Taxation

Most contractors look to the Middle East as a place to increase their earnings and the focus on maximizing your net return is particularly high. However we find the basic contractor tax needs are still present: to keep their independence, retain as high a % of gross earnings as possible, remove the burden of administration, ensure Work Permit compliance and to avoid the wrath of the taxman. Our Middle East partners have just the solution for you!

APPLY NOW for a free, quick review of your circumstances and the options available.

The Middle East region with its ever increasing opportunities for international contractors, exciting expat lifestyle, year round sunshine, riveting culture and largely low personal income tax rates is a sought after contracting work location. One of the significant drawbacks for international contractors is the difficulty in obtaining local taxation expertise.

The tax systems of the Middle East are all completely different to those that international contractors are used to and the authorities are growing ever more aggressive in targeting Contractor Management Companies and Contractors. It’s highly recommended to obtain expert advice on your payment structure if you are contracting or intend to contract in the Middle East.

Your expected net return in the Middle East can vary from between 60% and 100% depending on a number of factors: which country you are working in, length of your contract, intended length of stay, the industry you work in, number of dependents, your nationality, whether the contract is direct to client or through a recruitment agency and so on. There are a number of options available to you and the one that is best suited to your circumstances will depend on the answers to the above questions.

Contact us now and provide us with information on your specific situation and with our vetted Contractor Management partners we will ensure that you net the highest possible % of your gross income whilst ensuring that you are compliant with the local and international regulations.

This is a free service.

Immigration and Work Permits

Organising Work Permits in the Middle East can be tricky. The rules are regularly updated to reflect market conditions and government policy. We cover the whole region including: The UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordon, Kuwait, Syria, Israel, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Egypt or Turkey. We understand local regulations and have extensive partnerships to provide reliable business visas, iqamas, work permits and other contractor management services.

We try to keep our information up to date as much as possible but we rely heavily on our local immigration advice partners who are the specialists. They operate as a local umbrella company to provide a letter of introduction (LOI), arrange a business visa (BV) to get you on the ground asap, sponsor your iqama or work permit, run your payroll, process your expenses and lodge your taxes and social contributions. All you need to worry about is doing your job and filling in your timesheets.

If you aren't able to find the information you want on how you can contract in the Middle East please contact us with your circumstances and we can always assist you. Please note in many of these locations we can offer split payment solutions to maximise your net earnings.

Our sponsorship partners are specialists in local immigration laws including sponsored contractor work visas. They are able to sponsor suitably skilled contractor candidates on Work Permits in each of the Middle Eastern countries.

The benefits include:

- full compliance with local immigration laws

- freedom to work with any end client for any duration

- security and comfort of using long established international market leader

- Middle East visas allows for entry of spouse and dependants

- local salary compliance

- understanding of dual taxation implications through regional offices

Additionally they can offer you excellent tax & financial management to ensure you stay on the right side of the authorities whilst keeping the highest possible % of your gross billing. APPLY NOW for a free, no-obligation assessment.

Services Summary

We feel we have a comprehensive range of services in the Middle East to cover most of your needs. If you would like some assistance and don't see it here please contact us

A summary of our most popular services for the Middle East:

Tax, Invoicing, Payroll, Taxation Employment Solutions for Contractors where all you have to do is send in your Timesheets Financial Management Structures You can reach all our resources on the Middle East from this page.

- Information on IMMIGRATION WORK PERMITS and Work Visas

- Information on TAXATION, EMPLOYMENT and PAYMENT

- A summary of all Middle East SERVICES that we offer

- CASE STUDIES

- Information on Contract Jobs & Employment in the Middle East and our free recruiter mailout service

- Information about Middle East

- Links and Resources

Case Studies

Study 1 - The Consultant:

Dave, a Senior Project Manager (construction) from Australia, was offered a lucrative 18 month assignment in Dubai working for a construction company. However, neither the recruitment agency based in London, nor the construction company’s local office was willing to organize a Dubai Work Permit for Dave and his family.

Thankfully, after a friend told him to contact contractor taxation and we passed his case on to our local partner in Dubai, a full Dubai Work Permit was soon in place that would cover him for his 18 month contract and give him the opportunity to work for other end clients after that assignment had finished. Further, due to our local partners understanding of dual taxation laws and the special regulations for expatriate workers, he was earning more money than he expected.

Study 2 - Consultant Requiring Tax Minimisation.

Caroline had no experience contracting in the Middle East, so when she was offered a contract working in Jordan she didn’t know what options were available to her. Even the regular contributors to the Expat Contracting Forums had little information on Jordan payment structures for contractors. Wanting to know the full scope of her options, she ‘googled’ contractor taxation and was able to obtain a thorough overview of her Contractor Management options before deciding on which payment structure to use. We were able to provide her with a variety of quotes based on her individual circumstances and together we selected the Jordan payroll structure that best suited circumstances for the duration of her contract job in Jordan.

