Saudi VAT Return Format

Yarab A | Updated on: July 1, 2022

All the businesses who are registered under Saudi VAT should file the VAT return either on monthly or on a quarterly basis. The VAT returns must be filed electronically by logging into the General Authority of Zakat and TAX (GZAT) portal. The businesses are required to provide the details of sales, purchases/expenses, Output VAT and Input VAT in the prescribed VAT return format by GAZT.

What is a VAT return?

VAT is imposed on most goods and services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A business owner files for a VAT return to claim the VAT amount he paid. When he makes a purchase, the taxpayer is essentially paying VAT, and he collects VAT when he supplies the items. VAT returns must be filed because they give details about the transactions, the purchases, and the supplies made by the taxpayer.

When should taxpayers file VAT returns?

The time to file the VAT return depends on the value of the annual sales.

When the total annual sales amount is below 40 million SAR, then the taxpayer must file the return every quarter. Taxpayers need to file VAT returns four times per year in this case. The first filing period is from January to March and the deadline is the end of April. The second filing period is from April to June with the deadline being the end of July. The third filing period is from July to September with October end as the deadline. The last filing period is from October to December and the deadline is the last day of January.

When the total yearly sales amount is more than 40 million SAR, then the taxpayer must file a VAT return monthly. The first filing period will start on 1st January with the deadline being the last date of February. The second filing period will be starting on 1st February and the deadline to file returns will be 31st March and so on. The taxpayer must file returns 12 times in total.

An extension can be requested if the VAT payment cannot be made on time by the taxpayer. This request must be made to the GAZT. Three main points the extension request should address include the reason for the extension, the tax liability, and the tax period for which the tax is owed to the government. The answer to the request is provided within three weeks. Your request can be either rejected or accepted.

How to file VAT returns?

You need to log in to the GAZT e-portal to file your VAT returns. There are two sections in the VAT returns form; VAT on sales and VAT on purchases. You will not be allowed to enter amounts in certain boxes of the VAT return form because those are automatically calculated such as total sales and total purchases depending on the input values you entered.

The VAT returns form looks as follows: 

There are three columns; amount (SAR), adjustments (SAR), and VAT amount (SAR). The amount refers to the purchases and sales during the period. The adjustment refers to the changes that occurred such as goods sold earlier being returned in this period. In the subcategory of corrections in the VAT amount section, you need to specify the corrections, if any from the earlier VAT return. When the net VAT due (or claim) box value is negative then it means you will get a refund. Otherwise, it means you must pay the liability to the authorities.

You can find additional and detailed information about filing VAT returns on the GAZT VAT website. You can find a YouTube tutorial that goes through the step-by-step process of filing a VAT return so you can understand the entire process. There is also a return filing manual that is available on the portal where all steps are clearly explained.

To know more about VAT return filing period in Saudi Arabia, please read 'VAT Return Filing Period'.

The VAT return format prescribed by GAZT is broadly categorized into 2 sections, the first of which deals with VAT on sales (output VAT) and the second one deals with VAT on purchases (input VAT).

In this article, we will understand the VAT return format and details to be provided. The VAT return format is designed to include the following details which registered businesses are required to declare:

• Taxpayer’s details: This contains details such as Tax Identification Number (TIN), VAT account number and address. These details will be auto-populated.
  
  
• Standard rated sales: You need to capture the value of supplies (sales) and output VAT collected during the return period. Also, any VAT liability arising out of reverse charge, need to be captured here.
  
  
• Private Healthcare / Private Education / First house sales to citizens: According to the newly amended VAT laws, on the supply of private healthcare/private education to Saudi citizens, VAT need not be charged in the invoice. The VAT burden will be borne by the government. Similarly, VAT burden on citizens' first home up to a value of 850,000 SAR will be borne by the government. Any supplies pertaining as mentioned above nature will have to be reported here.
  
  
• Zero-rated domestic sales: Notified goods like qualifying medicines and medical equipment are zero-rated even if supplied within the kingdom. Such supplies need to be captured here.
  
  
• Exports: Supplies outside the kingdom are zero-rated and only the value of such supplies needs to be reported here.
  
  
• Exempt sales:Notified supplies like qualifying financial services and residential real estate are exempted from the VAT and such supplies needs to be captured here.
  
  
• Standard rated domestic purchases:You need to declare the value of purchases incurred on which you are eligible to recover Input Tax and the amount of Recoverable Input Tax in the VAT return period. Please note, the value of input tax credit which is restricted or which you are not eligible to claim should be reduced from the total and only the net value needs to be mentioned.
  
  
• Imports subject to VAT paid at customs:Imports on which VAT is paid at the time of customs clearance needs to be captured.
  
  
• Imports subject to VAT accounted for through the reverse charge mechanism:Other than imports on which VAT is paid at the customs, all other imports needs to be captured here. This includes import of services and import of goods declared in customs but VAT payment need to be made while filing returns.
  
  
• Zero-rated purchases:Zero-rated purchases need to be captured like the purchase of qualifying medicines and medical equipment’s etc.
  
  
• Exempt purchases:Purchase of goods or services which are exempted from VAT need to be reported.

Click here to download the VAT Return Format

Apart from the details discussed above, certain boxes contain 'Adjustment' column to report any adjustments related to return of goods sold in previous return period, bad debts write-off etc. To know more about box-wise details in filing Saudi VAT Return, please read 'How to file Saudi VAT return'.

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