Before you start

A valid Iqama, which underpins employment and the GOSI record
A Qiwa-registered employment contract stating gross salary and allowance breakdown
A Saudi bank account for Wage Protection System payment
Knowledge of your own nationality's rules if it taxes worldwide income

Step-by-step

1
Confirm there is nothing to register or file
No PAYE-style deduction on salaries and no personal income-tax return. You never register with ZATCA as an employee. This surprises people arriving from countries where filing is universal, and there is nothing missing — the obligation genuinely does not exist.
OnlineWho: You — no action neededn/aSAR 0
2
Read the allowance structure, not just the total
Energy-sector packages here are typically built from a base salary plus housing, transport and sometimes education allowances. That structure matters because end-of-service gratuity is calculated on the wage as defined in the Labor Law, and because some home-country tax regimes treat allowances differently from salary. Ask for the split in writing.
Via employerWho: You, with HRBefore signingFree, and potentially worth a lot
3
Let your employer register you with GOSI
For non-Saudis this is a 2% occupational-hazard contribution paid wholly by the employer, covering work injury. Nothing is deducted from your salary and no Saudi pension accrues. Saudi nationals sit on an entirely different scheme with substantial employee contributions.
Via employerWho: Employer registers; GOSI administersAt onboarding, then monthlySAR 0 to you
4
Budget for 15% VAT, which never appears on a payslip
ZATCA levies 15% standard VAT on most goods and services, tripled from 5% in July 2020. It is baked into displayed prices. Residential rent is exempt and some essentials are zero-rated, but everything else carries the full rate — which is why 'zero tax like Dubai' understates the real cost gap.
OnlineWho: You, as a consumerOngoing15% embedded in prices
5
Account for the dependant levy as a lump sum
The levy on family sponsored on your Iqama is your own cost, unlike the employer-paid work-permit levy, and it is charged for the whole Iqama period at issue or renewal rather than monthly. For a family of four that is a substantial single payment. Confirm the current rate with your PRO.
Via employerWho: You pay; the PRO processesAt Iqama issuance and renewalWidely quoted around SAR 400 per dependant per month, charged as a block
6
Check your own nationality's position
US citizens and green-card holders file on worldwide income wherever they live, with the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and credits usually reducing the bill, plus an FBAR over USD 10,000 in foreign accounts. Others should check residency and remittance rules at home. A rotation pattern can also affect home-country residency tests — get advice if you rotate.
OnlineWho: You, ideally with a cross-border adviserYour home country's deadlinesAdviser fees if used

Documents you’ll need

Iqama
Qiwa-registered contract with the allowance breakdown
Monthly payslips and an employer salary certificate
ZATCA tax residency certificate, if claiming treaty benefits at home
Home-country tax forms where applicable

Things most newcomers don’t know

The salary genuinely is untaxed, and GOSI does not touch a non-Saudi's pay.

The standard worry is that social insurance will quietly eat the package as it does elsewhere. It does not: your only GOSI cost is a 2% occupational-hazard premium the employer pays, with no employee deduction and no Saudi pension building up. Saudi colleagues contribute materially, so a salary calculator built for nationals will substantially overstate what comes off an expatriate's pay.

Source: GOSI; PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Saudi Arabia

The 15% VAT is the line that Gulf package comparisons leave out.

Saudi Arabia tripled VAT from 5% to 15% in July 2020 and has kept it there, against 5% in the UAE and Oman, 10% in Bahrain, and no VAT at all yet in Qatar or Kuwait. It never shows on a payslip, so a package advertised as 'tax-free, same as Dubai' quietly costs more here on everything except residential rent, which is VAT-exempt. Model your actual spending rather than comparing the tax line.

Source: ZATCA — Value Added Tax

How your package is split between base and allowances affects what you leave with.

End-of-service gratuity under the Saudi Labor Law is calculated on the wage as the law defines it, and a package that loads value into allowances rather than base salary can produce a smaller gratuity than the same headline number structured differently. On a five-year Eastern Province contract that difference is real money. Ask HR how the gratuity base is calculated before you sign, not when you resign.

Source: Saudi Labor Law end-of-service provisions

The dependant levy is your cost, and it lands as a block payment.

Unlike the work-permit levy, which the employer pays, the levy on family sponsored on your Iqama comes out of your pocket, charged for the entire Iqama period at issue or renewal. People budget it as a monthly figure and are then presented with a year of it at once, usually at the same time as an annual rent payment. Plan the two together.

Source: Fragomen — levy on dependent family members; Jawazat practice

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming tax-free here means tax-free at home — US citizens still file, plus an FBAR over USD 10,000.
Comparing a Saudi offer to a UAE one on income tax alone and ignoring 15% against 5% VAT.
Signing a package without knowing how the end-of-service gratuity base is calculated.
Budgeting the dependant levy monthly when it arrives as a lump sum with the Iqama.
Using a Saudi-national salary calculator, which shows GOSI deductions that do not apply to you.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.