Zoho Payroll & HR in Iraq (2026), Social Security, End-of-Service & Qi Card Salaries

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Payroll is where Iraqi compliance gets real, get social security or End-of-Service wrong and you create liabilities that surface at the worst time. Zoho People + Zoho Payroll can be configured for Iraqi rules so salaries, statutory contributions and gratuity calculate correctly every cycle. Here's how it works in 2026.

Iraqi payroll and HR essentials

An Iraqi payroll run must get four things right every month: gross-to-net with the correct income-tax bands, pension & social-security contributions, accurate leave and attendance, and a compliant salary-payment method. Zoho People handles the HR side (employees, leave, attendance, documents) and Zoho Payroll handles the calculation and payslips, in IQD or USD.

Pension and social security (12% / 5%)

Under the Retirement & Social Security Law for Private Sector workers No. 18 of 2023, contributions are split between employer and employee:

We configure Zoho Payroll to compute both sides, track Iraqi nationals and registered foreign workers, and produce registers for remittance to the Pension & Social Security Department under MoLSA.

Personal income tax bands

Iraq applies progressive personal income tax on employment income, with bands up to 15% after statutory allowances. Zoho Payroll applies the bands and allowances automatically so net pay is correct and consistent, and so you have a clean record if the GCT reviews payroll. No more manual spreadsheets that break the moment salaries change.

End-of-Service gratuity under Labour Law No. 37 of 2015

End-of-Service is a statutory liability you should accrue continuously, not scramble for when someone resigns. We set Zoho Payroll to accrue End-of-Service gratuity in line with the Iraqi Labour Law No. 37 of 2015, so the cost sits on your books in real time and final settlements compute correctly, for both Iraqi and foreign staff.

Qi Card and bank salary disbursement

Iraq is moving salaries off cash. Zoho Payroll generates the salary files you need to disburse through banks and Qi Card, the dominant payroll card in Iraq, and supports wallet-based options such as ZainCash where relevant. Payslips are issued in IQD or USD, in Arabic and English, so every employee gets a clear breakdown.

Step-by-step: setting up Zoho Payroll for Iraq

Our standard payroll rollout:

1. Company & pay schedule, pay cycle, base currency (IQD/USD), departments and cost centres.
2. Employee records, salary structure, allowances, IDs and contract type in Zoho People.
3. Statutory setup, income-tax bands, social-security 12%/5%, End-of-Service accrual rules.
4. Payment method, bank and Qi Card salary file format.
5. Bilingual payslips, Arabic + English templates.
6. Parallel run & go-live, validate one or two cycles, then run live with support.

Zoho People for HR, leave and work permits

Beyond payroll, Zoho People gives Iraqi employers a full HRMS:

• Leave & attendance, policies, approvals and balances aligned to Iraqi practice and the Sunday-Thursday week.
• Foreign work-permit tracking, expiry alerts for MoLSA permits and residency.
• Iraqi-national headcount, dashboards for localization quotas.
• Employee self-service, payslips, requests and documents in Arabic and English (Kurdish on request for the KRI).

Common Iraqi payroll mistakes (and how Zoho avoids them)

The errors we most often clean up after a DIY or spreadsheet setup:

• Not accruing End-of-Service, a hidden liability that hits cash flow on resignations. Zoho accrues it monthly.
• Wrong social-security base, applying the rate to the wrong pay elements. Zoho applies it correctly and consistently.
• Cash salaries with no record, hard to audit. Zoho generates bank/Qi Card files and bilingual payslips.
• Manual tax bands, break whenever salaries change. Zoho recalculates automatically.