ICAP Certified in Accounting and Finance — ZATCA / MISA / MoC / SAIP / Compliance, Saudi Arabia

The MISA (Ministry of Investment Saudi Arabia, formerly SAGIA) investment licence is required for any non-Saudi or non-GCC investor establishing a foreign-owned business in Saudi Arabia. Following Vision 2030 reforms, 100% foreign ownership is now permitted in most sectors. MISA offers multiple licence categories — Service, Entrepreneurial, Industrial, Agricultural, Real Estate Development, Trading (Commercial), Mining and Professional — each with different minimum capital and documentation requirements. The MISA licence comes first; Commercial Registration with the Ministry of Commerce, ZATCA tax registration and GOSI follow once the MISA licence is issued. We coordinate the full chain end to end.

Saudi Arabia operates three parallel tax-and-religious-obligation streams under ZATCA. Zakat is a religious obligation under Islamic law, levied at 2.5% on the Zakat base of Saudi and GCC-national equity holders' share of qualifying capital and net assets. Corporate Income Tax is 20% of the net profit attributable to non-Saudi or non-GCC equity holders. VAT is 15% on most goods and services (standard rate). A mixed-ownership entity (e.g. a Saudi-Pakistani joint venture) computes Zakat on the Saudi/GCC partners' share and Corporate Income Tax on the foreign partners' share separately. We handle all three streams and the apportionment between them.

Fatoorah is ZATCA's mandatory e-invoicing system. Phase 1 (Generation Phase) required all VAT-registered businesses to issue tax invoices in a structured electronic format. Phase 2 (Integration Phase) requires businesses to integrate their invoicing system directly with ZATCA's Fatoora platform for real-time invoice clearance and cryptographic stamping. ZATCA has been onboarding businesses to Phase 2 in waves based on revenue thresholds. Non-compliance carries financial penalties starting from SAR 1,000 and escalating. We help clients select Fatoorah-compliant software (QuickBooks, Zoho Books, Odoo and others have certified integrations) and complete onboarding.

VAT registration is mandatory when annual taxable supplies exceed the ZATCA-prescribed threshold (currently SAR 375,000 for mandatory registration; voluntary registration is available above SAR 187,500). Below mandatory threshold, businesses may register voluntarily — useful for B2B sellers who want to recover input VAT. Standard VAT rate is 15%. Returns are filed monthly or quarterly with ZATCA depending on turnover band. We handle registration, monthly/quarterly returns and Fatoorah integration as a single package.

In a mixed-ownership Saudi entity, ZATCA applies a split treatment. The Saudi or GCC-national share of the entity's equity is subject to Zakat at 2.5% on the Zakat base. The non-Saudi (foreign) share is subject to Corporate Income Tax at 20% on its proportionate share of net profit. The Zakat return and Corporate Income Tax return are filed together but computed separately. This dual treatment is one of the most distinctive features of Saudi tax compliance and is easy to get wrong in the first year. We model the apportionment at the planning stage when foreign investors take Saudi partners (or vice versa).

Saudization, formally the Nitaqat (Bands) program, is the Saudi government's framework for increasing Saudi national employment in the private sector. Every private-sector employer is assigned a Nitaqat band — Platinum, Green, Yellow or Red — based on the percentage of Saudi nationals in its workforce, sector and headcount. Higher bands unlock benefits (faster work-permit processing for expats, more services on Qiwa); lower bands trigger restrictions (no new expat visas, no Iqama renewals). The Saudization quota varies by sector and headcount. Nitaqat compliance is tracked through the Qiwa portal. We help employers structure their workforce, comply with quotas, and avoid downgrades that would block expat hiring.

GOSI is the General Organization for Social Insurance — the Saudi social security system. Every private-sector employer must register with GOSI and contribute monthly. For Saudi employees, GOSI covers pension, occupational hazards, and unemployment insurance (SANED), with employer and employee both contributing a percentage of salary. For non-Saudi employees (expats), employer contributions are limited to occupational hazards only — significantly lower. The exact rates are set by GOSI and revised periodically. GOSI registration is automatic once Commercial Registration is in place, but ongoing administration — monthly contribution filings, employee additions and removals, claims — is operationally demanding. We handle GOSI end to end.

Mudad is the Ministry of Human Resources platform that operates the Saudi Wage Protection System (WPS). All private-sector employers must pay salaries through WPS-compliant bank transfers so that the Ministry can verify that wages are paid in full and on time. Non-compliance can lead to suspension of services on Qiwa, restrictions on new visas, and ultimately the Nitaqat band being downgraded. WPS sits alongside GOSI and Qiwa as part of the integrated Saudi labour compliance ecosystem. We set up clients on Mudad and run monthly payroll through the WPS to ensure compliance signals stay green.

Saudi Arabia applies withholding tax on payments to non-residents for services rendered in or used in the Kingdom. Rates range from 5% to 20% depending on the nature of the payment — for example, royalties typically attract a higher rate, while management fees and technical services fall in middle bands. Double tax treaty relief may reduce or eliminate the rate where Saudi Arabia has a treaty in force with the supplier's country. The paying Saudi entity is responsible for withholding and remitting to ZATCA monthly. Non-compliance triggers penalties on the Saudi paying entity, not the non-resident supplier. We assess treaty positions and manage withholding filings.

A SAIP trademark application typically takes 9 to 12 months from filing to registration where no objection is raised and no opposition is filed. The stages are: filing with required documentation (including a Power of Attorney legalised up to the Saudi consulate or apostilled), examination by SAIP, publication in the Official Gazette, a 60-day opposition window and registration. Saudi trademark registration is valid for 10 years and renewable. Saudi Arabia is a WIPO and Paris Convention member, follows the Nice classification system, and has adopted the GCC Trademark Law. We file directly with SAIP and coordinate Power of Attorney legalisation through embassies or apostille systems.

Saudi Arabia has adopted IFRS as endorsed by SOCPA (the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants) for publicly listed companies, banks, insurance companies, and other large entities. SOCPA-endorsed IFRS for SMEs applies to smaller entities meeting the relevant size criteria. The endorsement process means that occasionally there are minor differences between the international IFRS standard and the SOCPA-endorsed version applied in Saudi Arabia — we confirm the applicable framework and any SOCPA-specific endorsement adjustments at the start of each engagement.

Yes. We handle Saudi tax, Zakat, ZATCA filings, GOSI administration, MISA renewals, SAIP trademark filing and Fatoorah e-invoicing remotely for overseas owners of Saudi entities — including investors based in Pakistan, the UK, Canada, the USA and elsewhere. We work over email, WhatsApp and secure document upload. Where engagements require in-Kingdom signatures, notarisations through Absher, statutory audit by a SOCPA-licensed audit firm, or representation before Saudi commercial courts, we coordinate with vetted Saudi-based counsel. Our role is regulatory advisory, accounting and ZATCA compliance — we take work end to end remotely and bring in Kingdom-licensed professionals where statute requires it.