Saudi Arabia · Payroll guide
Salary Tax in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has no personal income tax on employment salaries. The only statutory deduction from a Saudi payslip is the GOSI social-insurance share — here is exactly what that means.
0%Personal income tax on employment salaries
The short answer
There is no personal income tax on salaries in Saudi Arabia — for Saudi nationals or expatriates. An employee's gross is reduced only by their GOSI social-insurance share (Saudi nationals) and any contractual deductions; expatriates have no employee-side GOSI deduction at all.
What is actually deducted
For a Saudi national under the established GOSI system, the employee contributes 9.75% of the contributory wage (9% pension + 0.75% SANED unemployment). That wage is basic salary plus housing allowance only, capped at SAR 45,000 per month. Other allowances — transport, phone, commission — are excluded from the base. For an expatriate employee there is no employee GOSI deduction; the employer alone pays 2% for occupational-hazards cover.
- Saudi employee contribution9.75%
- Pension9%
- SANED0.75%
- Contributory wageBasic salary plus housing allowance
- CeilingSAR 45,000
- Excluded from the baseTransport, phone, commission
- Expatriate employee GOSINone
- Expatriate employer, occupational hazards2%
Why people search for “Saudi salary tax”
Because in most countries a payslip carries income tax, and it is reasonable to expect one here too. In Saudi Arabia that line simply does not exist for salaries. What does exist is a value-added tax on goods and services and corporate-level obligations (Zakat / corporate income tax and, for some, withholding on cross-border payments) — none of which touch an ordinary salary.
- Personal income tax on salaries does not appear on a Saudi payslip.
- Value-added tax applies to goods and services.
- Zakat and corporate income tax are corporate-level obligations.
- Withholding can apply to some cross-border payments.
Calculate GOSI contributions
The employee share, the SAR 45,000 cap, and Saudi-versus-expat treatment, on basic salary plus housing.