My company is in a free zone — do I still need to register for corporate tax?

No. Corporate tax registration is mandatory for every company in the country, whether on the mainland or in a free zone. The real difference is that a company meeting the conditions of a “Qualifying Free Zone Person” may benefit from a 0% rate on its qualifying income only — not a full exemption from registering or filing.

And that qualifying status is neither automatic nor permanent — it requires genuine economic substance (staff, expenditure, assets) and income from defined activities, and any branch in another zone is assessed together with the rest as one entity. At RASEEKH, we review your free zone position before assuming it qualifies.