10 Lowest-Tax Cities for Expats in 2026

1
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Al AinUAE
0% income tax; VAT 5%, corporate tax 9% above AED 375k
Income tax
The full UAE position — no personal income tax at all, 5% VAT, and 9% corporate tax only above AED 375,000 of business profit. Unlike Dubai's 5% housing fee and Sharjah's roughly 4%, what rides on an Al Ain lease is Abu Dhabi's own treatment, so ask before you budget.
Al Ain relocation guide
2
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Al KhobarSaudi Arabia
0% income tax, 15% VAT
Income tax
Zero income tax on salaries, though the 15% VAT and the expat dependant levy quietly claw back more than the headline suggests.
Al Khobar relocation guide
3
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DammamSaudi Arabia
0% income tax, 15% VAT
Income tax
No personal income tax and, for non-Saudis, no employee social contributions either — the employer's 2% GOSI premium is the whole story.
Dammam relocation guide
4
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DohaQatar
0% income tax
Income tax
Zero personal income tax and a riyal pegged to the dollar — take-home pay is the whole package.
Doha relocation guide
5
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FujairahUAE
0% income tax; VAT 5%, corporate tax 9% above AED 375k
Income tax
No personal income tax, 5% VAT and 9% corporate tax only above AED 375,000 — though a free-zone licence delivers 0% on qualifying income only if it actually meets the substance conditions, which is the trap in an emirate people move to for the licence.
Fujairah relocation guide
6
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JeddahSaudi Arabia
0% income tax, 15% VAT
Income tax
No personal income tax on salaries at all — offset by a 15% VAT that is triple the UAE's and never shows up on a payslip.
Jeddah relocation guide
7
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Ras Al KhaimahUAE
0% income tax; 9% corporate above AED 375k
Income tax
No income tax, no property tax, no tax on rental income and no capital gains — but 9% corporate tax bites unless your free-zone income actually qualifies.
Ras Al Khaimah relocation guide
8
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RiyadhSaudi Arabia
0% income tax
Income tax
0% personal income tax on salaries — a core draw for talent moving to Saudi Arabia's boomtown.
Riyadh relocation guide
9
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SharjahUAE
0% income tax
Income tax
No personal income tax at all; the only recurring local charge is a municipality fee tied to your annual rent, collected through the SEWA bill.
Sharjah relocation guide
10
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Abu DhabiUAE
0% income tax
Income tax
0% personal income tax and a dollar-pegged dirham — the full Gulf tax advantage, minus Dubai's frenzy.
Abu Dhabi relocation guide

How we ranked

We score each city on personal income-tax friendliness for a typical expat: zero-tax systems rank highest, followed by territorial regimes that exempt foreign income, then special expat regimes, and finally ordinary progressive systems. This is general information, not tax advice — rules turn on residency and your situation, so confirm with a local professional.

We score all 458 cities in the Globe Quest atlas and show the top 10 here. As we add destinations, this ranking updates automatically.