Commercial registration fees in Saudi Arabia, as listed on the Ministry of Commerce service pages, are SAR 500 to register a sole establishment, SAR 1,200 for a limited liability company, SAR 1,600 for a joint stock or simplified joint stock company and SAR 1,000 for a general or limited partnership; companies also pay a publication fee and VAT. Choose the entity and activity, enter the chamber and municipality fees from their invoices, and you get the year-one cost, the cost over several years including the annual confirmation, and the setup steps for your case.
How to calculate the cost of a commercial registration
The setup cost is the registration fee, plus the publication fee and VAT on both for companies. After that, the annual confirmation of CR data repeats every year, together with chamber membership and the municipality licence if they apply to you. The calculator fills in the fees documented on Ministry of Commerce pages and leaves you the items that differ from one business to another.
Year 1 = Registration + Publication + VAT (companies) + Chamber + Municipality
Each later year = Annual confirmation + Chamber + Municipality
CR renewal fees under the new Commercial Registration Law
Under the new Commercial Registration Law a CR is no longer renewed the old way; instead the business confirms its registration data once a year on the Saudi Business Center platform. The annual confirmation fee on the ministry's pages is SAR 500 for a sole establishment, SAR 1,200 for an LLC, SAR 1,600 for a joint stock or simplified joint stock company and SAR 1,000 for a partnership, and a company's branch CRs pay the same amounts. The Ministry of Commerce has announced that a business must confirm its data within 90 days of the due date or the CR may be suspended. If you have been searching for "CR renewal", this confirmation is the fee to budget for.
Commercial registration fees for establishments and companies
| Entity | Registration at setup | Publication | Annual confirmation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole establishment | 500 | — | 500 |
| Limited liability company | 1,200 | 500 | 1,200 |
| Joint stock or simplified joint stock | 1,600 | 500 | 1,600 |
| General or limited partnership | 1,000 | 500 | 1,000 |
Amounts in SAR from the Ministry of Commerce service pages: establishment registration, LLC incorporation, establishment annual confirmation and company annual confirmation. The company incorporation pages list 15% VAT with the fees. The invoice shown on the platform before you pay is the final reference.
Other costs after the CR: chamber of commerce and municipality licence
Once the CR is issued, the business is registered with the Chamber of Commerce, whose membership fee depends on the activity and membership grade. A shop or office that receives customers needs a municipality (Balady) licence for its premises, priced by location, floor area and activity. That is why the calculator leaves both fields to you: enter what the chamber invoice and the municipality quote say, and each is counted in year one and every year after. A company with foreign shareholders also needs an investment licence from the Ministry of Investment before its CR, and some activities need a licence from a sector regulator; add those under "Other fees" in the advanced options.
Common mistakes when budgeting for a commercial registration
- Counting only the registration fee and forgetting publication and VAT when setting up a company.
- Budgeting for year one only, when the annual confirmation and chamber membership come round every year.
- Leaving the annual confirmation so late that the CR is suspended and the business cannot transact.
- Opening the shop before the municipality licence for the site or the activity's requirements are in place.
What to do with the result
Download the cost table in Excel and add shop rent, fit-out and the first three months of salaries: amounts sit in two columns, one-off and recurring, and the total updates when you change the number of years. Or download it in PDF with the setup steps to work through with your partner. Before paying, compare your figures with the invoice shown on the Saudi Business Center platform.
When invoicing starts on day one
The first sales invoice after the CR opens the company's books: sales, stock, VAT and expenses. At Microtec we provide businesses in the Kingdom with an ERP accounting system that brings sales, purchasing, inventory, finance and HR into one place, and our solutions are approved by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority. Try it before you issue your first invoice.