Saudi Tax Simplified

THE 2026 FIELD GUIDE TO ZAKAT, CORPORATE TAX, VAT AND ZATCA COMPLIANCE IN SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia's tax system is not simple. It is unfamiliar - and that is a far more expensive problem.
There is no personal income tax, so newcomers assume there is barely any tax at all. Then a ZATCA assessment lands on the desk. A foreign parent asks why its Riyadh branch is taxed differently from its local partner. A Fatoora deadline passes. A 5% penalty starts compounding on a return filed three weeks late.
This book is written for that moment - and for the quiet months before it.
Across 26 chapters, Saudi Tax Simplified explains every tax a business in the Kingdom will meet the way a good adviser would: the concept in plain English, the legal basis beneath it, a worked example in real riyals, practical scenarios, and the mistakes that quietly cost people money.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• The ownership switch - why Zakat at 2.5% and Corporate Income Tax at 20% run on parallel tracks, how mixed Saudi/GCC and foreign ownership splits one company between both, and why look-through ownership defeats most holding-company structuring
• Zakat, properly - building the Zakat base step by step under Ministerial Resolution No. 1007, why the base is not the profit, plus deadlines, certificates and penalties
• Corporate Income Tax in full - permanent establishment risk, deductible and non-deductible expenses, loss carry-forward, and the tiered 50%-85% hydrocarbon regime
• Withholding tax without guesswork - every payment type mapped to its 5%, 15% or 20% rate, treaty relief, and the monthly filing trap that catches new entrants
• VAT at 15% - registration thresholds, filing frequency, input recovery, zero-rating and exports, through real business scenarios
• ZATCA e-invoicing (Fatoora) - Phase 1 generation versus Phase 2 clearance and integration, UUIDs, cryptographic stamps, and the wave timetable that has now swept in the entire VAT-registered population
• The taxes people forget - 5% Real Estate Transaction Tax, White Land Tax on idle urban plots, and Excise at up to 100% on tobacco, energy drinks and vaping products
• Transfer pricing, Special Economic Zones, the Regional Headquarters programme, and how the OECD Pillar Two 15% global minimum tax meets Saudi incentives
• Penalties, audits and the four-step appeals ladder - and why an open dispute can freeze a Zakat certificate, a bank facility or a government tender

BUILT AS A WORKING TOOL

• 20 end-to-end case studies where CIT, WHT, VAT, Zakat and RETT collide on one transaction, exactly as they do in practice
• A ready-to-use compliance calendar for your finance function
• A one-page 2026 rate card, every row cross-referenced to the chapter that proves it
• Decision trees, data tables and a full glossary of Saudi tax terminology

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
Business owners and founders in the Kingdom. CFOs, controllers and accountants. Tax advisers, auditors and lawyers building Saudi capability. Foreign investors, regional headquarters teams and multinationals with Saudi branches. Finance students preparing for GCC roles. And any expatriate professional who has wondered what, exactly, the Kingdom taxes.
Vision 2030 is rebuilding the Saudi economy around the non-oil sector, and tax is how that transition is financed. Enforcement is now digital, real-time and unforgiving. The businesses that thrive will be those that understand the rules before the rules find them.
Stop guessing at Saudi tax. Scroll up and get your copy today.