Oman expat tax: the 5% income tax rate arriving in 2028

Oman is one of the last places where a full-time resident pays no tax at all on their salary, pension or investments. That's true for all of 2026 and 2027. On 1 January 2028 that changes, when a personal income tax of 5% on income above OMR 42,000 a year (about US$109,000) comes into force.

The headline sounds bigger than it is. The tax is charged only on the part of gross income above that line. Most expats will pay nothing, and someone earning US$250,000 would pay under 3%.

This guide covers Omani personal tax in 2026 and the 2028 law. The key question: will your gross income be above OMR 42,000 a year from 2028?

What's changed: the Personal Income Tax Law was issued by Royal Decree 56/2025 on 22 June 2025 and comes into force on 1 January 2028. It's law, not a proposal, but its executive regulation (due within a year of publication) wasn't on the Tax Authority's law page when we checked on 8 October 2026. For expat workers, sick leave insurance became compulsory on 19 July 2026, paid by employers. Royal Decree 60/2025 put back Social Protection Fund cover for expats' work injuries to July 2028, and the new savings scheme replacing end-of-service gratuity will start by July 2027 at the latest. A 10-year Golden Residency opened on 1 September 2025.

📋 Oman tax at a glance for 2026

Oman's 5% income tax from 2028

How will Oman's new income tax work? The Personal Income Tax Law sets one rate, 5%, on one slice of income: whatever your gross income for the calendar year is above OMR 42,000.

Image 1 — no income tax today, 5% above OMR 42,000 from 2028

Gross income is broad: salary and benefits in kind, self-employment, rent, royalties, interest, dividends and gains on shares and sukuk, property gains, pensions and end-of-service pay, prizes, gifts and board fees. Residents are taxed on income from Oman and abroad; non-residents only on Omani income.

After the OMR 42,000 is taken off, the law allows further deductions and exemptions, including:

• your own contributions to up to two pension schemes

• education and healthcare costs for you and close family, under rules the regulation will set

• interest on a loan to buy or build your main home, once in your life

• zakat and approved donations, up to 5% of gross income

• gains on your main home, income from Omani government bonds and sukuk, and gifts or inheritances between spouses and close relatives

For people moving in, the key relief is that a new resident's foreign income is exempt for 18 months, once, from the day after they stop being non-resident.

Employers will withhold the tax from salaries above OMR 42,000, and foreign tax on the same income can be credited.

👉 Oman Tax Authority: Personal Income Tax Law and regulations

👉 Oman Tax Authority: Personal Income Tax FAQs

👉 Official Gazette issue 1602: Royal Decree 56/2025 and the Personal Income Tax Law (in Arabic)

When you become tax resident in Oman

In 2026 no residence test changes what you pay in Oman. Residence still matters to your old country, which will want evidence that you've moved.

From 1 January 2028, you're a tax resident for a year if you're in Oman for more than 183 days in that calendar year. The days don't need to be in a row. That's the only test in the law: there's no home, family or centre-of-interests rule. The law also says the Tax Authority will issue tax residency certificates on request.

Leaving is simple in principle. Residence is tested each calendar year, and there's no exit tax. From 2028, though, the law asks anyone whose residence in Oman is ending to file a tax return at least 60 days before they leave, unless the departure is sudden and outside their control. Once you've filed as a resident, you can only stop filing after a year in which your gross income falls below OMR 42,000.

The law doesn't yet explain how the start of the 18-month exemption is fixed when residence is tested over a whole year, so check the executive regulation before timing a sale of foreign investments around it.

Income tax rates for 2026 and 2028

Oman's tax year is the calendar year. For 2026 there's simply no personal income tax. The table shows the rules that apply from 2028.

Oman personal income tax rates for 2026 and from 2028

Source: Oman Personal Income Tax Law (Royal Decree 56/2025), Article 1 and Article 8; Tax Authority PIT FAQs.

Worked example

• You're an expat employee in Muscat on a salary of OMR 38,450 (US$100k at the Central Bank of Oman's fixed rate of US$2.6008 to the rial). In 2026 your income tax is OMR 0, and you pay no social insurance. In 2028 it's still OMR 0, because your gross income is below OMR 42,000.

• Now say you earn OMR 70,000 (about US$182,000). In 2026 you pay nothing. In 2028, OMR 28,000 is above the threshold, so the tax is OMR 1,400 before any exemptions, or 2% of your salary.

Your all-in rate on US$100k is 0% in 2026, and in 2028.

👉 Central Bank of Oman: the fixed peg of the rial to the US dollar

Freelancing in Oman

In 2026, freelance income earned by an individual isn't subject to any personal income tax in Oman.

From 2028, income from your own commercial, professional or craft work counts as self-employment income, as long as the activity isn't entered in the commercial register (registered businesses stay under Oman's separate Income Tax Law, which this guide doesn't cover). It's added to your other income for the OMR 42,000 test. You can deduct either 15% of your gross self-employment income or your actual expenses, and you can switch between the two every three years. The Tax Authority's own example is a photographer with no commercial registration earning OMR 50,000, who is within the tax.

The harder question is whether you're allowed to freelance. Most expats' residence is tied to an employer, and we found no freelance visa for foreigners, so check what your visa permits before you start.

Crypto, investments and pensions

How is crypto taxed in Oman? In 2026 it isn't. There's no tax on personal crypto gains, dividends, interest, fund gains or pensions, wherever they come from.

From 2028 the picture changes for higher incomes:

• Pensions, including foreign pensions received by a resident, count as gross income. The Tax Authority confirms pensions are taxable.

• Dividends and gains on shares, sukuk and bonds count too, after the actual costs of earning them. Losses on selling them can be carried forward for up to five years.

