Aqid ERPWhat a Saudi tax invoice must carry
A tax invoice is the document a VAT-registered seller issues to a VAT-registered buyer (a business). ZATCA's VAT Implementing Regulations list what it must show, and the template carries every item in the order a reader expects:
- The words "Tax Invoice" (فاتورة ضريبية), a sequential invoice number, the issue date and, where different, the date of supply.
- The seller's name, address and 15-digit VAT registration number (it starts with 3 and ends in 03), and the commercial registration.
- The buyer's name, address and VAT number.
- Per line: description, quantity, unit price, the taxable amount, the VAT rate and the VAT amount.
- The totals: taxable amount, VAT at 15 percent, and the total payable with VAT, in riyals.
- A QR code. Since 4 December 2021 every invoice carries one; a standard invoice's QR is the one ZATCA returns on clearance in Phase 2.
The sample, line by line
Three lines of services. VAT is computed per line at 15 percent on the taxable amount, rounded half up to the halala, then summed; the invoice total is the sum of the lines' totals, so the halalas agree down the column.
| Consulting services, 1 × 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 + 750.00 VAT |
|---|---|
| Software subscription, 1 × 1,110.00 | 1,110.00 + 166.50 VAT |
| Training, 2 × 1,500.00 | 3,000.00 + 450.00 VAT |
| Total with VAT | 10,476.50 |
Where a template ends and e-invoicing begins
The template is the printed layout. Phase 1 of e-invoicing (generation, from December 2021) requires the invoice to be produced electronically with a QR code and kept as a file: a spreadsheet printed to PDF does not satisfy that. Phase 2 (integration, in waves since January 2023 by turnover) requires the invoice as XML or PDF/A-3 with embedded XML, generated by a compliant solution and cleared with ZATCA before it reaches the buyer.
Use the sheet to agree the layout and the figures, to invoice from a one-off situation or to train staff. For the invoice itself, issue it from software in ZATCA's directory, and keep the file six years.