Article 26 of the Saudi Value Added Tax Law

This article gives the Authority the power of tax assessment, that is, determining for itself the tax due from a taxable person.

Provisions of the article:

1. Assessment regardless of the return (paragraph 1): the Authority may make a tax assessment of a taxable person regardless of the tax return it filed. Filing the return does not prevent the Authority from making a different assessment.
2. New assessment (paragraph 2): the Authority may make a new tax assessment that amends an earlier assessment of its own.
3. Duty to notify (paragraph 3): the Authority must notify the taxable person of the tax assessment it issues under this article. This is an obligation on the Authority.
4. What the Regulations specify (paragraph 4): the periods and procedures needed to make the assessment, the procedures for objecting to it, the means of notifying the taxable person of it, and the mechanisms for applying to correct it.

What can be taken from the article:

• A taxable person has a way to object to the assessment and a way to apply for its correction, both under the Regulations' procedures.
• The Authority's power of assessment is bound by the periods and procedures the Regulations set, and the article does not state those periods.

Relation to other articles: it is preceded by Article 25, which refers to the Regulations the controls for amending the tax return, and followed by Article 27, which refers to the Regulations the periods for paying the net tax due.

Anyone who receives a tax assessment they do not agree with is advised to watch the objection periods in the Regulations and to consult a lawyer specializing in tax disputes early.