Obligations / Saudi Arabia

What a company files in Saudi Arabia [SA]

Every entry below is the rule as Saudi Arabia publishes it. It is a reference, not a calendar: where a deadline runs from something only you know, this page says so instead of showing a date.

A template, not your deadline

This is the rule as published by the registry, checked against the primary source on the date shown. It is not your filing date. Where a deadline runs from incorporation, from a fiscal year the company itself elects, or from an event only you know about, no date can be derived here at all — the figure you see is the formula, not the answer. Extensions, transitional regimes and entity-specific exemptions are not reflected. Confirm with the registry before you rely on a date.

How the financial year is set — Chosen by the company

The company sets its own financial year. Article 16 of the Companies Law (Royal Decree M/132) provides that «A company's fiscal year shall be 12 months to be specified in its articles of incorporation or articles of association», with the first year allowed to run «not less than six months and not more than 18 months beginning from the date of the company's registration». Both tax clocks then hang off that elected year rather than off the calendar: ZATCA states that the zakat return and the corporate income tax return are due «within 120 days from the end of the tax year» (Article 102 of the Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations, Article 60 of the Income Tax Law), and the Companies Law requires the financial statements to be deposited «within six months from the date on which the fiscal year ends». Nothing in this entry can therefore be turned into a calendar date until the user supplies the year end. Two obligations here are the exception and do not touch the financial year at all: the annual confirmation of commercial register data runs on the register's own clock at the Ministry of Commerce, and the VAT return runs on the VAT tax period. A Saudi company with a June year end still files its VAT return by the last day of the month after each tax period.

Companies Law, Royal Decree No. M/132 (30.06.2022), official publication of the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA), Art. 16 — «A company's fiscal year shall be 12 months to be specified in its articles of incorporation or articles of association», first year «not less than six months and not more than 18 months beginning from the date of the company's registration». Tax deadlines run from this year — ZATCA, announcement on filing Zakat/CIT returns for 2025, citing Article 102 Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations and Article 60 Income Tax Law (zatca.gov.sa/en/MediaCenter/News/Pages/Submit-CIT-Return-for-2025.aspx) · checked 2026-09-27

Annual confirmation of the commercial register data

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The registrar at the Ministry of Commerce, electronically. Article 11 of the Commercial Register Law requires that «A merchant shall submit to the registrar an annual statement confirming the data contained in the Commercial Register, as specified in the Regulations.» The Ministry runs it as the e-service «The annual confirmation of the company's main commercial registry data».
Who it applies to
Only registered foreign entities
Every merchant entered in the commercial register, in whatever form. This replaced the old renewal cycle: the Ministry of Commerce announced on 3 April 2025, the day both the Commercial Register Law and the Trade Names Law took effect, that registration no longer expires and is instead kept alive by «annual electronic confirmation of registry data», with «registration suspension and eventual deletion for failure to confirm data within specified timeframes». The same announcement introduced a unified register covering all activities in the Kingdom, which «eliminates the need for sub-registries». A company holding a foreign investment licence has an extra condition at the Ministry's own service counter: the licence must be valid «with a duration of no less than 30 days» at the moment of confirmation.
Deadline
Once a year, counted from the register's own confirmation date — not from the financial year. Article 11 leaves that date to the Regulations («as specified in the Regulations»), and the text of those Regulations could not be read on 27 September 2026, so no anniversary is asserted here. What the Law does fix is the consequence of missing it: under Article 15(1) the registrar suspends the registration where the merchant fails to confirm «within 90 days from the date set for such confirmation», the suspension lasts one year (Article 15(4)), and it is lifted by filing the confirmation and paying the fees plus fines. Read the confirmation date off the register entry itself before relying on any date.
Extensions and exceptions: There is no extension as such. The 90 days in Article 15(1) are not a grace period granted to the merchant but the point at which the registrar suspends the entry, and suspension already carries fines: Article 15(4) allows the merchant to ask for it to be lifted «by submitting confirmation and paying fees plus fines». After a year of suspension the Law contemplates deletion, which the Ministry of Commerce confirmed in its own words as «eventual deletion for failure to confirm data within specified timeframes».
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
A fine of up to SAR 50,000, doubled on repetition, plus suspension and ultimately deletion of the registration. Article 21(1)(b) of the Commercial Register Law makes a merchant who fails to comply with Articles 10, 11 and 16 liable to «a fine not exceeding fifty thousand riyals», and Article 21(2) allows the fine to be doubled for a repeated violation occurring within three years. Only the ceiling is set in the Law: there is no fixed amount, and the figure actually imposed is not published, so no flat sum is entered below. The non-monetary consequence is the heavier one in practice — suspension after 90 days under Article 15(1), then deletion.
State fee
SAR 1,000 — SAR 1,600
The Ministry of Commerce publishes the fee for this service by legal form: «1600 for a joint stock company or a simplified joint stock company», «1200 for a limited liability company», «1000 for a General Partnership or Limited Partnership». The range recorded here spans those three figures. The Ministry's service page also describes processing as immediate, which is consistent with a confirmation rather than an application to be examined.
Proof of filing
The electronic confirmation receipt from the Ministry of Commerce and the commercial register extract showing the entry as active with the confirmation recorded. Because the register no longer issues an expiring certificate, the extract itself — active, not suspended — is the proof that the year's confirmation was made.
Primary source: Commercial Register Law (issued 22.09.2024, in force from 3 April 2025), official publication of the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia: Art. 11 «A merchant shall submit to the registrar an annual statement confirming the data contained in the Commercial Register, as specified in the Regulations», Art. 15(1) suspension «within 90 days from the date set for such confirmation», Art. 15(4), Art. 21(1)(b) «a fine not exceeding fifty thousand riyals», Art. 21(2), Art. 29. Fees and service conditions — Ministry of Commerce, «The annual confirmation of the company's main commercial registry data» (mc.gov.sa/en/eservices/Pages/ServiceDetails.aspx?sID=2). Abolition of registration expiry and the unified register — Ministry of Commerce announcement of 03.04.2025 via the Saudi Press Agency (spa.gov.sa/en/N2292296)
checked 2026-09-27 · Rechecked every 12 months

