The finance minister approved a six-month extension of ZATCA’s initiative waiving tax penalties for eligible taxpayers from 1 January 2026.
Saudi Arabia’s Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) announced the issuance of a decision by the Minister of Finance approving the extension of the Initiative to Cancel Fines and Exempt Taxpayers from Financial Penalties for those subject to all tax systems, for a period of six Gregorian months starting from 1 January 2026.
This announcement was made on 1 January 2025.
ZATCA explained that the initiative provides exemptions for taxpayers from penalties for late registration under all tax systems, late payment, and late filing of returns under all tax systems. It also includes exemption from the VAT return adjustment penalty, penalties for field inspection violations related to the application of electronic invoicing provisions, and other general VAT provisions.
It added that, to benefit from the initiative, the taxpayer must be registered in the tax system, submit all returns required to be filed with the Authority, and pay the full principal amount of the tax debt related to the due tax returns. Taxpayers may apply to the Authority for instalment arrangements, provided that the application is submitted during the validity of the initiative and that all instalments due are paid on their respective due dates in accordance with the instalment plan approved by the Authority. ZATCA confirmed that the initiative does not include penalties related to tax evasion violations, nor penalties that were paid before the initiative’s effective date.
ZATCA invited taxpayers to review the details through the simplified guidance manual for the initiative, available on its website. The manual provides a detailed explanation of the key aspects of the decision to extend the Initiative to Cancel Fines and Exempt from Financial Penalties, including clarification of the types of penalties covered, the conditions for exemption, the steps for instalment of outstanding amounts, and an overview of the field inspection violations covered by the initiative, with illustrative examples.
ZATCA urged all taxpayers to benefit from the extension of the initiative within the specified period, which ends at the end of June 2026, and to contact the Authority in case of any enquiries about the initiative via the unified call centre number (19993), available 24/7, the “Ask Zakat, Tax and Customs” account on the X platform (@Zatca_Care), email (info@zatca.gov.sa), or the live chat service on the Authority’s website (zatca.gov.sa).
