Registering your lease in Muscat: who pays the 3%, and what happens if you skip it
The landlord registers and pays, unless your contract says the tenant does.
- By law the landlord registers the lease with the municipality, unless you both agree that the tenant will do it.
- The fee is the landlord's. If you register the lease yourself, you can take the fee off the rent.
- In Muscat the fee is 3% of the monthly rent times the contract period. A lease of OMR 100 a month for a year costs OMR 36.
- Register within one month of signing. A lease that is not registered cannot be relied on before any official body, and registering late adds a fine of three times the fee for the period of delay.
- Lease services are online: you can register, renew, change or cancel a lease on the Muscat Municipality website. Renewal is also offered in the Baladiyati app and at Sanad offices.
Sources
- Muscat Municipality · Rent contract fees undated(opens in a new tab)
- Royal Decree 6/89, as amended to 2025 · landlord and tenant law (qanoon.om, secondary) consolidated 2025(opens in a new tab)
- Muscat Municipality · Lease services online undated(opens in a new tab)
- Gov.om · Register a lease contract updated 2 Jul 2026(opens in a new tab)
The post on X: "Renting in Muscat? By law the landlord registers the lease and pays the fee: 3% of the monthly rent times the contract period. Register late and a fine of 3x the fee applies."
Checked against the official pages on 27 Oct 2026. Laws change: if a post and an official page disagree, the official page wins.