Disclosure and annual confirmation of the ultimate beneficial owner

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Ministry of Commerce, through the same channel as the commercial register filings. The Ministry defines the person to be disclosed as «the person — or persons of natural capacity — who has final, actual, direct or indirect control over the company», and states that the data is kept for five years after the company is dissolved.
Who it applies to
Only registered foreign entities
Companies registered in the Kingdom. The regime is new: the Ultimate Beneficial Owner Rules were issued to take effect with the Commercial Register Law on 3 April 2025, and the Ministry of Commerce published its own explanation of them on 9 December 2025. Which entities are carved out, and how the Rules treat listed companies, government-owned entities and entities supervised by other regulators, is set in the Rules themselves; their text could not be read on 27 September 2026, because the Arabic files on the Ministry's site were not served, and no exemption list is reproduced here. An entity that believes it is outside the Rules must check them directly.
Deadline
Tied to the commercial register, not to the financial year. The Ministry of Commerce states that the disclosure procedures are aligned «with the procedures for company incorporation requests or the annual confirmation of the commercial registry» — so the first disclosure rides on incorporation and the recurring one rides on the annual register confirmation, whose own date is read off the register entry. The Rules also require changes in beneficial ownership to be notified, and the period allowed for that notification is set in the Rules; their text was not readable on 27 September 2026 and no number of days is given here.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
Not verified, and deliberately left empty. The Ultimate Beneficial Owner Rules carry their own sanctions, but the text of the Rules could not be read on 27 September 2026 and the Ministry of Commerce page explaining them says nothing about penalties. No amount is entered. What can be said is the practical consequence of the way the obligation is wired: because the disclosure travels with the annual confirmation of the commercial register, failing to make it can hold up that confirmation, and the register consequences in Article 15 of the Commercial Register Law — suspension after 90 days, then deletion — then come into play. That is an inference about sequencing, not a published sanction, and it is recorded as such.
Proof of filing
The beneficial ownership record as it stands in the Ministry of Commerce system, together with the confirmation receipt for the filing, and the company's own internal register of beneficial owners with the identification documents behind it. The Ministry keeps the data for five years after dissolution, so the ministerial record rather than a certificate is the durable proof.
Primary source: Ministry of Commerce, «Ministry of Commerce Clarifies the Key Benefits of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) Rules», 09.12.2025: definition «the person — or persons of natural capacity — who has final, actual, direct or indirect control over the company»; alignment of procedures «with the procedures for company incorporation requests or the annual confirmation of the commercial registry»; «There are no fees for recording UBO data or for the annual confirmation»; data retained for five years after liquidation. Register consequences — Commercial Register Law, Art. 15 (misa.gov.sa/app/uploads/2025/07/Commercial-Register-Law.pdf). As of 27.09.2026, the text of the Rules themselves had not been read.
checked 2026-09-27 · Rechecked every 6 months