Study 3 - The Recruiter:

London based recruitment consultant Stuart Clarke had located the perfect candidate for his client, a consultancy group in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, the candidate was a French citizen working in Germany. His client’s only solution for a Saudi Arabia work permit was to hire and payroll the candidate directly. This would have limited the contractor to roles with the client and clients were reluctant to sponsor a contractor on a Saudi Arabia Work Permit. This meant the candidate was reluctant to take the role and left the client in a less than ideal situation. If only there was another solution! A colleague referred Stuart to contractor taxation and our local partner was able to step into the breach. By offering a conduit between agency, end client and contractor all parties needs were met and the project was able to proceed without incident.

Study 4 - The Employer:

Carl, the senior sales representative for a large Boston based consultancy had won a project to roll out their trading software product to The National Bank of Abu Dhabi. He needed to urgently bring 12 of the technical and consultancy staff over from the USA to support the project. Given Abu Dhabi’s strict immigration and business practice laws it was essential that all correct procedures were followed. The Boston Head Office was reticent to setup a local entity to handle payroll and employment functions given the administrative difficulties and expense that this would entail. Our local partner was able to assist him by employing and payrolling the staff as a 3rd party, providing all specialist tax and immigration advice.

Not only did this alleviate the administration and cost issues, it was easy to migrate the staff back to his company once the contract was completed. Please note these studies are used for information purposes only and any resemblance to persons real or imagined is purely incidental.

Contracting in the Middle East

Interested in a contract in the Middle East? Have you been offered a contract or freelance job in the UAE (Dubai or Abu Dhabi), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, Israel, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Egypt or Turkey? Do you need a Contractor Management Company to sponsor your Work Permit in the Middle East? Are you looking to legally retain as much of your earnings as possible after tax? Our partner companies can make this happen. Just fill in this brief form and we will get back to you straight away. Our service is completely free and will take 2 minutes of your time so why not contact us and find out whether our partner companies can sponsor your Work Permit and manage your Tax & Payments in the Middle East. We have more information on Work Permit Sponsorship for the Middle East Including examples of how we have helped many contractors obtain: Work Permits for DUBAI Tax minimisation for JORDAN International Payroll and Employment Solutions in Abu Dhabi Case Study Miguel, a Senior Project Manager from Madrid was offered a contract job in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As a Spanish national he couldn’t work in Saudi Arabia without a sponsored work permit. He applied to ContractorTaxation.com and through our local partner we were able to obtain a Saudi Arabia Work Permit for him and they were also able to ensure that he received the highest possible net income after tax possible. Once his contract was completed he was able to move to other contracts within Saudi Arabia whilst on the same Work Permit. Want to know more?

Jobs & Employment

The Middle East has an ever growing contract job market with increasing opportunities for skilled, qualified expatriates. The feedback we get from recruiters is that; Energy (Oil), Information Technology (IT), Banking & Finance, Construction, Manufacturing and Telecommunications provide the most opportunities. Here is our list of contractor employment sites and resources in the Middle East. If you think a site should be listed here, please ask us to add a job site to our list.

JOB SITES:

http://www.bayt.com/

http://monster.com

http://www.jobserve.com

http://www.totaljobs.com/

http://www.RecruitGulf.com

http://www.naukrigulf.com

http://www.careermideast.com/en/

http://www.gulftalent.com/home/index.php

Recruiter Mailout (coming soon) Log your details here to be included in our free recruiter mailout service. This will get your CV in front of hundreds of recruiters that are placing contractors in the Middle East. Our opted in, bulk send ensures that you are registered quickly and easily with all the recruiters who will help you obtain your ideal role in the Middle East. Recruiter Mailout - so good, so free!

General Information

Countries: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Israel, Bahrain, Egypt and Turkey Major Cities: Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Sanaa, Amman, Kuwait City, Damascus, Tel Aviv, Manama, Cairo, Istanbul, Baghdad, Tehran.

Official Language: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Syriac, Kurdish.

Currency: Various Free Currency Calculator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East

Links & Resources

NEWS:

http://english.aljazeera.net/

http://news.yahoo.com/world/middle-east

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/default.stm

EXPAT SITES:

InterNations is the biggest global networking site for expats of various nationalities and their family members. At the moment, we have got about 180,000 members in 235 cities worldwide. On our platform, expatriates and their partners can connect with compatriots, ask for advice on everyday life in their host country, provide other members with useful tips, make new contacts and find information in our City Guides.

Expats in UAE

http://ixpats.com/dubai-expats/jobs-gulf-middle-east-saudi-bahrain-kuwai...

http://www.alloexpat.com/middle_east_expat_forum/

http://www.expatwoman.com/

http://www.expatengineer.net/

TRAVEL:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/middle-east

http://wikitravel.org/en/Middle_East

http://expedia.com

RESOURCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East

http://www.parstimes.com/mideast/