Aqid ERPWhere the fines come from
E-invoicing fines are imposed under Article 45 of the VAT Law, which allows a fine of up to SAR 50,000 for not keeping tax invoices and records, for obstructing ZATCA's staff, and for breaching any other provision of the law and its regulations. ZATCA's board classifies the violations and sets how each one is fined, starting low and rising each time it is repeated.
The starting points ZATCA has published
An issued invoice is never edited or deleted: a mistake is corrected by a credit or debit note that refers to it. That one rule avoids the dearest violation on the list.
| Not issuing an e-invoice, or not keeping it electronically | from SAR 5,000 |
|---|---|
| Deleting or changing an e-invoice after it is issued | from SAR 10,000 |
| Invoice without the QR code | a warning first |
| Missing the buyer's VAT number where required | a warning first |
| Not telling ZATCA that the e-invoicing system has failed | a warning first |
| Any e-invoicing violation, at most | SAR 50,000 |
Warnings, deadlines and repeats
A violation that starts with a warning gives the business a period to put it right. ZATCA's own guide to the fines initiative gives the example: a business was warned, did not fix the violation in time and was fined SAR 1,000; when it happened again without being fixed, the fine was SAR 5,000. Each further repeat costs more, up to the SAR 50,000 ceiling. ZATCA can update its classification, so check the current table on its site before relying on a figure.
The VAT fines that often come with them
An inspection that finds e-invoicing violations usually looks at the VAT return too. These fines are set in the VAT Law itself:
| Registering late | SAR 10,000 |
|---|---|
| Filing the return late | 5% to 25% of the tax that should have been declared |
| Paying the tax late | 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month |
| An incorrect return that understates the tax | 50% of the difference |
| Issuing a tax invoice or charging VAT without being registered | up to SAR 100,000 |
The 2026 fines initiative does not cover e-invoicing fines
ZATCA's initiative to cancel fines runs until 31 December 2026. It cancels late registration, late payment, late filing and return-correction fines for businesses that are registered, have filed every return and pay the tax itself (or arrange instalments). It excludes tax evasion, fines already paid, fines on returns due after 30 June 2026 and, this time, fines imposed under Article 45 — the article e-invoicing fines are imposed under. The January to June 2026 round did cover e-invoicing violations; the current one, on its wording, does not. Confirm a specific fine with ZATCA (19993) before counting on it.
When your e-invoicing system fails
- Contact your solution provider at once, and keep the evidence: the emails and tickets.
- If you can no longer issue e-invoices at all, notify ZATCA immediately through its form. If another system still issues them, no notice is needed.
- Keep a record of every sale made during the outage. Once the system is back, notify ZATCA again and issue the e-invoices for those sales.
- Frequent or long outages may be looked into, and not notifying ZATCA of a failure is itself a violation.
Who must be integrated now
Phase 2 (integration) reaches businesses in waves by VAT-taxable revenue, each notified at least six months ahead. Wave 24 covered revenue above SAR 375,000 and had to integrate by 30 June 2026. Wave 25, the latest announced, covers revenue above SAR 187,500 in any year from 2022 to 2025 and must integrate by 1 February 2027. A business in a wave that has not integrated by its date is issuing invoices that do not meet the rules for it.
Keep e-invoices for six years, in the Kingdom
E-invoices are kept like any tax record: for at least six years from the end of the tax period they belong to, fifteen for real estate, electronically and inside Saudi Arabia.
How Aqid ERP keeps you clear of the common ones
Aqid ERP issues every Saudi invoice with its QR code and the buyer's VAT number checked, and an approved invoice cannot be edited or deleted: it is corrected by a credit or debit note linked to it. In Phase 2 each invoice is signed, chained and cleared or reported, and ZATCA's answer is kept with it. When ZATCA cannot be reached, invoices wait in a queue and are retried automatically; any still waiting can be sent again from the Compliance page.