In force Last amended 15/10/1441 AH
Saudi Value Added Tax Law
نظام ضريبة القيمة المضافة
The law covers its definitions, registration, supplies of goods and services, place of supply, taxable value, imports, calculating and deducting tax, tax invoices, returns, payment and refund, confidentiality, record keeping, inspection, tax evasion, and penalties.
- Articles
- 53
- In force
- 53
- Amended
- 2
- Issued
- 2/11/1438 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم م / 113 بتاريخ 2 / 11 / 1438
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Value Added Tax Law by topic
Scope and Rate of Value Added Tax8 articlesVAT Registration7 articlesExempt and Zero-Rated Supplies9 articlesVAT on Imports6 articlesTax Due Date and Calculation6 articlesDeducting Input Tax2 articlesTax Invoice4 articlesTax Return and Assessment5 articlesPaying VAT4 articlesVAT Refunds4 articlesConfidentiality and Tax Record Keeping4 articlesTax Evasion and Its Penalty3 articlesVAT Fines10 articlesInspection and Objecting to Authority Decisions5 articles
Articles of the Saudi Value Added Tax Law
الفصل الأول: أحكام تمهيديةArticles 1–2
- Article 1The article defines the key terms of the Value Added Tax Law and refers to the unified GCC agreement for the meaning of all other terms.
- Article 2The article imposes value added tax on the import and supply of goods and services at a basic rate of 15%, unless an exemption or zero rate applies.Amended A/638
الفصل الثاني: التسجيل لأغراض الضريبةArticles 3–5
- Article 3The article requires a taxable person to register according to its economic activities, allows voluntary registration, and requires the Authority to issue a registration certificate and keep a register of registrants.
- Article 4The article allows a tax group to be registered and treated as a single taxable person, whose members are individually and jointly liable for its obligations during their membership.
- Article 5The article requires a taxable person to apply to cancel its registration in specified cases, refers the procedures to the Regulations, and keeps it liable for obligations from its registration period.
الفصل الثالث: توريدات السلع والخدماتArticles 6–12
- Article 6The article refers to the Regulations to set the conditions and controls for applying the deemed supply provisions in the GCC Agreement.
- Article 7The article refers to the Regulations to set the conditions and controls for a taxable person transferring goods from its assets between the Kingdom and any member state.
- Article 8The article refers to the Regulations to identify the transactions in which the supply of goods and services is outside the scope of value added tax.
- Article 9The article treats a taxable person who supplies or receives goods or services in its own name on behalf of another as if it had supplied or received them for itself.
- Article 10The article refers to the Regulations to identify exempt supplies and zero-rated supplies, and the conditions and controls for them.
- Article 11The article refers to the Regulations the criteria and time period for calculating the value of annual supplies a taxable person is expected to make.
- Article 12The article refers to the Regulations the conditions for aggregating the turnover of related persons with similar or interrelated activities, and for registering them on the basis of total turnover.
الفصل الرابع: مكان التوريدArticles 13–14
- Article 13The article refers to the Regulations the conditions and controls for determining the place of supply of goods and services, in accordance with the GCC Agreement.
- Article 14The article allows the Regulations to set the conditions and provisions for determining a person's place of residence for the purposes of value added tax.
الفصل الخامس: القيمة الخاضعة للضريبةArticles 15–15
الفصل السادس: الاستيرادArticles 16–17
- Article 16The article provides that tax falls due on import into the Kingdom under the Agreement, and requires the importer to provide a guarantee covering the tax when it is suspended by customs.
- Article 17The article refers to the Regulations the conditions for exempting personal luggage and gifts accompanying travelers, and the supplies of persons with special needs, in line with the Unified Customs Law.
الفصل السابع: احتساب الضريبةArticles 18–21
- Article 18The article provides that the tax due is at the rate applied on the date of supply, or on the date of import.
- Article 19The article refers to the Regulations the determination of the date on which tax falls due for supplies not covered by the GCC Agreement.
- Article 20The article refers to the Regulations the periods for calculating value added tax and their conditions and controls.
- Article 21The article makes the due date the date of supply where an invoice was issued or consideration paid before the Law took effect or before registration, and imposes no tax on the part of continuous supplies performed before then.
الفصل الثامن: خصم الضريبةArticles 22–22
الفصل التاسع: الفواتير الضريبيةArticles 23–23
الفصل العاشر: الإقرار الضريبيArticles 24–26
- Article 24The article requires a taxable person to file a tax return for each tax period within the period set by the Regulations, and to notify the Authority of any error it becomes aware of in its return.
- Article 25The article refers to the Regulations the controls and conditions for adjusting the consideration for a supply in the original tax invoices, or amending the tax return.
