Saudi Arabia extends cancellation of fines and exemption of penalties by 6 months

The Saudi Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority (ZTCA) has extended the initiative to waive fines and exempt taxpayers from penalties for an additional six months, until December 31, 2025.

The ZTCA, in a notice on its website, said the Minister of Finance has approved the extension to taxpayers under all Saudi tax laws, starting July 1 this year.

This does not cover penalties for tax evasion violations, fines paid before the effective date of this initiative, or fines related to returns owed to the authority after June 30, 2025.

“The initiative offers relief from penalties associated with late registration, late payment, and late filing of returns. It also waives fines for correcting value-added tax (VAT) returns, fines for field violations related to electronic-invoicing regulations, and general VAT-related infractions,” said ZTCA.

ZTCA is also offering taxpayers the option to pay their penalties in instalments. To avail of this, the taxpayer must submit a request to the authority for instalment payments. The request has to be submitted during the initiative’s validity period and all payments must be paid within their due dates according to the plan approved by the authority.

The requirements stipulate that taxpayers must submit all required returns to the authority that have not been previously submitted, correctly disclose all undisclosed taxes, and fully pay the principal tax debt related to the returns to be submitted or amended to correctly disclose outstanding tax liabilities.

ZTCA urged taxpayers to review the details of the initiative and its provisions through the simplified guide, which is available on its website. It provides a detailed explanation of the features of the fine exemption decision, including clarification of the types of fines covered and the conditions for benefiting from the exemption associated with each type of fine.