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A practical walk through the Saudi VAT return: when it is due, how the form is organised, what to check before you submit and how to fix a mistake after you have filed.
DynamoOS team6 min read
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Your VAT return is due by the last day of the month after the tax period ends, and the VAT you owe is paid by the same day. If your annual taxable supplies exceed SAR 40 million you file every month; otherwise you file every quarter. A return for July to September is therefore due by 31 October.
| Tax period | File and pay by |
|---|---|
| Month of September (monthly filer) | 31 October |
| July to September (quarterly filer) | 31 October |
| October to December (quarterly filer) | 31 January |
Put the dates in the calendar of whoever closes your books. The return is only as good as the invoices behind it, and most of the work is done in the days before the deadline, when sales and purchase invoices for the period must be complete.
The form has three parts. Boxes 1 to 6 hold your sales and the VAT on them, boxes 7 to 12 hold your purchases and the VAT you can deduct, and boxes 13 to 16 work out the net VAT for the period. Each box has an amount, an adjustment and the VAT on it.
| Boxes | What goes there | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | VAT on sales | Box 1 standard rated sales, plus zero-rated, exported and exempt sales |
| 7 to 12 | VAT on purchases | Box 7 standard rated domestic purchases, box 8 imports paid at customs, box 9 imports under the reverse charge |
| 13 to 16 | Net VAT | Box 13 total VAT due for the period, then corrections and the net amount |
Imports that are exempt from VAT are not reported in the return. Imports on which VAT was paid at customs go in box 8, and the deduction is claimed in the period of the import.
Before you open the return, make sure every invoice for the period is in your books and dated correctly. Check that output VAT matches your sales invoices, that every purchase you deduct has a valid tax invoice, and that credit and debit notes are in the right period. Then compare the totals with last period.
You file on ZATCA's website through the Submit VAT Return e-service. Sign in with your company's account and the code sent by text message, open the return for the period, fill in VAT on sales and on purchases, review the totals, attach any supporting documents and submit. A SADAD bill is then generated for the amount due.
A credit note issued in the same period as the original sale, or before you file the return for that sale, reduces the amount of that period. A credit note issued after the return for the original sale was filed goes in the adjustment column of the period in which you issue it. A debit note raises output VAT in its own period.
The customer does the mirror image: if they deducted VAT on the original invoice, they correct their input VAT in the period the note is issued. That is why the note must refer to the original invoice and reach the customer on time, within 15 days of the month after the event that required it.
If you find that a filed return understated the VAT you owe, you must notify ZATCA within 20 days by filing a correction. If the understatement is under SAR 5,000, you may instead adjust it in your next return. If you overpaid, you can correct it in a later return, within five years of the end of the year concerned.
A correction states the period, the output and input VAT being corrected and the reason. Correcting before ZATCA notifies you of an audit avoids the penalty for an incorrect return, and a difference below SAR 5,000 carries no penalty, according to ZATCA's guideline.
Every sales and purchase invoice in Dynamo Finance carries the VAT of each line. The Saudi Arabia pack prepares your VAT return from those invoices, boxes 1 to 16, with the invoices behind each figure, and puts credit notes for earlier periods in the adjustment column. You review the figures and file them on ZATCA's portal.
A registered business files a return for every tax period. If there were no sales or purchases, the return shows zero.
You need a valid tax invoice issued to your company to deduct input VAT. Ask the supplier for one before you claim the VAT.
ZATCA can fine between 5% and 25% of the VAT that should have been declared for a late return, plus 5% of the unpaid VAT for each month or part of a month it stays unpaid.
VAT records, including invoices and the documents behind each return, are kept for at least six years from the end of the tax period they relate to.
The rules in this article come from these official sources, read on the day it was published.
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