This regulation supplements the Executive Regulation of the System of the Ownership of Real Estate in Integrated Tourism Complexes by adding new obligations to developers, buyers, and owners in Jebel Sifah Resort. Some of the new key obligation for developers under the new regulation include obligations to use an escrow account, appoint an independent audit office, and insure all units.

This new Jebel Sifah Resort Regulation enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

The Law Combatting Human Trafficking of 2025 adds new detailed definitions for human trafficking concepts that were not defined in the previous law, such as sexual exploitation and forced labour. The law also criminalises new trafficking activities such as deporting and detaining of humans in the context of human trafficking. The punishments under the law have also been increased so that the maximum prison sentence for general offences is increased from 7 to 10 years.

The Law Combatting Human Trafficking of 2025 has already entered into force. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

The new decision sets employer and employee obligations in the remote work environment. Employer obligations including matters such as providing the equipment required for remote work and bearing the costs for their installation and maintenance as a default position unless agreed otherwise with the worker. The new decision also prohibits employers from violating the privacy of their workers when employers monitor the performance of remote workers. Workers also have obligations under this new decision such as an obligation to carry out the work assigned to them during the agreed working hours.

One of the most interesting aspects of this MOL decision is that it only recognises remote work conducted within the Sultanate of Oman and prohibits employers from hiring workers working remotely outside the Sultanate. This, of course, has no restrictions on the ability of an employer in the Sultanate of Oman to hire independent contractors working remotely outside the country, the law merely does not recognise this as employment under the Labour Law.

The Ministry of Labour Decision 523/2025 Regarding the Governance of Remote Work has already entered into force. You can read it in full in English on the link below along with our compliance toolkit:

Prior to this new decision, employees subject to the Labour Law were entitled to a 3% annual increment on their basic wage as long as the performance of the employee is not deemed “poor”.

Under the new decision, the percentage of the annual increment can range between 5% and 2% depending on the performance of the employee, and can be withheld completely if the performance of the employee is deemed “poor”.

This obligation is imposed in relation to Omani employees only. Employers found in violation of this decision are to be fined 50 Rial Omani for each employee against whom a violation is committed.

The decision also provides some grounds for suspending the implementation of the annual increment in general as we all rules for withholding the increment for individual employees.

This new decision enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

Under the original royal decree the branch of insurance against work injuries and occupational diseases for non-Omani workers was supposed to enter into force in July 2026, today’s royal decree pushed this date to July 2028. Similarly, the branch of insurance of sick leave and extraordinary sick leave was supposed to enter into force in July 2025, it has now been pushed to July 2026. Finally, the savings system was supposed to enter into force in July 2026, and now it will enter into force in July 2027.

You can read Royal Decree 60/2025 in English in full on the link below:

The amendment created a new requirement for authorised signatories to fall under specific categories of individuals who can take this role, such as partners in the company, members of the board of directors, and administrative and finance staff. Notably it appears that it is now not possible to appoint an employee of another company who does not fall under any of the categories specified as authorised signatory.

This amendment of the Commercial Companies Regulation enters into force tomorrow. You can read the full text of this amendment in English on the link below:

The circular does not have a specific entry date, so it is assumed that it is immediately enforceable.

It is worth noting that in the year 2020, Oman issued a decision banning single-use plastic bags, but in 2024 another decision was issued limiting the ban only to single-use plastic bags that have a thickness of less than 50 micrometers. This new circular by MOCIIP appears to further erode the ban of single-use plastic bags by making it mandatory for retail outlets to provide consumers with single-use bags, plastic or otherwise, free of charge. This goes against the international trend towards sustainability and encouraging people to reuse and recycle their bags as part of global environmental efforts.

You can read MOCIIP new decision on single-use bags on the link below:

Withholding Tax

The Omani Personal Income Tax Law adopts a withholding tax approach for salaries and wages, pensions, end-of-service gratuities, and board membership bonuses. Under this approach, the employer has a legal obligation to deduct the income tax directly from the amount to be paid to the employee, pensioner, or board member and periodically transfer them to the Tax Authority. This is somewhat similar to the situation of Social Protection Law contributions, which are partially paid by the employee and the employer is required to withhold the contribution amount from the salary of the employee and transfer it to the Social Protection Fund directly.

In addition to the standard withholding tax obligations, article 44 of the Personal Income Tax Law imposes additional obligations on public and private sector entities to withhold tax in regard to payments made for matters other than wages, salaries, pensions, end-of-service gratuities, and board membership bonuses, if these payments exceed 20,000 Rial Omani. If this provision is triggered, the law makes a distinction between the percentage of the tax to be withheld based on the tax residency status of the person receiving the payment.

Failure to comply with these withholding tax provisions can result in a fine of 1% per month of the amount of the withhold tax. There are also criminal punishments for deliberately failing to withhold tax.

Tax Returns Filing

The Personal Income Tax Law also imposes an obligation on employers to file tax returns on behalf of their employees if certain conditions are met and the employee in question requests that the employer files these tax returns on their behalf.

Retention and Supply of Documents

Employers are required to retain all records, documents, data, information, invoices, and others documents relating to the for a period of 5 years from the date of filing any tax return, and must provide the Tax Authority with any evidence it requests.

Sufficient Time to Comply

The Personal Income Tax Law was published at the beginning of this week, but it enters into force on 1 January 2028. This should give employers sufficient time to comply with this new law. The executive regulation of this law—which is vital to comply with the law—is expected to be released within the next 12 months.

You can read the new Personal Income Tax Law in English in full on Decree. You can also view our downloadable compliance Toolkit on the link below:

The Public Debt Law provides a general governance framework of how the government plans to make decisions regarding the management of public debt and introduces controls on government debt. This new regulation provides a more specific set of rules for implementing this law.

The Executive Regulation of the Public Debt Law provides comprehensive details on the procedures and controls for contracting public debt, the role of the MOF in approving and managing debt operations, and other requirements that apply to government debt and government guarantees. Most importantly, the executive regulation sets restrictions on the ability of OIA subsidiaries to borrow money, and requires the OIA to obtain the approval of the MOF in regards to certain transactions. The regulation also imposes other obligations on the OIA such as reporting requirements.

The Executive Regulation of the Public Debt Law has already entered into force. You can read it in full in English on the link below: 

You can read the circular in full in English below: