Saudi Arabia to refund VAT to tourists when they leave the country
A major change has just come into effect…
If you’re currently visiting the Kingdom or are planning a visit, you need to know this. Normally, when you purchase goods and services in the Kingdom, you’re liable to pay a 15 per cent value-added tax (VAT). Tourists will now get a complete VAT refund in Saudi Arabia.
According to Saudi Gazette, the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority (ZATCA) has made the necessary amendments in the VAT Regulation. The new VAT rules came into effect on Friday, April 18.
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The VAT amount will be refunded to the tourists by the service provider at the time of their departure from the Kingdom. According to the new rule, the authority will approve one or more acceptable service providers to provide tax refund facilitation services to tourists.
The Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority stated that the service provider is responsible, along with the tourist, for paying back any amounts proven to have been refunded in violation of the procedures and provisions related to refunds or decisions issued by the authority regarding tax refunds for tourists.
The ZATCA gave its governor the authority to set the requirements needed to provide tourists their tax refunds. The requirements and phases of putting the tourist tax refund mechanism into effect, the additional requirements for determining whether a natural person qualifies as a tourist, the goods that are eligible for refund, the minimum value of the goods that are eligible for refund, the requirements for determining whether a taxable supplier is an approved supplier, and the requirements for filing refund applications are all included in this list.
For more details, visit: zatca.gov.sa