The ZATCA QR code: what it contains and how to check it

What is the ZATCA QR code?

Every simplified tax invoice in Saudi Arabia, the kind issued to a consumer, must carry a QR code. The code holds the invoice's key details in a format ZATCA defines, so anyone with a phone can check who issued the invoice, when it was issued, its total and how much VAT it includes, without calling the seller.

What does the QR code contain?

Phase 1 invoices carry the first five fields. Invoices issued in Phase 2, the integration phase, carry all nine. Each field has a fixed number, called its tag:

How is the data encoded?

Each field is written as its tag number, the length of its value and the value itself, a format called TLV, for tag, length and value. The fields are joined one after another and the result is encoded in Base64. That Base64 text is what the QR code holds. Arabic names are stored in UTF-8, so a length counts bytes.

How do you read and check a ZATCA QR code?

Scan the code and copy the text it holds, decode the Base64 text, then read the fields one by one: tag, length, value. Compare the seller's name, VAT number, date, total and VAT with what is printed on the invoice. If any of them differ, ask the seller for a corrected invoice.

1. Scan the QR code with a phone or a QR app and copy the text it holds.
2. Decode the text from Base64 into bytes.
3. Read the first byte as the tag, the next as the length, then that many bytes as the value, and repeat.
4. Compare the seller's name, VAT number, date and time, total and VAT with the printed invoice.
5. Check the VAT number: 15 digits, starting and ending with 3.

What changes in Phase 2?

In Phase 2 the invoicing software adds four fields: the invoice hash, its signature, the public key and, on simplified invoices, ZATCA's signature of the stamp. Together they show that the invoice came from an e-invoicing unit onboarded with ZATCA and that it has not been changed since it was issued.

How DynamoOS handles it

Dynamo Finance creates the QR code on every simplified invoice and point of sale receipt, with the fields of the phase your company is in, and prints it on the Arabic and English tax invoice. ZATCA Phase 2 is built in, and it goes live for your company after your own FATOORA onboarding.