account opening by visiting a bank representative elsewhere is quite common.

Qatar has not signed the Apostille Convention and as such, document verification can turn into a nightmare if the bank is not satisfied with anything other than verification by an embassy official.

Minimum deposits are not strictly enforced but smaller clients with no other ties to Qatar or the region are unlikely to be accepted.

Banking Secrecy

Banking secrecy in Qatar is generally strong, at least for non-resident foreigners. It’s important to understand how laws work in wealthy totalitarian or semi-totalitarian sovereign nations. Typically, local residents and especially citizens can have no reasonable expectation of privacy. However, the affairs of non-resident foreigners, as long as they do not disturb the nation, are often not given much attention.

With the advent of the US’ FATCA and OECD’s AEOI, repercussions are now being felt for not caring about the money foreigners hold in local banks.

Banks in Qatar

There are in total 18 banks licensed in Qatar. Banks are listed below with year of license being issued and assets as of December 2015.

Seven are national banks:

• AL Ahli Bank (1984, 47.2 billion QAR)
• AL Khalij Bank (2007, 31.5 billion QAR)
• Commercial Bank (1975, 100.8 billion QAR)
• Doha Bank (1979, 69.4 billion QAR)
• International Bank of Qatar (2000, 30.6 billion QAR)
• Qatar Development Bank (1997, 6.9 billion QAR)
• Qatar National Bank (1965, 423.8 billion QAR)

Four are Islamic national banks:

• Barwa Bank (2009, 38.5 billion QAR)
• Masraf AL Rayan (2006, 82.1 billion QAR)
• Qatar International Islamic Bank (1991, 40.1 billion QAR)
• Qatar Islamic Bank (1983, 99.7 billion QAR)

The remaining seven banks are foreign banks:

• Arab Bank (1957, 7.8 billion QAR)
• Bank Saderat Iran (1970, 0.7 billion QAR)
• BNP Paribas (1973, 2.7 billion QAR)
• HSBC (1954, 16.7 billion QAR)
• Mashreq Bank (1971, 6.6 billion QAR)
• United Bank (1970, 0.9 billion QAR)

Living in Qatar

Qatar is very warm and compared to UAE, Oman, and Bahrain much more conservative, although it is not as conservative as Saudi Arabia.

While a large majority of the population is made up of expats, there are relatively few expats (especially from non-Arabic nations) who come here to start businesses or enjoy a tax free life. Many settle down in UAE instead, or somewhere else entirely.

Citizenship

Only possible after 25 years (15 years for Arabic nationals) of residency and speaking Arabic. Very few citizenships are awarded and Qatari passports are not particularly attractive.

Dual citizenship is not permitted.

Taxation

Practically none.

Final words

Qatar being included on lists of tax haven is arguably unfair since it does not have much in common with typical tax havens, other than being a zero-tax jurisdiction.

Few incorporate here, with most entrepreneurs in (or interested in) the region opting for UAE instead.

The banking sector is strong but not yet very welcoming to foreigners other than the very wealthy.

See also

• OECD Peer Review (also has a list of TIEA and DTA)
• FATF documents
• MENAFATF documents