Do you work fractional, interim or on a project?

All three. Fractional is a few days a month on an ongoing basis, interim is full-time for a fixed term, and a project is a fixed-scope build or raise. We pick whatever fits the problem.

Fractional work is a fixed monthly fee for an agreed number of days, so you can budget it. Interim is a market day rate for a fixed term. Builds and raises are a fixed quote once I've scoped the problem. Every engagement starts with a scoped proposal, so you see the number and exactly what it covers before you commit to anything. No open-ended retainers.

I'm already in Riyadh, so there's no relocation or visa wait. I can usually start a new engagement within about 30 days.

Do you work remotely or on-site?

Both. I'm in the Kingdom for on-site work across the GCC, and happy to deliver remotely. Whatever the engagement needs.

Who owns the systems you build?

You do. I scope, architect and govern, engineers build, and the IP and the running system are yours, documented and handed over.

Do you handle Zakat, VAT and withholding tax?

Yes. Tax sits inside the core work, not beside it: registrations and filings, provisions in the accounts, ZATCA e-invoicing readiness, and planning ahead of deadlines rather than reacting to them. My background covers tax compliance ownership for multi-site groups and tax planning across large project portfolios.

Do you work with family groups and private equity portfolio companies?

Yes. Family groups and family offices are a large part of my work, and private-equity-backed companies bring me in as a part-time CFO between raises or through transitions. Board packs, lender reporting and diligence-ready numbers are the usual asks.

Which sectors do you know?

Media and entertainment, real estate, manufacturing, FMCG and logistics. I also work with family groups preparing for institutional capital.

What is the Saudi RHQ program?

The Regional Headquarters program licenses a multinational to run its regional operations from Saudi Arabia. A qualifying RHQ gets 0% corporate income tax and 0% withholding tax on eligible activities for thirty years, plus a ten-year exemption from Saudization requirements.

Why do companies need an RHQ in Saudi Arabia?

Since January 2024, a company without a Saudi RHQ generally cannot win government contracts above SAR 1 million. Because the state and its giga-projects are the region's largest buyer, the rule turned the RHQ tax incentive into a condition of selling to the government.

What are the requirements to qualify for a Saudi RHQ?

The group must operate in at least two countries beyond Saudi Arabia and its home market, run genuine regional strategic and management functions from the Kingdom, employ at least fifteen full-time staff including three C-level executives within the first year, and hold a physical office in the country.

Saudi RHQ program: the 30-year tax deal and how to qualify

Draft, not published. Hidden from the blog listing, the sitemap and search engines until the flag is removed.

Saudi Arabia's RHQ: a 30-year 0% tax deal with conditions

Saudi Arabia's Regional Headquarters program gives a qualifying RHQ 30 years of 0% corporate and withholding tax, but since 2024 it also gates government contracts above SAR 1 million. What it takes to qualify, and who should. From a finance leader in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia will tax a qualifying regional headquarters at zero percent for thirty years. No corporate income tax, no withholding tax on its approved activities, locked from the day the license issues. It is the most generous tax position in the Kingdom, and it comes with a mandate that has already moved hundreds of multinationals to Riyadh.

What an RHQ is

A Regional Headquarters is a licensed entity a multinational sets up in Saudi Arabia to direct and manage its operations across the region. It is not a trading company. It runs strategy, oversight and support functions for the group's other entities in the Middle East, and in exchange the Kingdom treats it as a prize worth paying for.

The two reasons companies do it

The first is tax. A licensed RHQ pays 0% corporate income tax and 0% withholding tax on its eligible activities for thirty years, and gets a ten-year exemption from Saudization. For a regional hub employing expensive expatriate executives, that package is real money.

The second reason forces the decision. Since January 2024, a company without an RHQ in Saudi Arabia cannot win government contracts above SAR 1 million, with narrow exceptions. In an economy where the state and its giga-projects are the largest buyer in the region, that rule turned a tax incentive into a condition of doing business. By 2026 several hundred multinationals had moved their regional base to Riyadh, and most did it for access, not for the view.

What it takes to qualify

An RHQ is built for groups with genuine regional scale, and the criteria say so.

A real footprint. The group has to operate in at least two countries beyond Saudi Arabia and its home market.
Real functions. The RHQ must perform the group's regional strategic and management functions from the Kingdom, not sit as a nameplate. Optional functions like finance, procurement and marketing can go on top.
Real people. Within the first year the RHQ needs at least fifteen full-time employees, including three senior executives at C-level. A director has to be resident in Saudi Arabia, and strategic decisions are expected to be taken at board meetings held in the Kingdom.
A real office. Physical premises in Saudi Arabia, sized to the work.

This is not a structure for a small business testing the market. It is for a multinational making the Kingdom its regional centre.

Where it fits in the structure decision

For most foreign investors the structure question ends at an LLC or a branch. For a group of real regional size, with the Saudi government or its projects as a target customer, the RHQ changes the arithmetic. A zero tax rate for thirty years sits on one side, and the cost of staffing a genuine regional headquarters sits on the other. The decision is a model, not a preference, and it belongs to finance.

The honest version

The RHQ is one of the best tax deals in the region and one of the most demanding to hold. It rewards a group that was going to run its regional operations from somewhere anyway and would rather that somewhere be tax-free. It punishes a company that sets one up as a formality and cannot show the substance when ZATCA asks. If the Saudi state is your customer, the question is no longer whether to qualify, but how fast.

If you are weighing an RHQ against a simpler structure, that is worth a conversation.

Written from operating experience in Riyadh. General guidance, not tax or legal advice on any specific company.