An invoice generated, stored and amended in a structured electronic format through an electronic solution, which includes all the requirements of a tax invoice. A handwritten or scanned invoice is not considered an Electronic Invoice.

Credit and Debit Notes that are issued in an Electronic format, as a result of amendments conducted in the Electronic Invoice. Paper notes that are photocopied or scanned are not considered Electronic Notes.

Yes. The generation and storing of Electronic Invoices and Electronic Notes will be mandatory starting on December 4th, 2021 for all taxable persons for VAT purposes (excluding non-resident taxable persons) as well as any other party issuing tax invoices on behalf of a taxable supplier.

Any device, electronic solution, or application used for the generation of Electronic Invoices and Electronic Notes that meets the following minimum requirements:

• Ability to connect to the Internet.
• Compliance with the requirements and controls for data & information security or Cybersecurity in the Kingdom.
• A tamperproof solution, which allows the detection of any tampering performed (antitampering).
• Ability to integrate with external systems using Application Programming Interface (API).

All Persons subject to the E-Invoicing Regulation must use compliant electronic systems to generate invoices starting from December 4th, 2021. Manual invoices will no longer be considered as compliant invoices.

• E-invoices must include the minimum additional fields.
• E-invoicing compliant electronic systems should be able to generate QR codes.
• E-invoicing compliant electronic systems must not allow for the prohibited functions specified by ZATCA.

​Yes, the system or solution used for generating and storing the invoices must be able to have an internet connectivity for both phases.​

Yes, QR code are mandatory for simplified tax invoices (usually issued for B2C transactions) and optionally for tax invoices (usually issued for B2B transactions). QR code is not provided by ZATCA and shall be generated by the electronic system. Please approach your solution provider or technical teams to acquire or upgrade to a compliant electronic system.

As part of Phase 1 (Generation Phase), the below fields are the minimum required fields that must be shown after scanning a QR code in a simplified tax invoice:

• Seller’s name
• VAT registration number of the seller
• Time stamp of the Electronic Invoice or Credit/Debit Note (date and time)
• Electronic Invoice or Credit/Debit Note total (with VAT)
• VAT total

Lack of user management capabilities (uncontrolled access) for example:

• Anonymous Access and Absence of User session management.
• Tampering of e-invoices or their associated notes or logs
• Multiple Electronic Invoice sequences
• For additional details on the prohibited functionalities, please visit https://gazt.gov.sa

Phase 1 known as the Generation phase will require taxpayers to generate and store compliant tax invoices and notes using compliant electronic systems. Phase 1 is enforceable as of December 4th, 2021 for all Persons subject to the E-Invoicing Regulation.

Phase 2, which will be implemented in waves by target taxpayer groups starting from Jan 1st, 2023, entails additional technical requirements that e-invoicing electronic systems must comply with, the integration of taxpayer electronic systems with ZATCA and the issuance of electronic invoices in a specific format.

Due to the technical nature of the published requirements, it is recommended for taxpayers to request a business case study to ensure your electronic systems are compliant with ZATCA requirements.

All prohibited functionalities that are part of Phase 1

• Export of stamping key
• Time change
• For additional details on the prohibited functionalities, please visit https://gazt.gov.sa

Phase 2 known as the Integration phase, during this phase, subjective taxpayers must comply with Phase 2 business and technical requirements for the electronic invoices and electronic solutions, and the integration with ZATCA's system starting from January 1, 2023.

Persons subject to the E-Invoicing Regulation must provide a copy of the tax invoice or its related credit/debit note that is electronically generated with the clients.

A printed copy of the simplified tax invoice or its related credit/debit note must be provided to the clients/buyers, however, and based on mutual agreement between the seller and client/buyer, the invoice can be shared electronically or through any other way where the client/buyer can read it.