- Article 26The article allows the Authority to make a tax assessment regardless of the return, or a new assessment amending an earlier one, and requires the taxable person to be notified.
الفصل الحادي عشر: سداد الضريبةArticles 27–30
- Article 27The article refers to the Regulations the periods for paying net tax, and allows the tax period to be changed at the taxable person's request or required by a reasoned decision, with the taxable person to be notified.
- Article 28The article makes the General Customs Department responsible for collecting tax on imports, and allows the Authority to permit deferring its payment on goods imported for economic activity, which must be declared in the return.
- Article 29The article refers to the Regulations the mechanism for paying the tax due when the place of supply of goods or services is in the Kingdom and the supplier is not resident there.
- Article 30The article refers to the Regulations the conditions and controls for imposing the tax on a taxable person's supply of used goods on the basis of the profit margin.
الفصل الثاني عشر: استرداد الضريبةArticles 31–34
- Article 31The article allows the Authority to exempt the categories specified in the Agreement from paying the tax when receiving goods and services, and to allow them to recover what they bore, under the Regulations' conditions.
- Article 32The article refers to the Regulations the conditions for foreign governments, international organizations and diplomatic, consular and military missions to recover tax, and for applying the zero rate to supplies to them.
- Article 33The article refers to the Regulations the procedures for non-residents of the GCC states to recover tax paid in the Kingdom, and the conditions for applying the tourist refund scheme.
- Article 34The article refers to the Regulations the conditions and controls for a taxable person to apply to recover the net deductible or refundable tax, or to carry it forward to future tax periods.
الفصل الثالث عشر: سرية المعلومات وتبادلهاArticles 35–35
الفصل الرابع عشر: حفظ المستندات والمسؤولية التضامنيةArticles 36–37
- Article 36The article refers to the Regulations the period for keeping tax invoices, books, records and accounting documents.
- Article 37The article refers to the Regulations other cases of joint liability with the taxable person and their procedures, without prejudice to the cases in the Agreement and the Law.
الفصل الخامس عشر: التفتيش والضبطArticles 38–38
الفصل السادس عشر: التهرب الضريبي والعقوباتArticles 39–47
- Article 39The article defines the forms of tax evasion: submitting incorrect or forged documents or returns with intent to evade, and bringing goods or services in or out in violation of the laws without paying the tax.
- Article 40The article punishes tax evasion with a fine of not less than the amount of tax due and not more than three times the value of the goods or services involved in the evasion.
- Article 41The article punishes anyone who does not apply for registration for value added tax within the periods set by the Regulations with a fine of SAR 10,000.
- Article 42The article punishes an incorrect or amended return or document that results in less tax than is due with a fine of 50% of the difference, and failure to file the return with a fine of 5% to 25%.
- Article 43The article punishes anyone who does not pay the tax due within the period set by the Regulations with a fine of 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month.
- Article 44The article punishes an unregistered person who issues a tax invoice with a fine of up to SAR 100,000, without prejudice to any more severe penalty in another law.
- Article 45The article punishes with a fine of up to SAR 50,000 anyone who does not keep invoices and records for the set period, obstructs Authority employees, or violates any other provision of the Law or the Regulations.
- Article 46The article provides that fines under the Value Added Tax Law do not prevent collecting the tax due, and do not prevent any other penalty provided in another law.
- Article 47The article allows the fine to be doubled for anyone who repeats the same violation within three years of the date the previous penalty decision became final.
الفصل السابع عشر: إيقاع العقوبات والنظر في المخالفاتArticles 48–49
- Article 48The article gives the Authority the power to impose penalties under a classification issued by the Board of Directors, by decision of the Governor or whoever the Board authorizes, and allows publishing the operative part of the decision at the violator's expense once it is final.
- Article 49The article allows anyone about whom the Authority has issued a decision to object to it, in accordance with the working rules of the committees for resolving tax violations and disputes.Amended
الفصل الثامن عشر: أحكام ختاميةArticles 50–53
- Article 50The article makes the Authority responsible for administering, examining, assessing and collecting the tax and taking the procedures it sees fit, subject to customs' role in collecting import tax under Article 28.
- Article 51The article allows the Authority to coordinate with government bodies to implement the Agreement, the Law and the Regulations, and requires government bodies and persons to provide it with the information it requests for tax purposes.
- Article 52The article requires the Authority's Board of Directors to issue the Regulations within thirty days of the Law's issue, to apply from its effective date, and to issue the decisions and instructions needed to implement the Law and the Regulations.
- Article 53The article provides that the Law takes effect from the start of the financial year following its publication in the Official Gazette, and requires those obliged to register to register with the Authority within thirty days of publication.
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