Annual zakat declaration or corporate income tax return

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA), through «the electronic services portal on the Authority's official website (zatca.gov.sa)». The financial statements are submitted with the filing: Article 102(2) of the Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations requires the return to be filed in ZATCA's electronic system together with the documents supporting the figures in the accounting records.
Who it applies to
Every entity in the jurisdiction
Every establishment carrying on business in the Kingdom, but which of the two returns it owes depends on who owns it. ZATCA applies the Income Tax Law «to resident capital companies with respect to the shares owned by non-Saudi partners, whether such partners are natural or legal persons, resident or non-resident», and also «to non-resident persons — whether natural or legal, Saudi or non-Saudi — who conduct business activities in Saudi Arabia through a permanent establishment therein, or who derive income from sources within Saudi Arabia». Saudi and GCC ownership sits on the zakat side instead. A mixed-ownership company therefore files on both bases for the respective shares — it is one deadline, not two regimes on two dates, which is why ZATCA announces them together. The ownership split itself is a fact about the company and is not something this template can supply.
Deadline
Within 120 days after the end of the company's own fiscal year — days, not months, and the difference matters. ZATCA states the rule as «within 120 days after the end of the business fiscal year» and, opening the 2025 filing season, put it as 30 April 2026 for a year ended 31 December 2025, citing Article 102 of the Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations and Article 60 of the Corporate Income Tax Law. Article 102(1) of those Regulations sets the period as not exceeding one hundred and twenty days from the end of the zakat year. Because the fiscal year is elected by the company under Article 16 of the Companies Law, no calendar date can be derived here; and because 120 days is not four months, a year ending on 30 June gives 28 October, not 31 October. Article 102 adds that where the deadline falls on an official holiday, submission runs to the first working day after it.
Extensions and exceptions: No general extension of the 120 days is published. The only shift stated in Article 102 of the Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations is the holiday rule: if the deadline falls on an official holiday, it moves to the first working day after it. Whether ZATCA grants case-by-case extensions, and on what conditions, is not stated on the pages checked and is not asserted here.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
A fine is due for late filing, but no figure is entered because none could be verified. The sanctions for the income tax return sit in the Income Tax Law — its Implementing Regulations refer to Article 76 of the Law for them — and the copies of the Law and Regulations published by ZATCA did not render far enough to read those articles on 27 September 2026. One neighbouring figure did read cleanly and is recorded only for what it is: Article 17(1) of the Implementing Regulations of the Income Tax Law fines a partnership that fails to file its information declaration on time 1% of its total revenues, capped at SAR 20,000. That is the partnership information declaration, not this return, and it must not be carried across. For the zakat declaration the Regulations set out amendment, examination and assessment procedures in Articles 103 to 117 with no penalty figure in the readable text. Read the fine off the Law itself before relying on any amount.
Proof of filing
The submitted return with its ZATCA portal reference, the financial statements filed with it, and the zakat or tax certificate the Authority issues — in practice the document counterparties ask to see, since a great many licences and government dealings turn on it.
Primary source: ZATCA, «ZATCA Urges Establishments to Submit Zakat and CIT Returns for the Financial Year 2025»: deadline of 30 April 2026 for the year ended 31.12.2025, citing Article 102 Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations and Article 60 Corporate Income Tax Law, «within 120 days from the end of the tax year», filing through «the electronic services portal on the Authority's official website (zatca.gov.sa)». The same rule — ZATCA, «Taxpayers' Obligations Zakat and Returns Calendar»: «within 120 days after the end of the business fiscal year». Art. 102(1) and 102(2) — IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS FOR ZAKAT COLLECTION 1445 H (zatca.gov.sa/en/RulesRegulations/Documents/ZAKAT%20COLLECTION.pdf). Persons covered — ZATCA, Income Tax page (zatca.gov.sa/en/Pages/IncomeTax.aspx)
checked 2026-09-27 · Rechecked every 24 months

