The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) published a tax alert on the refund of Saudi Arabian VAT to non-residents who do not have a presence in the country but incurred VAT in relation to their economic activity. The alert is currently available in Arabic only.

The alert explained the eligibility and process of refund for non-residents who have been liable to pay VAT within Saudi Arabia for their economic activities.

We believe the  alert  could be viewed as a de facto announcement of ZATCA's readiness to start processing the refund of VAT to non-residents (subject to conditions) which is welcomed as a positive new development. It also provides some detail on ZATCA’s set of requirements for the refund to be processed.

The alert opens the door for obtaining a refund for non-residents. It would decrease the pressure on international business costs arising from the current practice of limitation of zero-rating of services provided to non-residents. Still, meeting the requirements would involve substantial preparation: such as substantiating economic activity to be performed outside Saudi Arabia only, proving reciprocity of the foreign legislation enabling Saudi businesses to refund similar VAT/GST in a respective foreign country, etc.

KPMG is ready to assist the businesses in recovering Saudi Arabian VAT; reducing their costs and enabling new transactional models.

Get in touch

Riyadh Office

Tariq Al Sunaid

Head of Tax

E: talsunaid@kpmg.com

 

Ali Sainudheen

Senior Director, Domestic Tax

E: asainudheen@kpmg.com

Salam Eido

Senior Director, Domestic Tax

E: seido@kpmg.com

 

Oleg Shmal

Director, Head of Indirect Taxes

E: oshmal@kpmg.com

Stefan El Khouri

Senior Director, Head of Transfer Pricing

E: selkhouri@kpmg.com

 

Amr Alsaleh

Director, Domestic Tax

E: amralsaleh@kpmg.com

Jeddah Office

Faisal Tanvir

Senior Director, Domestic Tax

E: ftanvir@kpmg.com

Muhammad Masood                                

Director, Domestic Tax                                  

E: muhammadmasood@kpmg.com

 

Fouad Yaman

Director, Domestic Tax

E: fyaman@kpmg.com

Khobar Office

Mohammad Kamran Sial

Senior Director, Domestic Tax

E: ksial@kpmg.com 

Mohamed Gouda

Director, Domestic Tax

E: mohamedgouda@kpmg.com

 

Anil Bahl

Director, Indirect Tax

E: anilbahl@kpmg.com