Saudi Arabia
The 15% rate, the registration thresholds, what Article 53 requires on a tax invoice, and what Fatoora adds on top of it once you are in the integration phase.
Free forever · No credit card required · Add modules anytime
The figures
| Item | Value | Detail and source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard VAT rate | 15% | Saudi Arabia is the outlier in the Gulf: the other implementing states are at 5% or 10%. Assuming the standard rate applies, taxable supplies are charged at 15%. [1] |
| Mandatory registration threshold | SAR 375,000 | Taxable supplies over this figure in a 12-month period require registration. [1] |
| Voluntary registration threshold | SAR 187,500 | Based on taxable supplies OR taxable expenses in the last 12 months. [1] |
| Non-resident businesses | No threshold | A non-resident required to pay VAT in the Kingdom must register regardless of the value of its supplies. [1] |
| Invoice language | Arabic | The required contents must appear in Arabic. Another language may be shown in addition, as a translation. [2] |
Article 53(5) of the VAT Implementing Regulations lists what a tax invoice must contain, and requires it in Arabic in addition to any other language shown as a translation. [2]
E-invoicing
Saudi Arabia is the most advanced e-invoicing regime in the Gulf and the one others are modelled on. Phase 1, the Generation Phase, has applied to all resident taxable persons since 4 December 2021: invoices must be issued electronically in a structured form. Phase 2, the Integration Phase, began on 1 January 2023 and is being rolled out in waves by taxpayer size, with ZATCA notifying each group at least six months before its integration date. In Phase 2 an electronic invoice carries more than the Article 53 contents: it also needs a UUID, the hash of the previous invoice, a QR code, a cryptographic stamp and a tamper-resistant counter. Which wave you fall into is announced by ZATCA, so check its e-invoicing pages rather than assuming. [3]
Getting it right
In a paper or PDF world an invoice is a document you produce and send. Under Phase 2 it is a record in a chain: each invoice references the hash of the one before it, carries a cryptographic stamp and increments a counter that cannot be reset. That is a deliberate design, and it makes one common habit impossible. You cannot quietly delete, renumber or reissue an invoice after the fact, because the chain would break and the break is detectable. Businesses that used to fix mistakes by editing history have to move to credit notes, which is what the rest of the world's accounting rules always wanted anyway.
الفواتير
4 فواتير · مايو 2026
Invoices
4 invoices · May 2026
चालान
4 चालान · मई 2026
চালান
4 চালান · মে 2026
انوائسز
4 انوائسز · مئی 2026
Getting it right
A fifteen percent rate makes the zero-rated versus exempt distinction financially serious in a way a five percent rate does not. If your supplies are exempt, you cannot recover the input tax you paid, so fifteen percent of your input cost becomes a real, unrecoverable expense that has to be priced in. If they are zero-rated, you charge nothing but still recover. Getting that classification wrong is the most expensive single mistake available in Saudi VAT, and it is a classification question, not a rate question.
الفواتير
4 فواتير · مايو 2026
Invoices
4 invoices · May 2026
चालान
4 चालान · मई 2026
চালান
4 চালান · মে 2026
انوائسز
4 انوائسز · مئی 2026
Questions
Every figure and field list on this page is taken from the document linked below, published by the tax authority itself. We do not publish a rate, a threshold or a deadline that we cannot point at.
Tax rules change. Before you rely on anything here, check the current position with Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA).
Set the rate yourself, keep Arabic and English on one document, and correct mistakes with credit notes instead of edits.
Free forever · No credit card required · Add modules anytime