Saudi Einvoice

Saudi Arabia ZATCA E-Invoice (FATOORA) Skill v1.0

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

Section 1 -- Quick Reference

Phase 2 Integration Waves

Section 2 -- Mandate Scope

Phase 1 -- Generation (All Taxpayers Since Dec 2021)

• ALL VAT-registered taxpayers in KSA
• Must generate e-invoices (and credit/debit notes) using a compliant electronic system
• Paper invoices no longer legally valid
• Basic QR code required on simplified (B2C) invoices
• No system-to-system integration required

Phase 2 -- Integration (Wave-Based)

• System must integrate with ZATCA's FATOORA platform via API
• Standard Tax Invoice (B2B): Must be cleared by ZATCA before delivery to buyer
• Simplified Tax Invoice (B2C): Must be reported to ZATCA within 24 hours
• Cryptographic stamp (digital signature) required on all invoices
• Enhanced QR code with TLV-encoded cryptographic data

Document Types

Exemptions

• None for Phase 1 — all VAT-registered taxpayers must comply
• Phase 2 integration is wave-based by revenue; ZATCA notifies targeted groups 6 months in advance

Section 3 -- Technical Format

XML Specification

Cryptographic Requirements (Phase 2)

QR Code Structure (Phase 2)

TLV (Tag-Length-Value) encoding with Base64:

Section 4 -- Mandatory Fields

Invoice-Level Fields

Supplier (cac:AccountingSupplierParty)

Buyer (cac:AccountingCustomerParty) — Standard Invoice

Tax Total (cac:TaxTotal)

Line Items (cac:InvoiceLine)

Section 5 -- Transmission Method

Onboarding Process

1. Register on FATOORA portal (fatoora.zatca.gov.sa) using ZATCA credentials
2. Generate OTP (One-Time Password) per EGS device
3. EGS generates ECDSA private key (secp256k1) and Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
4. Submit CSR + OTP to Compliance CSID API → receive Compliance CSID (temporary certificate)
5. Run 3 compliance checks (standard invoice, simplified invoice, credit note)
6. Submit compliance check results → receive Production CSID (permanent certificate)
7. Begin production clearance/reporting

API Endpoints

Production Base URL

https://gw-fatoora.zatca.gov.sa/e-invoicing/developer-portal

Authentication

• HTTP Basic Auth using Base64-encoded {CSID_binary_token}:{secret}
• Each EGS device has its own certificate and credentials
• Certificate renewal required before expiry

Section 6 -- Validation Rules

ZATCA Server-Side Validation

1. XML schema validation against UBL 2.1 + ZATCA CIUS
2. Cryptographic signature verification (ECDSA secp256k1)
3. Certificate chain validation (must be ZATCA-issued)
4. Invoice hash verification (SHA-256 of canonical form)
5. Previous invoice hash chain integrity
6. UUID uniqueness check
7. Invoice Counter Value (ICV) sequence validation
8. Tax calculation verification (line totals, tax amounts)
9. Seller VAT number validity
10. Buyer VAT number validity (standard invoices)

Common Rejection Reasons

Validation Statuses

Section 7 -- Tax Computation Rules

VAT Rates in KSA

Calculation Rules

• Line Extension Amount = Quantity × Unit Price - Discount
• Tax Amount per line = Line Extension Amount × Tax Rate / 100
• Rounding: 2 decimal places (round half-up)
• Document-level TaxTotal must equal sum of all line tax amounts (tolerance: SAR 0.01)
• TaxInclusiveAmount = TaxExclusiveAmount + TaxTotal

Multi-Rate Invoice

• Each line item carries its own TaxCategory and Percent
• TaxTotal contains multiple TaxSubtotal elements (one per distinct rate)
• Each TaxSubtotal aggregates TaxableAmount and TaxAmount for that rate

Section 8 -- Archiving Requirements

Section 9 -- Penalties for Non-Compliance

ZATCA may also publish violator names publicly and may suspend tax registration for severe/repeated non-compliance.

Section 10 -- Interaction with Tax Skills

VAT Return Integration

• Cleared B2B invoices feed directly into ZATCA's VAT return pre-population
• Reported B2C invoices aggregated for VAT return box totals
• VAT return data (Box 1: standard-rated sales, Box 2: zero-rated, etc.) can be cross-referenced against FATOORA submission records
• Discrepancies between submitted e-invoices and VAT return values trigger ZATCA risk-assessment flags

Credit Note Handling

• Credit notes must reference the original invoice UUID
• Tax adjustments in VAT return derived from cleared credit notes
• ZATCA validates that credit note does not exceed original invoice value

Withholding Tax

• If withholding tax applies (certain services), the invoice must still show full VAT amount
• Withholding is a separate mechanism; e-invoice shows gross amounts

Audit Trail

• ZATCA maintains complete record of all cleared/reported invoices
• Taxpayer's records must match ZATCA's records exactly
• UUID + ICV provide unique identification for audit queries

Disclaimer

This skill and its outputs are provided for informational and computational purposes only and do not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Open Accountants and its contributors accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or outcomes arising from the use of this skill. All outputs must be reviewed and signed off by a qualified professional (such as a CPA, SOCPA member, or equivalent licensed practitioner in your jurisdiction) before filing or acting upon.

The most up-to-date, verified version of this skill is maintained at openaccountants.com.

Source: OpenAccountants — open tax Guides for AI, reviewed by named CPAs/CAs/EAs. Quality: source-cited draft. For always-current figures and named-accountant backing, connect the OpenAccountants MCP server (openaccountants-mcp).