Karbala

Salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients

Taxed3%–15% progressive in federal Iraq (15% above IQD 1,000,000 of taxable income a year); 3%–15% with wider bands in the Kurdistan Region

The law taxes a non-resident on income arising in Iraq even if it is not received there (Article 5(2)), and taxes a resident Iraqi on worldwide income (Article 5(1)). Salaries and professional earnings are listed sources of income (Article 2). The law has no explicit rule on where a salary from a foreign employer arises, and we found no General Commission of Taxes (GCT) guidance on remote work, so treating pay for work physically done in Iraq as Iraqi income is our reading of the law, not an official position. If it is taxable, no Iraqi employer withholds it, so you report it yourself: the GCT's income tax guide sets the deadline for the annual income tax report at 31 May. Federal rates after allowances are 3% up to IQD 250,000, 5% to IQD 500,000, 10% to IQD 1,000,000 and 15% above (Article 13, applied by the GCT's circular for 2017 onward). The 2017 circular sets the allowances at IQD 2,500,000 a year for a single person and IQD 4,500,000 for a married employee whose spouse has no income; non-residents get no allowances. In practice almost all professional income reaches the 15% band. Self-employed people are assessed using the GCT's annual deemed-profit guidelines for trades and professions; the 2026 edition is a scanned PDF and we did not review how it treats online or IT work. In the Kurdistan Region, Law No 26 of 2007 replaced the bands with 3% up to IQD 2,000,000, 5% to 4,000,000, 10% to 6,000,000 and 15% above, after larger allowances. Law No 20 of 2011 taxes the salaries of the region's public employees and officially registered private-sector employees at 5% of the amount above IQD 1,000,000 (the text does not state the period). Whether that 5% rule reaches a remote worker paid from abroad is unclear. Iraqi residents can credit foreign income tax against Iraqi tax on the same income (Article 5(4)). Iraq has very few tax treaties; the GCT reported signing one with Pakistan in August 2023. Social security was not reviewed here.

On the nomad visa

Iraq has no digital nomad visa. Visitors can apply online for a 30-day e-visa for single or multiple entry. Your visa does not change the tax rules: you become resident after four continuous months or six months in total in a year, and pay for work you do in Iraq is likely taxable from the first day, while a foreigner's foreign income is untaxed either way.

Dividends, interest, gains, rent and pensions from abroad

Not taxed

Income arising outside Iraq is not taxed for non-Iraqi residents (Income Tax Law, Article 5(3)). That covers foreign dividends, interest, capital gains, rent from property abroad and pensions paid from abroad. Iraqi citizens are different: a resident Iraqi is taxed on income from inside and outside Iraq wherever it is received (Article 5(1)), with a credit for foreign tax (Article 5(4)). Iraqi investments are mostly lightly taxed. Interest that individuals earn on deposits with Iraqi banks and savings funds is exempt (Article 7(15)). A dividend paid from company profits on which the company has paid tax is not taxable income for the shareholder (Article 2). Gains on shares and bonds are taxed only when you trade them as a business (Article 2(3)). Rent from Iraqi property is exempt from income tax (Article 7(2)) but pays the real estate tax of 10% of the annual rent after a 10% allowance for maintenance (Real Estate Tax Law No 162 of 1959). Selling Iraqi property triggers the property transfer tax described under wealth. The law has no specific rule for crypto-assets, so this profile does not say how they are treated.

Net wealth and inheritance

No wealth tax

Iraq has no net wealth tax; the GCT's list of the tax laws it applies covers income, real estate, vacant land and property transfers. Real estate tax is 10% of the annual rent of let property after a 10% maintenance allowance, and a home its owner lives in is exempt (Law No 162 of 1959). Vacant urban plots pay 2% of their assessed value a year (Law No 26 of 1962). When property is sold or given, the seller pays a property transfer tax on the assessed value or the price, whichever is higher: in federal Iraq the first IQD 20,000,000 is exempt, then 3% up to IQD 30,000,000, 4% to 60,000,000, 5% to 90,000,000 and 6% above, with gifts between parents and children or spouses exempt (Revolutionary Command Council Decision No 120 of 2002, as published by the GCT). In the Kurdistan Region, half the value is deducted and the rest is taxed at 1% up to IQD 100,000,000, 2% to 200,000,000, 3% to 300,000,000 and 5% above (Kurdistan Law No 20 of 2011). Inheritance tax is unclear for federal Iraq: an Inheritance Tax Law No 64 of 1985 exists, but we could not confirm whether it is applied there. The Kurdistan Region suspended it (freeze from 1997, confirmed by Law No 26 of 2007).

Tax resident after

120 days a year

Top income tax rate

15%

When you become tax resident

Income Tax Law No 113 of 1982 (Article 1(10)) uses months, not days. A non-Iraqi is resident if they live in Iraq for at least six months in total during the year in which the income arises, or for four continuous months, so about 120 days in a row is the earliest trigger. A foreigner employed by a legal entity in Iraq is resident whatever the length of stay. In federal Iraq, nationals of Arab countries who work in Iraq are resident whatever the length of stay; the Kurdistan Region suspended that rule, so Arab nationals there face the same four- or six-month test (Kurdistan Law No 26 of 2007, Article 1). An Iraqi citizen is resident after four months in Iraq, or when absent only temporarily while keeping a permanent home and main place of work there. The tax year is the calendar year. Residency matters less than in most countries: a foreigner's foreign income is untaxed either way (Article 5(3)), and Iraqi-source income is taxed either way (Article 5(2)). It decides whether you get the personal allowances (Article 12), which a foreign resident receives in proportion to the full months spent in Iraq.

Top income tax rate

Baghdad, the largest city, has no city or provincial income tax, so the federal rates apply: 15% on taxable income above IQD 1,000,000 a year after allowances, with 3%, 5% and 10% bands below (Income Tax Law, Article 13; GCT circular applying from 1 January 2017). The top rate is also 15% in the Kurdistan Region, but it starts above IQD 6,000,000, and registered employees there pay 5% of salary above IQD 1,000,000 instead (Kurdistan Laws No 26 of 2007 and No 20 of 2011).