Sidon

Salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients

Taxed2%–25% progressive on salaries (25% above LBP 13.5 billion); 4%–25% on freelance and business profits

Business tax applies to all profits individuals realise in Lebanon, including the liberal professions (Income Tax Law, Legislative Decree 144 of 1959, Articles 2 and 3), so a freelancer working from Lebanon for foreign clients is in scope at 4%–25% on net profit. Salary tax covers salaries arising in Lebanon paid to a person resident in Lebanon (Article 46), and Article 68 says that when the employer is not resident, all of its duties pass to the resident employee, in particular filing and paying the tax. So an employee of a foreign company who lives in Lebanon is expected to declare and pay the salary tax personally. Since the 2024 budget law, the salary bands are 2% up to LBP 360 million, then 4%, 7%, 11%, 15%, 20% and 25% above LBP 13.5 billion, after a personal deduction of LBP 450 million (plus LBP 225 million if married and LBP 45 million per dependent child). At the official rate of about LBP 89,500 per US dollar, stable since 2024, LBP 450 million is roughly USD 5,000. Under the 2024 and 2025 budget laws, a salary paid in foreign currency is converted to pounds at the official Banque du Liban rate, and the tax is paid quarterly by the 15th of the month after each quarter. The Ministry's calculator also offers lump-sum and estimated-profit methods for small individual businesses; this profile did not review their margins. Social security (NSSF) for self-employed and foreign-employed people, treaty relief and freelancer registration steps were not reviewed.

On the nomad visa

Lebanon has no digital nomad or remote-work visa. General Security offers a six-month multiple-entry residence based on a Lebanese bank statement showing at least LBP 1.5 billion, but the applicant must sign a notarised declaration not to do any paid work, which sits badly with remote work. Tax does not depend on the visa: more than 183 days in 12 months, or a usual home in Lebanon, makes you resident, and work done in Lebanon is taxable from the first day.

Dividends, interest, gains, rent and pensions from abroad

Taxed10% flat on gross foreign dividends and interest; Lebanese bank interest has its own withholding (rate in force not confirmed)

The tax on income from movable capital covers dividends, interest and similar income when it is obtained in Lebanon or accrues to a resident of Lebanon, whatever its source (Income Tax Law, Article 69), at 10% of the gross amount with no deductions (Article 72). Article 70 adds any other capital profit or income not subject to another income tax, so gains on foreign shares and funds may also be caught; we found no official guidance confirming how. Residents holding foreign shares or bonds must declare that income by 1 March and pay by 1 April of the following year (Article 82). A 2020 Ministry of Finance decision (272/1) sets the treatment of foreign movable capital income of residents, and the 2024 budget law gave residents a 6-month window to declare undeclared foreign capital income without penalties, so the authorities do expect it. Dividends from Lebanese companies pay 10% at source (Article 72 bis). Interest on Lebanese bank deposits falls under a separate withholding created in 2003 at 5% (Law 497 of 2003, Article 51) and raised by later laws; we could not confirm the rate in force for 2026 from an official page. Since 2019 Lebanese banks have restricted access to deposits, and the state defaulted on its debt in March 2020. Rent from property abroad appears outside the territorial income tax; rent from property in Lebanon pays the built property tax instead. Whether a pension paid from abroad is taxed was not confirmed.

Net wealth and inheritance

No wealth taxInheritance tax applies

Lebanon has no net wealth tax. It does have an inheritance and gift tax (rasm al-intiqal, Legislative Decree 146 of 1959) on movable and immovable assets, with rates that depend on the heir's relationship. The 2024 budget law multiplied its brackets by 20, made heirs pay 5% of the value of a life insurance policy, and the 2025 budget law added a flat 5‰ on gratuitous transfers (inheritance, will, gift) above LBP 2.4 billion. A 2020 Ministry decision (801/1) sets how estate assets outside Lebanon are valued, so foreign assets can be in scope. The rate table itself could not be loaded from the Ministry's site. Property in Lebanon pays an annual built property tax on rental value: 4% below LBP 1.2 billion rising to 14% above LBP 6 billion, with a deduction of LBP 360 million for each home occupied by its owner (2024 budget law). Registration fees on property purchases were not reviewed.

Tax resident after

183 days a year

Top income tax rate

25%

When you become tax resident

Under the Tax Procedures Code (Law 44 of 2008, Article 1(11), as amended by Law 60 of 2016), an individual is resident in Lebanon if any one of these applies: they have a place of business in Lebanon; they have a permanent home at their disposal in Lebanon that is their usual residence or their family's (spouse and dependent children); or they are present in Lebanon for more than 183 days in any 12 consecutive months, continuous or not. Days spent only in transit between two foreign countries or only for medical treatment do not count. This wording comes from the Ministry of Finance's own 2017 residency statement; the Ministry's page with the Tax Procedures Code could not be loaded (it now sits behind a captcha). Note that renting a flat you live in can be enough on its own, before 183 days. Residency matters most for investment income, which a resident pays on worldwide dividends and interest. Salary and business tax follow where the work is done, so a short tourist stay can still create tax on work done in Lebanon.

Top income tax rate

Beirut has no city or regional income tax, so national rates apply everywhere in Lebanon. The top salary rate is 25% on net taxable salary above LBP 13.5 billion a year (about USD 151,000 at LBP 89,500), set by the 2024 budget law, which amended the bands of Income Tax Law Article 58. Freelance and business profits also top out at 25% above LBP 13.5 billion. The Ministry's consolidated text of the Income Tax Law still shows the 1999 bands (top rate 20%), so it is out of date on rates. The 2025 and 2026 budget summaries announce no change to the bands.