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UAE and Saudi Arabia: VAT and ZATCA

What you'll do: set up a company in the UAE or Saudi Arabia, charge VAT on invoices, prepare the VAT return, and make e-invoices: PINT AE in the UAE, and ZATCA clearance and reporting in Saudi Arabia.

The return figures are a preparation aid, not a filing. Check them with a registered tax agent before you file on EmaraTax or ZATCA's portal.

Both countries use Gregorian calendar years in the books. For the Arabic display and Hijri dates, see Arabic. Invoices and notes always print in English and Arabic.

Set up

  1. Pick United Arab Emirates (AED) or Saudi Arabia (SAR) when the company first opens.
  2. Alt+K, Company details: the company's TRN (UAE, 15 digits) or VAT number (Saudi, 15 digits starting and ending with 3), and the emirate or region. In the UAE the emirate decides which row of the VAT return a sale goes in.
  3. Tax rates (C, Tax Rates): add the classes you use, for example STANDARD at 5% (UAE) or 15% (Saudi, from 1 July 2020), ZERO at 0% and EXEMPT at 0%. A class whose name starts with EXEMPT is exempt; other 0% classes are zero-rated. Give each stock item (or sales ledger) its class.
  4. Create Output VAT and Input VAT ledgers under Duties & Taxes, with Type of tax VAT.
  5. On party ledgers, add the TRN or VAT number. A party in another Country is an export (zero-rated). UAE parties can be marked as in a designated zone.

Reverse charge and imports (UAE): use classes such as RC:STANDARD for purchases under reverse charge and IMPORT:STANDARD for goods imported through UAE Customs. Detail: UAE VAT.

Saudi exemption reasons: add the VATEX code to a zero-rated or exempt class name, such as ZERO VATEX-SA-35, so e-invoices carry the reason. Detail: KSA VAT and ZATCA.

The VAT return

Country Go To (Alt+G)
UAE VAT 201 (UAE VAT return)
Saudi Arabia VAT Return (Saudi Arabia)

F2 changes the period. Ctrl+P prints, Ctrl+E saves a CSV. Type the figures into the authority's portal yourself: KhataOS doesn't submit returns. The Desk shows the due dates once you set your return periods in the compliance profile.

UAE: PINT AE e-invoices

On a saved Sales invoice or Credit Note, press Ctrl+E:

  • UAE e-invoice (PINT AE) saves the e-invoice XML.
  • Send via Access Point sends it to your Peppol access point.
  • Access Point settings sets the access point's address and API key (kept on this computer). You'll also be asked for them on the first send.

The access point connection works with any provider, and has been tested only against our own test server. No particular provider has been certified. The PINT AE XML hasn't been checked with the official Schematron rules yet. Detail: Peppol.

Saudi Arabia: ZATCA (Phase 2)

Connect this computer to ZATCA

  1. Alt+K, Seller details (ZATCA): the commercial registration number (CRN) and the National Address.
  2. Alt+K, ZATCA onboarding: choose the environment (sandbox, simulation or production), type the one time password (OTP) from the Fatoora portal, and accept. KhataOS then holds this computer's certificate (CSID). Ctrl+Alt+N renews it; Ctrl+Alt+R starts again as a new device.

A copy of the company file on another computer is a new device and must be onboarded there.

Send invoices

  1. Save the invoice, credit note or debit note.
  2. Press Ctrl+E, then Submit to ZATCA. The first time, choose Standard (B2B) or Simplified (B2C).
  3. On the submit screen, Ctrl+Alt+T clears (standard) or reports (simplified) the invoice. Ctrl+Alt+S saves the cleared XML.

The invoice then prints with ZATCA's QR code. ZATCA e-invoice XML in the same menu just saves the XML.

The ZATCA queue (Alt+K, ZATCA queue) lists documents waiting to be cleared or reported; Ctrl+Alt+T submits them all. KhataOS also retries in the background while it's open. The Desk warns about simplified invoices not reported within 24 hours.

ZATCA is tested live on the sandbox in ZATCA's developer portal. It hasn't been run against simulation or production yet, which need a real taxpayer's OTP. Invoices in a foreign currency can't be sent to ZATCA.

Not there yet

UAE: blocked input tax, the FTA audit file, Corporate Tax, and filing on EmaraTax. Saudi: Zakat, and checks against the ZATCA SDK. Both: WPS salary files and end of service gratuity (no payroll yet).