KSA VAT Number Verification: How to Verify a VAT Number in Saudi Arabia?

Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) manages Value Added Tax (VAT) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The Authority mandated that businesses and individuals must obtain VAT registration, when:

1. The taxpayer is a resident of KSA, and
2. The total value of taxable supplies exceeded SAR 375,000 in the previous 12 months or is expected to exceed SAR 375,000 in the coming 12 months.

The taxpayers must obtain VAT registration within 30 days from the end of the month in which they met the above two conditions. However, ZATCA gives VAT registration exemption to taxpayers who exclusively make zero-rated supplies even if they cross the mandatory registration threshold limit. 

This article explains the need for verifying VAT numbers, a step-by-step process, bulk VAT number verification and benefits.

What is the need for verifying the VAT numbers in Saudi?

It is important to verify the VAT numbers to ensure the authenticity of the seller and the VAT number used in the invoices. Further, quoting accurate VAT numbers in invoice fields gained more importance after the introduction of e-invoicing in Saudi Arabia.

Hence, it is suggested to check the VAT number authenticity to:

• Avoid generating incorrect invoices
• Perform accurate e-invoicing in Saudi Arabia
• Claim a genuine input credit
• Pass on the tax credits to genuine buyers

Step-by-step process to verify VAT number in KSA

Here’s the step-by-step process explaining verifying the VAT registration number in Saudi Arabia.

Step 1: Visit the ZATCA portal and click on ‘E-Services’

Step 2: Select the ‘General Services section.

Step 3: Now, select the ‘Verification services’ under the type of activity.

Step 4: Then select the ‘VAT Taxable Person Lookup’ and click on ‘Service Login’.

Step 5: You’ll be redirected to the below window.

Step 6: Select the type of input as per availability among ‘VAT Account Number’, ‘VAT certificate Number’ and ‘Commercial registration Number’. You can also do bulk verification of the VAT numbers, which is explained in the next section.

Step 7: Input the selected number and the ‘Verification code’.

Step 8: Click on the check box to confirm the terms and conditions and click the send button to submit the details.

Step 9: The below will appear as search results:

• Search Type
• Number
• Result status
• Name
• VAT Registration status
• VAT Account Number

How to do Bulk Verification of VAT Numbers in KSA?

You need to follow the same steps till step 5 as above. After that, you need to follow below steps:

Step 6: You must enable the ‘For multiple entities verification’ button.

Step 7: Click on the ‘Download template’ and fill in the excel template with the required details.

Step 8: Click the ‘Choose file’ button to upload the template.

Step 9: Now, enter the verification code and click on the check box to confirm the term and conditions. After that, click the send button to submit the details.

Step 10: The results will be displayed on the screen as below:

1. Search Type
2. Number
3. Result status
4. Name
5. VAT Registration status
6. VAT Account Number

Also, if ‘Result Status’ is ‘No data retrieved. Please review the entered data’; there are some errors in the data you provided. Then you need to correct the errors and re-upload the excel file to verify such VAT numbers.

Step 11: You can also download the results in excel format by clicking on the ‘Download search results file’.

Benefits of Verifying VAT number in KSA

The benefits of VAT number verification are:

• Checks the authenticity of the VAT number
• Prevents associating with sellers using fake VAT numbers
• Can avoid VAT fraud at the origin of the transaction
• Help sellers correct any potential error while reporting e-invoices to ZATCA