Zakat and Taxes
Due to the importance of Zakat and tax services and consultations, we guide our clients toward the correct approach to achieving optimal Zakat and tax status in accordance with applicable regulations and laws. We also follow up on the client’s Zakat and tax position with the relevant authority, respond to their inquiries, and review Zakat and tax assessments as well as Zakat and tax objections for our clients with a high level of professionalism and responsibility.
What the service covers
- Zakat and income tax returns — prepared and filed within the statutory period of 120 days from the end of the financial year.
- Building the zakat base on a working paper linked to the trial balance, with every item traced to its source.
- VAT returns and quarterly — not annual — reconciliation to the books.
- Withholding tax on payments to non-residents, with the characterisation of payments settled before payment rather than after.
- Representation before ZATCA and responses to queries and examination requests.
- Objection files against zakat and tax assessments, and their follow-up.
- Certificates, including the zakat certificate required for tenders and banking facilities.
- Regularisation of entities in arrears on registration or returns.
Who this is for
- Limited liability and joint stock companies, listed or unlisted.
- Mixed-ownership entities, where the Saudi and GCC share is subject to zakat and the foreign share to income tax.
- Sole establishments.
- Associations and non-profit foundations.
- Entities that have stopped filing and want to return to a compliant position.
What you receive
- The return filed through the Authority’s portal, with a copy for your records.
- A zakat base working paper, item by item, referencing each figure to the trial balance.
- A reconciliation schedule explaining any difference between the filed financial statements and the return.
- An ordered documentation file fit to present at any subsequent examination.
- A memorandum of residual zakat and tax exposures and how to address them for the coming year.
How we work
- Reading the position held at ZATCA — registrations, returns filed and unfiled, assessments and outstanding fines.
- Testing whether the books are ready before starting. A base built on incomplete books is reopened later, and the deemed base is the natural consequence of absent records.
- Building the base from source, documenting every deduction and addition with its supporting document and governing provision.
- Review before filing — consistency between the return and the financial statements, because both authorities see the same figures.
- After filing — monitoring the assessment, and assessing whether an objection is worth pursuing if one is issued.
When you need us
- An assessment notice has arrived for more than you declared — and the period is running.
- You have returns in arrears or unfiled.
- You need a zakat certificate for a government tender or a banking facility renewal.
- A foreign partner has joined, changing the entity’s position between zakat and income tax.
- You have been notified of an examination.
- You are buying or selling a business and need to know its existing zakat and tax exposures.
Related detailed guides
- ZATCA fines cancellation initiative 2026 — conditions and deadline
- Objecting to a ZATCA assessment — the deadline, the items and building the file
- E-invoicing Phase 2 — Wave 25 and the 1 February 2027 deadline
- The zakat return — deadline, documents and penalties
- Withholding tax — who is liable and at what rate
- ZATCA examinations — what the Authority may do and how to build your file
- Contesting a ZATCA decision before the tax dispute committees — deadlines and appeal
- Real Estate Transaction Tax vs VAT on property
- Zakat and income tax in mixed companies
- Received a ZATCA assessment? What to do within 60 days
- Missed the zakat or VAT return deadline? How to fix it
Frequently asked questions
When is the zakat return due?
Within 120 days of the end of the financial year. For a company with a 31 December year end, that is 30 April.
We are several years in arrears — is that fixable?
Yes. It begins with scheduling what has not been filed and then preparing it from the books. The fines cancellation initiative running to 31 December 2026 makes regularising now materially cheaper.
Do you handle objections?
Yes — preparing the recomputation schedule, the document bundle and the technical memorandum, and assessing whether an objection is worth pursuing before it is filed.
How does zakat differ from income tax in a mixed-ownership entity?
The Saudi and GCC ownership share is subject to zakat and the foreign ownership share to income tax, each computed separately within the same return.