GTL Summary:

Document Type: IR - Implementing Regulations
Law: Value Added Tax Law
Decision Number: 3839-article-47
Year: 2016
Country: 🇸🇦 KSA
Official Name: Article 47 - Persons liable to pay tax in special cases
Last updated at: 2025-11-27 14:38:44 UTC

Chapter 9 - Calculation of Tax Payable

Article 47 - Persons liable to pay tax in special cases [69]

  1. In cases where the Agreement provides that a Taxable Customer is obligated to pay Tax on a Supply received from a Non Resident Supplier, Tax shall be paid by way of the Reverse Charge Mechanism. The Taxable Customer must report the Output Tax on the Supply and any Input Tax (to the extent that the Customer can benefit from Input VAT deduction) in the Tax Return for that Tax Period.

  2. For the purposes of applying Article 9 of the Law and these Regulations, in cases where electronic services are facilitated in the Kingdom through an electronic marketplace acting as an intermediary for one or more non-resident suppliers, the electronic marketplace shall be deemed to have purchased the services from the non-resident suppliers on its own account and to have resupplied them in its own name and on its own account to the customer benefiting from such services. The electronic marketplace shall be responsible for collecting and remitting the VAT due on taxable supplies made in the Kingdom through the marketplace. The rule set out in this paragraph shall not apply where all of the following conditions are met.[70]

  3. For the application of Article 9 of the Law and these Regulations, , in cases where the supply of goods or services in the Kingdom is facilitated through an electronic marketplace acting as an intermediary for one or more non-resident suppliers who are not registered for VAT purposes, the electronic marketplace shall be deemed to have purchased the goods or services from the non-resident suppliers on its own account and to have resupplied them in its own name and on its own account to the customer benefiting from those goods or services. The electronic marketplace shall be responsible for collecting and remitting the VAT due on taxable supplies made in the Kingdom through the marketplace. The rule set out in this paragraph shall not apply where all of the following conditions are met:[71]

    1. the Non Resident Supplier is expressly indicated as the Supplier during the online sale process, in the contractual arrangements between the parties, and on the invoice or receipt issued by the operator of the interface or portal,

    2. the operator of the interface or portal does not authorize charging the Customer for the delivery of the services or the delivery itself or set the general terms and conditions of the Supply.

  4. For the purposes of applying the provisions of this Article:[72]

    1. An electronic marketplace shall not be considered to be facilitating the supply of goods or services where its role is limited to processing payments related to the purchase of goods or services through it on behalf of suppliers, or to marketing or advertising goods or services offered through it without facilitating the supply process through it, or in redirecting customers to another electronic marketplace that facilitates the supply.

    2. The term “electronic marketplace” refers to an electronic or digital platform, or equivalent means, whose main purpose or one of its main purposes is to enable suppliers to display their products — whether goods or services — or to provide, produce, or enter into contracts for them with the customers benefiting from them.

  5. In cases where the provisions set out in Article 17 of these Regulations do not apply, both the transferor and the transferee shall be jointly liable for the payment of tax and any penalties due that arose prior to the date of the transfer of the activity. This shall apply in cases of transfer of the activity that result in the complete cessation of the transferor’s economic activity, where the Authority has not been notified of the transfer in accordance with paragraph 13 of Article 13 of these Regulations.[73]

Footnotes

[69] The title of the article was amended by a decision of the Board of Directors of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, circulated under No. (01-06-24) and dated 17 Jumada Al-Awwal 1446 AH, corresponding to 19 November 2024 AD.
The title earlier read as 'Persons Liable to pay tax'

[70] This paragraph was amended pursuant to the decision of the Board of the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority by circulation No. (01-06-24), dated 17 Jumada al-Awwal 1446 AH (corresponding to 19 November 2024). The paragraph earlier read as follows:
'In cases where electronically supplied services are supplied in the Kingdom through an online interface or portal acting as intermediary for a Nonresident Resident Supplier, the operator of the interface or portal is presumed to purchase the services from the Nonresident Supplier and to Supply those same services in his own name for the purposes of the Law and these Regulations. The operator of the interface or portal is liable to pay Tax on any such Supply, subject to the third Paragraph of this Article.'

[71]This paragraph was amended pursuant to the decision of the Board of the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority by circulation No. (01-06-24), dated 17 Jumada al-Awwal 1446 AH (corresponding to 19 November 2024). The paragraph earlier read as follows:
'The presumption in the second Paragraph of this Article does not apply in cases where both of the following conditions apply:'

[72] This paragraph was added pursuant to the decision of the Board of the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority by circulation No. (01-06-24), dated 17 Jumada al-Awwal 1446 AH (corresponding to 19 November 2024).

[73] This paragraph was added pursuant to the decision of the Board of the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority by circulation No. (01-06-24), dated 17 Jumada al-Awwal 1446 AH (corresponding to 19 November 2024).

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