Taxes on salaries in Lebanon 2026

How is salary tax worked out in Lebanon?

Tax is worked out on an annual basis. Start with your total taxable annual salary, then deduct the family allowance: 450 million pounds for every taxpayer, plus 225 million pounds if you are married, and 45 million pounds for each dependent child up to 5 children. What is left is taxed in bands.

Article 47 of the 2024 Budget Law sets these annual bands: 2% up to 360 million pounds, 4% from 360 million to 900 million, 7% up to 1.8 billion, 11% up to 3.6 billion, 15% up to 7.2 billion, 20% up to 13.5 billion, and 25% on anything above that.

Example: a single employee earning 100 million pounds a month (about 1,117 US dollars), or 1.2 billion a year. After the 450 million allowance, 750 million is left, and the tax on it is 22.8 million pounds a year, or roughly 1.9 million a month. That is less than 2% of the salary.

How much social security comes off your salary in Lebanon?

The National Social Security Fund deducts only 3% from the employee, for the sickness and maternity branch, which is health cover. The contribution is charged on earnings up to 120 million pounds a month, the ceiling set by Fund memo No. 805 of 22/8/2025, so the most deducted in a month is 3.6 million pounds.

The employer pays 8% for sickness and maternity on the same earnings, and 6% for the family and education benefits branch on earnings up to 28 million pounds a month since 1 May 2026, plus a contribution to the end-of-service indemnity branch.

The end-of-service and family benefit contributions do not come out of your salary, but they are part of what it costs the company to employ you.

What changed in 2026?

Parliament passed the 2026 Budget Law on 29 January 2026. It did not change the salary tax bands or the family allowances, which stay as set by the 2024 budget. The budget focused on better tax collection and on fees such as passport fees, and it imposed a one-off 17% tax on Sayrafa platform gains above 100,000 US dollars, excluding differences on salaries and wages.

In social security, Decree 2923 of 24/4/2026 raised family allowances to 2.1 million pounds for a spouse and 1.155 million pounds for each child up to 5 children. It also raised the ceiling on earnings subject to the family benefits contribution from 18 to 28 million pounds a month from 1 May 2026.

How are salaries paid in dollars treated?

Since the 2025 budget, tax on salaries paid wholly or partly in foreign currency is worked out in Lebanese pounds at the official exchange rate set by Banque du Liban, which is 89,500 pounds to the dollar. This is also the rate the Ministry of Finance used in the 2026 budget figures.

So someone paid 2,000 dollars a month is taxed as if they earned 179 million pounds a month, or 2.148 billion a year. After the 450 million allowance, 1.698 billion is taxable, and the tax comes to about 84.7 million pounds a year, close to 79 dollars a month.

Who pays the tax, and when?

The employer is responsible for withholding salary tax from employees' pay and paying it to the Treasury every three months, by the 15th of the month after each quarter ends, together with the periodic statement of salaries and wages.

An employee with a single salary does not usually need to file a return themselves. If you work for more than one employer or have income from a profession, each type of income is taxed under its own rules.

What is exempt from salary tax?

Family allowances paid by social security are exempt, as are end-of-service indemnity paid under the law and compensation for work injuries. The daily transport allowance is also exempt, within the limit set by decree.

Some groups are exempt because of the nature of their work, such as agricultural workers, domestic workers and members of foreign diplomatic and consular missions.

Freelancers and the self-employed

Income from professions is not taxed under the salary bands. It falls under the profits tax on commercial, industrial and non-commercial professions, whose bands run from 4% up to 540 million pounds to 25% above 13.5 billion pounds, under Article 46 of the 2024 budget.

Taxpayers assessed on actual profit get the same family allowance: 450 million pounds, plus the extra amounts for a spouse and children.

Practical tips

Make sure your employer has declared your family status. The allowances for a spouse and children are not applied automatically and need documents, and they can make a difference of up to 450 million pounds of taxable income.

If part of your salary is paid in dollars, ask for a statement showing the exchange rate used to work out the tax. Also check that you are registered with social security. The Fund regularly announces that it has found employees who were not declared, and being declared is what protects your right to health cover and end-of-service indemnity.

What changed in 2026?

• The 2026 Budget Law, passed by Parliament on 29 January 2026, did not change the salary tax bands or the family allowances, so the bands in Article 47 of the 2024 budget still apply.
• The ceiling on earnings subject to family and education benefit contributions rose from 18 to 28 million pounds a month from 1/5/2026, and family allowances rose to 2.1 million pounds for a spouse and 1.155 million pounds for each child, under Decree 2923 of 24/4/2026.
• The ceiling on earnings subject to the sickness and maternity branch stays at 120 million pounds a month, as set by Fund memo 805 of 22/8/2025 based on Decree 887 of 14/8/2025.

For expats

Lebanese people abroad, in the Gulf, Africa, Europe and the Americas, do not pay Lebanese salary tax on pay earned from work done outside Lebanon, because the tax applies to income earned in Lebanon. Anyone who comes back to work in Lebanon on a dollar salary has their tax worked out after converting it to pounds at 89,500, and the current bands are fairly low for people on average salaries. In practice, what matters most for someone working abroad is the system in the country where they work: the Gulf states do not tax individual salaries, while Lebanese people working in Europe and Canada pay tax in those countries.

Income tax rates

The brackets are annual and apply to the salary after the family deduction (450 million pounds for a single person). Salaries paid in US dollars are converted to pounds at the official exchange rate set by Banque du Liban, which is 89,500 pounds to the dollar.

