Riyadh - Mubasher: Data from the Saudi 2025 budget issued by the Ministry of Finance showed the efforts of the General Authority of Customs and Tax to implement a value-added tax refund for tourists in the Kingdom to achieve an effective balance between the traveler experience and tax compliance in 2025.

According to the data issued in the state’s general budget, the Authority has achieved many accomplishments during the current year 2024, the most prominent of which was that more than 70 services were automated by simulating human procedures using robots ( RPA ), to improve and accelerate procedures with greater accuracy and speed.

The refund of the category of donors to public benefit projects and the category of real estate developers were also made available as categories eligible for refunding the value-added tax, which reflects on enhancing community contribution and developing the local economy.

Among the achievements made by the Authority is the electronic link between the Kingdom and some Gulf countries (Sultanate of Oman, State of Kuwait, State of Qatar, and United Arab Emirates), to facilitate the flow of goods between the customs of the Gulf countries.

A research center was also established in the field of Zakat, Tax and Customs to enrich the research and academic content of Zakat and Tax, through which distinguished competencies are attracted and research and scientific research studies, Sharia and accounting, are prepared, necessary to address the challenges related to the weakness of scientific and academic sources specializing in the fields of the Authority’s work.

This is in addition to the extension of the initiative to cancel fines and exempt from financial penalties to support economic development and facilitate trade, and operate duty-free shops in 3 arrival halls in Riyadh and a departure hall in Jeddah to achieve the objectives of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority in expanding the operation of duty-free shops in all the Kingdom’s ports that serve both departure and arrival halls to improve the experience of travelers at the ports.