The Saudi General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) has recently announced that the use of structures to manipulate share ownership for the purpose of reducing the tax liability of a company qualifies as tax evasion. This includes structures used to take advantage of Zakat taxation instead of corporate income tax.
Saudi Arabia levies to two types of direct taxes, including corporate income tax on profit (20%) and Zakat (2.5%), which is an Islamic tax that applies to Saudi/GCC nationals and …