Saudi Arabia approves draft rules of Zakat calculation of estimate taxpayers

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance and Chairman of General Authority of Zakat and Tax

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance and Chairman of General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT), approved the draft rules of Zakat calculation for estimate taxpayers, replacing the rules issued under the Ministerial Decree No. 852 dated 28/2/1441 AH.

The new rules will be applied to the returns of taxpayers calculated by GAZT after February 28, 2021.

According to the Decree, published on the official gazette, the authority will submit to the Minister of Finance a report including its views and recommendations as regards the application of these rules to taxpayers compared to the two previous years.

The base of Zakat payers subject to these rules will be evaluated by identifying the capital that is appropriate to the size of Zakat payer’s activity, according to the following equation: (S𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠/8 + [Sales × 15%] and not less than capital set forth in the commercial registration, required license or other documents enabling the authority from quantifying the capital.

According to Article 4, sales stated above should not be less than the sales disclosed in the value-added tax (VAT) return as well as the real estate transaction tax statements for the nearest tax period or year.