The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority released a documentary film, “Fatoora,” on Thursday highlighting e-invoicing’s positive impact on supporting Saudi Arabia’s economic development, promoting fair competition, protecting consumer rights, combating commercial concealment, eliminating shadow economy, and enhancing tax compliance.
In a special screening at the AMC Cinemas at the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, ZATCA Gov. Suhail bin Mohammed Abanmi presented the documentary to an audience including an array of government agency leaders and representatives of the partners of this national project.
“The documentary film sheds light on the endeavors made to implement (the) e-invoicing project after (the) success in implementing (the) phase of integration with the taxpayers’ systems without obstacles, making the Kingdom one of the world’s fastest countries in implementing such a project. This was made possible thanks to the Kingdom’s advanced digital infrastructure and readiness of the Saudi private sector to absorb technology developments,” he said.
“This success comes after completion of phase one with outstanding results, and (the) launch of phase two — the integration phase — in which establishments’ e-invoicing systems will be integrated with ZATCA’s Fatoora system. There are over 14,000 e-invoicing systems integrated with (the) Fatoora platform, as well as over 400 million invoices (that) have been shared via the platform since Jan. 1, 2023,” he added.
The substantial support provided by the Saudi leadership to ZATCA contributed to realizing positive results in the project, he said, emphasizing that e-invoicing supports Saudi Vision 2030 by achieving digital transformation, consolidating efforts of all parties to combat commercial concealment, and streamlining procedures for taxpayers, helping them to comply with laws and regulations.
The documentary illuminates e-invoicing’s positive impact on supporting the Kingdom’s economic development, promoting fair competition, protecting consumer rights, eliminating the shadow economy, and enhancing tax compliance.
It focuses also on implementation of e-invoicing as one of the National Anti-Commercial Concealment Program’s initiatives and the great success ZATCA has had in digital transformation and promotion of electronic transactions to increase efficiency of businesses, improve CX and streamline procedures through digitization and automation.
Audience member Mohamed Abdulrahim told Arab News: “I found it very informative. The documentary presents a very good message about the e-invoice system and its positive impact on the economy of Saudi Arabia and the fight against commercial concealment and the hidden economy. It also explained well how the success of applying this system has been one of the main pillars of supporting the national economy and economic development in the Kingdom.”
Saudi Arabia’s e-invoicing project is one of the world’s fastest in applying the system to all establishments liable to pay VAT, as over 300,000 establishments succeeded in utilizing e-invoicing in phase one, according to ZATCA.
