Oman

Starting a Business in

Oman

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Oman. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare Oman to 184 other economies.

YearNew business densityNumber of new limited liability companies
2011 0.635,314

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Limited Liability Company (LLC)
  • Paid in Minimum Capital Requirement: OMR 20,000
  • City: Muscat

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Deposit the legally required initial capital in a bank

The capital of an LLC must be fully paid up at the time of its registration.
1 day no charge
2 Registration with the Commercial Registry at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI)

For registration of a LLC, the following documents must be obtained from the shareholders for submission to the One Stop Shop at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry:

• Passport (copy) and identity cards of shareholders
• Passport (copy) or identify cards of all intended authorized signatories
• Approved authorized signatory form, on which the names and sample ignatures of each authorized signatory must be reproduced
• Standard company registration forms, including the constitutive contract (the articles of association)
• Applications for any specific licenses, depending on the nature of the proposed activities

For the registration process, the entrepreneur goes to the One-stop shop adjacent to MoCI building and hands in application and the abovementioned documents. Upon submitting application, the applicant receives a tracking number and decides which way he wants to be notified that the paperwork has been approved. The options include: SMS, phone call, or email. The entrepreneur also receives a list of fees that need to be paid.
The procedure to check the availability of the name and the reservation of name of the proposed LLC is done online.

The following ministries/agencies are housed in the one-stop shop at the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, which provides the entrepreneur with interaction with one person at the one-stop shop:
Ministry of Commerce and Industry MoCI, Ministry of Civil Defense, Royal Oman Police, Muscat Municipality, Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources & the Ministry of Manpower.

The registration fees are determined on the basis of the shareholding in the company and the value of the share capital.

 3 days OMR 40 for business registration (for a duration of 5 years) + OMR 128 for Chamber of Commerce + OMR 15 for registration with Muscat Municipality
3 Notification of the Tax Department of the Finance Ministry

In accordance with the New Income Tax Law issued recently which is effective from Januaury 01, 2010, the company must register itself with the Tax Department by filing Form of Declaration of Business Particulars which normally would take 1 day. Addtionally, the new tax law has eliminated the disparity in tax rates between foreign and local entities by providing a uniform tax rate of 12% for all taxable entities with an initial tax free exemption of Rial 30,000)
1 day no charge
4 Register employees for social insurance

Once the LLC concludes an employment contract with an Omani employee, a copy of the contract must be submitted to the Public Authority for Social Insurance for registration. The Social Security Law of Oman requires the LLC to make the specified contributions to the Authority toward the retirement benefits of its Omani employees.
1 day no charge
* 5 Make a company seal

The instructions to make the company seal or stamp are issued by the registered authorized signatory of the LLC. When issued to the supplier of the stamp or seal, such instructions should be accompanied by an attested signature specimen confirming the requesting persons’ authority to obtain the stamp or seal.
2 days (simultaneous with previous procedure) OMR 50
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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