Limited Liability Company registration in Oman

It must not contain sensitive words that imply criminal activity or contradict to the standards of public morality. The words such as Assurance”, “Bank”, “Insurance” are the subject of licensing.

The name of the company may not create any associations with the governmental bodies, agencies and departments.

The company’s name must not be very similar to existing names on the registrar and it must not contain improper or objectionable words. It may be written in any letters and contain the abbreviation “LLC” which means limited liability.

Oman LLC is required to have a registered office address in Oman.

There is no requirement to appoint directors according to the legislation of Oman. Also, in case of appointment there is no requirement for them to be locals and there are not any restrictions regarding the place of such meetings.

Corporate persons cannot become directors as well as the shareholders. The directors’ details are registered on the public record and can be accessed by the public.

The appointment of a secretary is not mandatory, but optional. It is common practice to appoint the secretaries.

Two shareholders are the minimum required. There is no requirement for them to be locals and corporate persons can become shareholders. There is no requirement regarding the place and frequency of shareholders’ meetings. Importantly individuals who are not residents  of Oman and wish to engage in a trade or business in Oman, or to acquire an interest in the capital of an Omani company, must obtain a license from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The director and shareholder can be the same person. The shareholders’ details are registered on the public record; however they are not publicly accessible because Oman offers a high level of privacy.

The beneficial owners’ details are not registered on the public record according to the Oman legislation requirements.

The owners of Limited Liability Company are free to determine any amount as the authorized capital at incorporation and it should not be less than OMR 150,000 ($390.000USD). Moreover, if shareholding is 100% foreign, the minimum share capital is OMR 500.000 ($1.300000USD). The authorized capital should be denominated in OMR only; anoother currency cannot be used. Each shareholder is liable within his part only. The authorized capital is the maximum amount of capital that the company is authorized by its constitutional documents to draw from its shareholders in exchange of shares issued.

Oman LLC may have registered shares, with or without voting rights, preferential or common. Bearer shares are not permitted.

There is a requirement to have the authorized capital of the company fully paid up.

The incorporation period in Oman may be 14 days.

Ready-made but unused LLCs are available in Oman, in case you are in need of a quicker incorporation process.

Oman legislation does not contain any requirements regarding the economic substance of the Limited Liability Companies. This means that the company is not demanded to have premises and an adequate number of employees, the number of expenditures to support its activity in Oman. In that sense Limited Liability Company must have an address within the territory of Oman that will be registered as a company’s address.

Limited Liability Company incorporated in Oman is obliged to prepare and file accounting records. Also, tax return should be filed to the tax authorities.  Accounting records should be kept for the companies with a capital over OMR 50.000 (130.000USD) or having more than ten shareholders.

The corporate tax rate in Oman is 15%. The 5 years tax exemption is granted for companies that are involved in manufacturing activities. Oman has a big number of double tax avoidance treaties with various countries from all over the world. Dividends, royalties, interest tax rates are 10% respectively. Oman does not levy any taxes on sales like VAT tax and thus there are not any registration procedures in that relation.