• Crypto-assets aren't named in the law's list of income sources. Until the executive regulation or Tax Authority guidance says otherwise, the treatment of crypto gains is unclear, and active trading could be argued to be an income-producing activity.

Oman's capital markets regulator (since 2024 the Financial Services Authority) announced plans in 2023 to license virtual asset service providers, so check that any platform you use is authorised.

Oman has no inheritance tax and no wealth tax. From 2028, gifts you receive from anyone other than your spouse or close relatives count as income.

👉 Financial Services Authority: plans for a virtual assets regulatory framework (2023)

👉 Oman Tax Authority: VAT FAQs, including the 5% standard rate

Social security

Do expats pay social security in Oman? Not from their pay. Omani workers pay 7.5% towards pensions, but non-Omani workers are only covered by branches their employer pays for:

• Maternity leave insurance: compulsory for non-Omani workers since 19 July 2024. Employer 1%, worker 0%.

• Sick and other leave insurance: compulsory for non-Omani workers since 19 July 2026. Employer 1%, worker 0%.

• Work injury and occupational disease insurance: the Fund's cover for expats starts five years after the Social Protection Law was issued, so from 19 July 2028 (Royal Decree 60/2025 moved it back from 2026).

• Savings scheme: replaces the end-of-service gratuity for expats, funded by 9% of the basic wage and paid by the employer. It starts on a date the Fund's board sets, by 19 July 2027 at the latest. Until then, your employer pays gratuity under the Labour Law.

So for an expat employee, the all-in social security cost is 0%.

👉 Social Protection Fund: contribution rates for workers and employers

👉 Social Protection Fund: social insurance cover for non-Omani workers

👉 Official Gazette issue 1654: sick leave insurance for non-Omani workers from 19 July 2026 (in Arabic)

👉 Official Gazette issue 1604: Royal Decree 60/2025 on start dates for expats (in Arabic)

Double tax treaties

Does Oman have double tax treaties? Yes. The Tax Authority lists 44 double tax agreements, each with a ratifying Royal Decree and an effective date. Partners include the UK (effective 1999), France, India, China, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Singapore, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, Qatar and Russia. Agreements with Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Luxembourg and Tanzania took effect on 1 January 2026.

There's no treaty on the list with the United States, Germany or the UAE.

Treaties matter more from 2028, when Oman taxes residents on worldwide income and two countries may both claim you.

👉 Oman Tax Authority: double tax agreements

Is there a digital nomad visa in Oman?

No. The Royal Oman Police e-visa list has no visa for remote workers. Tourist visit visas are issued for 10 days, 14 days or one month, to nationals of listed countries. A one-year multiple-entry visit visa lets you come and go, but each stay can't exceed a month. None of these is a work visa.

For a longer stay without an Omani employer, the main routes are:

• Property owner visa: issued without a sponsor to a foreigner who owns a built unit in one of Oman's integrated tourism complexes.

• Golden Residency: a renewable 10-year residence launched on 1 September 2025, from OMR 200,000 (about US$520,000) invested through routes such as property in integrated tourism complexes, a company, government bonds, listed shares or a fixed-term deposit. Your family can join you.

• Other investor and retirement permits: Invest Oman's investor residency page also lists a five-year permit from OMR 250,000, and an extended residence permit for expats already living in Oman who want to retire there, with a fixed income of at least OMR 4,000 a month. Its 10-year figure (OMR 500,000) is older than the Golden Residency launch, so check current thresholds before applying.

👉 Royal Oman Police eVisa: visa types (choose Visit Unsponsored or Resident Unsponsored)

👉 Invest Oman (Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion): 10-year Golden Residency

👉 Invest Oman: investor residency programmes

Who is Oman good for?

How does Oman compare for different kinds of mover? Ratings are relative to the 150+ countries TaxPilot covers, based on 2026 rules and the all-in cost including social insurance. The 2028 tax doesn't change any rating at our example incomes, because each one is under OMR 42,000.

☑️ Who is Oman good for? Tax ratings for expats in 2026

Filing and deadlines

For 2026 and 2027, individuals have no personal income tax return to file in Oman.

From the 2028 tax year, anyone whose gross income is above OMR 42,000 files a return online within six months of the end of the year, so the first returns are due by 30 June 2029. Tax is paid by the same date. If your only income is a salary, pension or board fees from one employer, your employer can file the return for you on request. Late payment adds 1% a month, and the Tax Authority can amend a return for three years after it's filed.

Frequently asked questions

Does Oman have income tax in 2026?

No. Oman has no personal income tax in 2026 or 2027, so salaries, pensions, investment income and crypto gains are untaxed for individuals. A personal income tax starts on 1 January 2028.

When does Oman's personal income tax start?

On 1 January 2028, under Royal Decree 56/2025. The rate is 5% on gross income above OMR 42,000 a year, about US$109,000, after exemptions and deductions. The first returns are due by 30 June 2029.

Who will pay Oman's 5% income tax?

Residents, meaning anyone in Oman for more than 183 days in a calendar year, pay on worldwide income above OMR 42,000. Non-residents pay on Omani income. New residents get an 18-month exemption on foreign income, once.

Do expats pay social security in Oman?

Not from their salary. Employers pay the Social Protection Fund for expats' maternity and sick leave insurance, at 1% each. A savings scheme replacing end-of-service gratuity, at 9% of basic wage paid by the employer, starts by July 2027.

Is crypto taxed in Oman?

Not in 2026, because there's no personal income tax. The 2028 law doesn't list crypto-assets among its income sources, so their treatment from 2028 is unclear until the executive regulation or Tax Authority guidance is published.

Does Oman have a double tax treaty with the UK?

Yes. The UK and Oman agreement was signed in 1998 and has applied since 1 January 1999. The Tax Authority lists 44 double tax agreements in all, but none with the United States, Germany or the UAE.