Preparation, audit and deposit of the annual financial statements

Formula, not a date
Filed to
Deposited as the Implementing Regulations of the Companies Law direct; the Ministry of Commerce is the authority for the deposit. Article 17(2) of the Companies Law: «A company's financial statements shall be prepared by the end of each fiscal year in accordance with accounting standards approved in the Kingdom, and said statements shall be deposited as provided for in the Regulations within six months from the date on which the fiscal year ends.» The same statements go to ZATCA with the zakat or tax return, which is a separate obligation on a separate clock.
Who it applies to
Every entity in the jurisdiction
The preparation and deposit obligation in Article 17(2) is on companies generally. The audit that normally accompanies it is not. Article 18(1) requires that «A company shall have one auditor, or more, licensed to practise in the Kingdom», appointed by the partners, general assembly or shareholders, but Article 19(1) disapplies the auditor requirement for micro and small companies — except where the articles stipulate an auditor, the company is listed on the capital market, it issues debt instruments, sukuk, preferred or redeemable stock, another law requires an auditor, it is a foreign company, or it owns or is a subsidiary of another company. Article 19(4) separately exempts general partnerships unless all the partners are companies other than general partnerships, or the articles provide for an auditor. The Law does not itself state the size figures behind «micro and small»: those come from the Kingdom's SME classification and are not reproduced here. A company near that line must check the classification before assuming it is exempt.
Deadline
Within 6 months after the end of the financial year.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
Not verified, and left empty. The Companies Law has its own schedule of violations and sanctions, and the Implementing Regulations of the Companies Law set out the deposit procedure to which Article 17(2) refers; neither was read far enough on 27 September 2026 to quote a figure for failing to deposit the financial statements on time. No amount is entered. Note that this obligation and the annual confirmation of the commercial register are separate: the SAR 50,000 ceiling in Article 21(1)(b) of the Commercial Register Law belongs to that other obligation and must not be read across to this one.
Proof of filing
The financial statements signed off for the fiscal year, the auditor's report where an auditor is required, and the deposit receipt from the Ministry of Commerce. The receipt is what dates the filing; the statements alone prove only that they were prepared.
Primary source: Companies Law, Royal Decree No. M/132 (30.06.2022), official publication of the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia: Art. 17(2) «said statements shall be deposited as provided for in the Regulations within six months from the date on which the fiscal year ends»; Art. 18(1) «A company shall have one auditor, or more, licensed to practise in the Kingdom»; Art. 19(1) exemptions for micro and small companies; Art. 19(4) general partnerships; Art. 16 duration of the fiscal year
checked 2026-09-27 · Rechecked every 24 months

