Received a Zakat or Tax Assessment from ZATCA? What to Do within 60 Days
An assessment becomes final and payable once sixty days pass without an objection. We analyse the assessment item by item, recompute the base, and prepare an objection memorandum built on figures and documents before the deadline.
What the assessment notice means
An assessment is the Authority’s determination of the zakat or tax you owe after examining your return, or where no return was filed. The notice must state the basis and reason for the calculation, the amounts due, the payment date and your right to object (Article 113 of the Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations). Then the clock starts: the assessment becomes final and payable once you accept it or once sixty days pass from its date without an objection (Article 117 of the Zakat Regulations and Article 66 of the Income Tax Law).
What we see most in assessments: additions to the zakat base for partners’ loans and provisions, expenses disallowed for missing documents, revenue estimated where records are incomplete, and differing treatment of mixed companies between zakat and tax. Much of it can be reversed when the response rests on figures rather than general objection.
The steps within the sixty days
- Separate the items: what you accept, what you contest, and what needs an additional document. Objecting to everything weakens the objection to what deserves it.
- The admissibility condition: pay the amounts on uncontested items, and pay between 10% and 25% of the contested zakat items or provide a guarantee (Article 116 of the Zakat Regulations); for tax, pay the uncontested amount or provide a bank guarantee.
- An objection memorandum in figures: for each item, the Authority’s basis, your basis, the difference, the supporting document and the legal provision relied on.
- The path after the Authority’s decision: a grievance within 60 days of notification, decided by the Authority within 90 days, then 30 days to request referral to the internal settlement committee or to file before the tax dispute committees, and a further 30 days if settlement fails.
- Do not ignore it: silence turns the assessment into a final debt followed by demands, enforcement and attachment.
How we help
- Item-by-item analysis of the assessment against the return, the financial statements and the period’s records.
- Recomputation of the zakat base or taxable income under the regulations, identifying the items worth contesting and those better accepted.
- Preparation of the objection file: the memorandum, the documents, and the amount to pay or the guarantee needed for admissibility.
- Technical advocacy before the internal settlement committee and the dispute committees, in coordination with your lawyer where needed, within our zakat and tax service.
- Preventing recurrence: correcting the policies and documentation that caused the assessment before the next return.
Frequently asked questions
Can I object after 60 days have passed?
As a rule the assessment becomes final once sixty days pass without objection, so we start on day one and do not rely on exceptions.
Do I have to pay the full amount before objecting?
No. You must pay the uncontested items and 10% to 25% of the contested zakat items or provide a guarantee; for tax, pay the uncontested amount or provide a bank guarantee.
What is the difference between the objection, the grievance and the claim?
The objection is filed with the Authority against the assessment; the grievance is against its decision within 60 days; the claim is then filed before the committees for tax violations and disputes within 30 days of the grievance decision or the failure of settlement.
Do you handle estimated assessments issued when no return was filed?
Yes, and the fastest route is usually filing the correct return with documents rather than arguing over the estimate.
Sixty days are enough to build a strong objection, and not enough for hesitation. Send us the assessment notice today.