Lebanon's family allowance in 2026

The family allowance is an annual amount deducted from salary before tax is worked out, and it depends on the taxpayer's family status. It was set by the 2024 Budget Law and not changed by the 2025 and 2026 budgets.

• If both spouses have taxable income, each takes their own 450 million pound allowance and the married allowance is not added.
• Day labourers get an allowance of 1,500,000 pounds for each day worked instead of the annual allowance.
• No salary tax is due on a salary that does not exceed the family allowance, but social security contributions are still due.

Sources: Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan: Citizen Budget 2024 (Articles 48 and 49 of the 2024 Budget Law) · Citizen Budget 2026 · PwC: Lebanon, personal deductions (secondary source)

Other taxes that matter in Lebanon

Capital gains

According to the secondary PwC summary, individuals are not usually taxed on gains from selling shares in joint stock companies, but Ministry of Finance Decision No. 323 of 2023 imposes 10% on gains from transferring shares in limited liability companies when selling is not the seller's business. Law No. 64 of 2017 raised the tax on gains from transferring property to 15%, with an exemption for two main homes owned for more than 12 years. However, the 2024 budget summary from the Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan says Article 86 of the Budget Law cut this tax to 1%, without details, while the PwC summary updated in July 2026 still gives 15%. We could not reach the text of the law on the Ministry of Finance website to resolve this conflict.

Dividends

A 10% tax on income from movable capital is withheld from dividends paid to resident and non-resident shareholders, according to the secondary PwC summary. Interest is also subject to withholding, but the same PwC summary gives 10% in one place and 7% on interest from bank accounts and Treasury bills in another, and we could not confirm the current rate from an official source.

Crypto

Banque du Liban has warned against virtual currencies since December 2013 and barred the institutions it supervises from dealing in them, according to press reports we could not match against the text of the official circular. No law bans individuals from holding them, and there is no specific tax provision on gains from them.

Inheritance

Lebanon charges a transfer duty on estates and gifts under Legislative Decree No. 146 of 1959, at rates from 3% to 45% depending on the value of the share and how closely related the heir is, according to the secondary PwC summary. The 2024 Budget Law multiplied the duty bands by 20, and the 2026 Budget Law then raised the exemption thresholds to keep up with the collapse of the pound, but we could not confirm the new amounts from an official source. Estates are divided under the personal status laws of each religious community, including the Islamic inheritance rules for Muslims.

Property and wealth

There is no wealth tax. A built property tax is charged every year on the net income from a property at progressive rates from 4% to 14%. The 2024 budget set the bands: 4% up to 1.2 billion pounds, then 6%, 8% and 11%, and 14% on anything above 6 billion pounds. When property changes hands, registration fees of about 6% are paid, according to the secondary PwC summary.

Tax residency

Under Law No. 60 of 2016, as summarised by PwC, an individual is tax resident if they have a place of work in Lebanon, a permanent home available to their family (spouse and dependent children), or spend more than 183 days in Lebanon in any 12 months. Days in transit at Beirut airport and days spent having medical treatment do not count. A tax residency certificate for double tax treaty purposes is issued by the Ministry of Finance. We could not reach the ministry's website to check how to apply.

Retirement and pensions

Pensions paid in Lebanon are taxed under salary and wage tax like employment income, according to the secondary PwC summary. We found no specific retirement visa, and could not confirm from an official source how foreign pensions received by a resident are treated. The National Social Security Fund pays end-of-service indemnity as a lump sum, and the Fund is preparing a new pension scheme to replace it.

Cost to the employer

The employer pays the National Social Security Fund 8% for sickness and maternity (the employee pays 3%), capped at 120 million pounds a month since August 2025, 6% for family benefits capped at 28 million pounds a month since 1 May 2026, and 8.5% for end-of-service indemnity with no cap, a total of 22.5%. Both caps are confirmed by the Fund, but the rates come from secondary sources. The PwC summary gives 5% for end of service (making the total 19%), unlike the 8.5% used in most sources, and we could not settle this from an official text.

Social insurance

Sources

1. Citizen Budget 2024, Basil Fuleihan Institute of Finance (Ministry of Finance): Article 47 (salary brackets) and Articles 48 and 49 (family deduction) of the 2024 Budget Law Official source · checked 2 October 2026
2. Citizen Budget 2025 (Ministry of Finance): Article 17, conversion of foreign currency salaries at the Banque du Liban rate and quarterly payment Official source · checked 2 October 2026
3. Citizen Budget 2026 (Ministry of Finance): the 2026 Budget Law was passed on 29 January 2026 without changing the salary brackets, with an exchange rate of 89,500 pounds to the dollar Official source · checked 2 October 2026
4. National Social Security Fund: earnings cap of 120 million pounds for the sickness and maternity branch (memo 805) Official source · checked 2 October 2026
5. National Social Security Fund: minimum wage of 28 million pounds since 1/8/2025 (memo 801, Decree 699) Official source · checked 2 October 2026
6. National Social Security Fund: family allowances earnings cap raised to 28 million pounds from 1/5/2026 (Decree 2923) Official source · checked 2 October 2026
7. National Social Security Fund (memo of 24/1/2024): the full sickness and maternity rate on the employer and the insured person is 11% Official source · checked 2 October 2026
8. National Social Security Fund (24/4/2025): the employee pays 3% towards sickness and maternity contributions Official source · checked 2 October 2026
9. PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Lebanon (secondary source used to confirm 6% for family allowances, 11% VAT and 17% corporate tax) Secondary source used to cross-check · checked 2 October 2026
10. Kallas Law Firm: Lebanon tax guide (secondary source confirming that employees get the same family deduction under Article 31) Secondary source used to cross-check · checked 2 October 2026