Mandatory VAT registration once the turnover threshold is crossed

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA), through its e-services portal: log in on ZATCA's website, go to E-Services, select VAT, complete the registration form, and confirmation follows by SMS and email.
Who it applies to
Only above a threshold — taxable supplies and imports > 375,000 SAR
ZATCA states the rule for those «engaged in economic activity in the Kingdom»: registration is mandatory where «annual revenues exceed SAR 375,000», and «Registration is optional for those whose annual revenues exceed SAR 187,500 and less than SAR 375,000». Only the mandatory figure is recorded in the threshold field; the optional band is a choice, not an obligation, and the template records obligations. The test is «exceed», so the threshold is recorded as strictly greater, not «not less than». The metric ZATCA uses on that page is annual revenues; the Law's own measure is taxable supplies and imports, which is the key used here, and the two can differ for a business making exempt or out-of-scope supplies.
Deadline
Counted from the moment the threshold is crossed, not from the calendar. Article 2 of the VAT Implementing Regulations states that «In cases where this value exceeds the Mandatory Registration Threshold detailed in the Agreement, the Person must apply to the Authority to register within thirty (30) days.» The thirty days are recorded here from that sentence; the surrounding sub-paragraph, which says precisely which computation of value the sentence attaches to, did not render in the published copy of the Regulations and is not reproduced. Check Article 2 in full before treating the thirty days as your own deadline, and note that this is an obligation that recurs as a test rather than as a filing: a business below the threshold must keep measuring.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
SAR 10,000. ZATCA's page of taxation violation fines gives that figure flatly for failure to apply for VAT registration. The Authority adds that a repeated violation within three years may see the penalty doubled under its final decision. Registering late does not extinguish the tax that fell due while unregistered: the separate late-payment charge on ZATCA's same page is «5% of the value of the unpaid Tax for each month or part thereof the Tax has not been paid».
Proof of filing
The VAT registration certificate with the VAT identification number, together with the SMS and email confirmation ZATCA sends on completion. Keep the turnover computation that triggered the application as well: it is what shows the thirty days were counted from the right date.
Primary source: ZATCA, «VAT Registration» service page: mandatory registration where «annual revenues exceed SAR 375,000», voluntary where they «exceed SAR 187,500 and less than SAR 375,000», for persons «engaged in economic activity in the Kingdom». Application deadline — Implementing Regulations of the VAT Law, Art. 2: «the Person must apply to the Authority to register within thirty (30) days» (zatca.gov.sa/en/RulesRegulations/Taxes/Documents/Implmenting%20Regulations%20of%20the%20VAT%20Law_EN.pdf). Fine of 10 000 SAR and the late-payment penalty — ZATCA, «Taxation Violation Fines» (zatca.gov.sa/en/RulesRegulations/VAT/Pages/Penalties.aspx)
checked 2026-09-27 · Rechecked every 12 months

Periodic VAT return

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA), through its e-services portal, with payment of the tax declared.
Who it applies to
Only registered foreign entities
Every VAT-registered person, with the frequency set by size. ZATCA, opening the filing for the first quarter of 2026, put it as: businesses whose annual revenues exceed SAR 40 million file monthly, and businesses whose annual supplies do not exceed SAR 40 million submit quarterly. The threshold field is left empty here on purpose, because the SAR 40 million figure does not decide whether the obligation applies — it decides how often it recurs, and the template has no field for that. Anyone registered owes the return; only the rhythm changes at 40 million. The Authority's wording differs slightly on the two sides of that line, «annual revenues» for the monthly filers and «annual supplies» for the quarterly ones, and is quoted rather than harmonised.
Deadline
The last day of the month following the end of the tax period — counted from the VAT period, never from the financial year. ZATCA's own announcement fixes the anchor: for the first quarter of 2026 and for March 2026 alike, the return was due «no later than April 30, 2026». So a quarterly filer whose period closed 31 March and a monthly filer whose period closed 31 March share the same date, and a company whose fiscal year ends in June is unaffected. Which periods apply to you follows from the SAR 40 million line above. Article 62 of the VAT Implementing Regulations is the provision behind this; that article did not render in the published copy of the Regulations, and the rule is recorded here from the Authority's own announcement instead.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
Between 5% and 25% of the tax that should have been declared. ZATCA states the range on its page of taxation violation fines — «5% - 25% of the value of the Tax that would have had to be declared» — and repeated it when announcing the first-quarter 2026 filing: «minimum fine shall be 5% whereas the maximum fine 25% of the value of the tax that must be declared». Because the figure is a percentage of a base only the taxpayer knows, no flat amount is entered. Late payment is charged separately at «5% of the value of the unpaid Tax for each month or part thereof the Tax has not been paid», so filing on time and paying late still costs. Repeated violations within three years may be doubled by decision of the Authority.
Proof of filing
The submitted return with its ZATCA portal reference and the payment confirmation for the period. Filing and payment are separately penalised, so both records matter and one does not stand in for the other.
Primary source: ZATCA, announcement on filing VAT returns for Q1 2026: deadline «no later than April 30, 2026»; monthly filing for persons with annual revenue above SAR 40 million, quarterly filing for persons with annual supplies not exceeding SAR 40 million; «minimum fine shall be 5% whereas the maximum fine 25% of the value of the tax that must be declared». Penalties for non-filing and late payment — ZATCA, «Taxation Violation Fines» (zatca.gov.sa/en/RulesRegulations/VAT/Pages/Penalties.aspx). Deadline calendar — ZATCA, «Taxpayers' Obligations Zakat and Returns Calendar»
checked 2026-09-27 · Rechecked every 12 months
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