Saudi VAT calculator

Saudi VAT is 15 per cent on taxable supplies. At that rate the difference between adding tax and removing it is large enough to matter on every receipt, so it is worth being exact about which one you are doing. The calculator above handles both, in riyals, to the halala.

ZATCA's invoicing guideline states the basic VAT rate as 15 per cent. ZATCA, Guideline for Tax Invoicing and Records under VAT Provisions

Adding 15% to a price

If your price is before tax, multiply it by 15 and divide by 100 to get the VAT, then add the two together. A price of SAR 1,000.00 carries SAR 150.00 of VAT and a total of SAR 1,150.00. Multiplying by 1.15 gets you straight to the total.

Taking 15% out of a total

If the figure already includes VAT, the tax inside it is: VAT = gross x rate / (100 + rate). At 15 per cent that is gross x 15 / 115, which simplifies to gross x 3 / 23. The amount before tax is the gross divided by 1.15.

The common shortcut is to take 15 per cent of the gross. On SAR 1,150.00 that gives SAR 172.50 of VAT, which is SAR 22.50 too much. The error is not small at this rate, and it grows with every invoice it touches.

Which one do you need?

• Add, when you quote a price before tax: most invoices between businesses
• Remove, when the price already includes VAT: retail, restaurants, and any consumer price, which is normally shown inclusive
• Remove, when checking a supplier's invoice or a receipt you are claiming input tax on
• Remove, when a customer agrees a round figure all in and you need the split for your records

Rounding to the halala

ZATCA asks for the VAT amount to be rounded to the nearest halala, and for the same rounded figures to be used in your VAT return. The calculator works in whole halalas and rounds half up, once. In remove mode it rounds the amount before VAT and gives the VAT as the remainder, so the two always add back to the figure you entered.

VAT on an invoice is rounded to the nearest halala, and the same figures are carried into the return (section 4.2.4). ZATCA invoicing guideline, rounding

Zero rated and exempt

A zero-rated supply is still subject to VAT, at 0 per cent. You still issue a tax invoice and still report the sale, and you can recover VAT on the related costs. Exports are the usual example, and ZATCA requires a tax invoice for every export of goods. An exempt supply is different: it is outside VAT, and the VAT on costs linked to it is generally not recoverable. Use 0 per cent in the calculator for zero-rated sales only.

Zero-rated supplies are subject to VAT at a rate of zero, and a tax invoice must be issued for goods exported from the Kingdom. ZATCA invoicing guideline, zero-rated supplies

Invoicing in another currency

You may price in dollars or euros, but the VAT charged must be shown in riyals. Convert it at the Saudi Central Bank's rate for the date the tax becomes due, and print the riyal figure on the invoice alongside the foreign one.

VAT must be stated in SAR, converted at the Saudi Central Bank daily rate on the date tax is due (section 4.2.2). ZATCA invoicing guideline, foreign currency

What goes on the invoice

A standard tax invoice to a business shows your VAT number and the buyer's, the date, a sequential number, the items, the amount before VAT, the rate, the VAT and the total. A simplified tax invoice, the document a consumer receives, also carries a QR code holding five fields: your name, your VAT number, the time of the invoice, the total with VAT and the VAT itself.

The five Phase 1 QR fields and their encoding are set out in ZATCA's QR code guide. ZATCA, Guide to Developed FATOORA Compliant QR Code

Getting the arithmetic right does not make an invoice compliant with e-invoicing. Businesses brought into the integration phase must issue invoices through a system connected to ZATCA, and a calculator or a PDF cannot do that part for you.