The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) has seconded its invitation to all taxpayers subject to tax laws to benefit from the recently launched Cancellation of Fines and Exemption of Penalties Initiative, which aims to reduce the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses.
The initiative entered into force on June 1, 2022, and ends November 30, 2022. It covers exempting taxpayers from late registration in all tax systems, late payment of fines, late filing of tax returns, and tax return correction fines as set out in the Law of Value Added Tax, and fines for violations of VAT field control related to applying the e-invoicing regulations and other general regulations.
The Authority has also stated that in order to benefit from the initiative, non-registered taxable persons must register at the tax system. They also must submit all undeclared returns due to ZATCA, declare not clearly declared taxes, and pay the full tax debt related to the declarations that should be submitted or amended. Taxpayers may request an installment to the payments, provided that the request be submitted and approved by the Authority during the initiative period. Taxpayers must also pay all due installments on a timely-basis in accordance with the ZATCA-approved installment plan.
The Authority has confirmed that the initiative does not include penalties related to tax evasion violations, fines paid before the initiative's effective date, and late payment fines related to the tax included in the installment plan that is due after the initiative's deadline on November 30, 2022.
ZATCA has urged taxpayers to review the initiative details through the Initiative Manual at the Authority's website (zatca.gov.sa). The Manual includes the details of the fine exemption decision. The Authority invites any person who has inquiries to reach out via its 24/7 call center hotline (19993), Customer Care Twitter account (@Zatca_Care), via e-mail (info@zatca.gov.sa), or by instant messages on ZATCA's website (zatca.gov.sa).