One of the challenges of expanding across borders is learning how to set up payroll. You have to decide between multiple Kuwait payroll options, learn a whole set of labor laws, and make sure you’re complying with the country’s tax regulations. Fortunately, G-P makes it easier to expand to new locations with industry-leading Employer of Record (EOR) solutions.
Taxation rules in Kuwait
Kuwait does not have any personal income taxes. However, both employers and employees have to contribute to social security at a total of 19.5% of an employee’s salary. Employers pay 11.5% of that, and the employee pays 8% up to a salary ceiling of KD 2,750 a month. All international companies need to pay a corporate tax rate of 15%.
Kuwait payroll options for companies
There are 3 different Kuwait payroll options to choose, including:
- Internal: You can create an internal payroll if you have a Kuwait subsidiary. However, you’ll need to hire a full HR team and ensure you have an expert in compliance on your team if you choose this option.
- Kuwait payroll processing company: Choosing to work with a Kuwait payroll processing company will ensure that you don’t have to worry about paying employees. You will, however, still have to worry about compliance.
- Employer of Record (EOR): With an EOR like G-P, you won’t have to worry about anything because we’ll add employees to our compliant payroll and manage all matters of compliance, so you can focus on your business.
How to set up a payroll in Kuwait
You can’t set up your Kuwait payroll until you have a registered subsidiary in the country, which means it could take months or even a year before you can hire your first professional. G-P doesn’t have the same requirements — you can use our EOR solutions to start working immediately. We’ll also handle all employment compliance on your behalf.
Entitlement/termination terms
Terminating an employment contract is an extremely complicated task in Kuwait. You can use a probationary period, but it cannot exceed 100 working days. If you’re using an indefinite period employment contract and paying employees on a monthly basis, both you and the employee can terminate the contract with 3 months’ notice. You also need to pay employees an amount equal to 15 days of remuneration for their first 5 years of service and 1 month’s remuneration for every year after that, not exceeding 1.5 years’ remuneration.
Streamline global payroll management with G-P.
G-P streamlines each step of the payroll management process with our market-leading global employment platform. Pay your team with confidence anywhere in the world in 150 currencies with our 99% on-time automated payroll system — all with just a few clicks. Our products also integrate with leading HCM solutions, syncing employee payroll data across platforms automatically to create one reliable, convenient source of truth for HR teams.
Contact us to learn more about how we can support you.