Invoice types

Clix issues five kinds of document. Which one you need turns on two questions: is this a new sale or a correction, and who is the buyer?

Every rule on this page cites ZATCA's own document and links to the page it is on. Where ZATCA's documents and Clix differ, the page says so.

Which document to issue

Document	Issue it when	What ZATCA does	Where in Clix
Standard tax invoice	You sell to a business in Saudi Arabia, or any sale is over SAR 1,000	Clears it before it is valid	Invoices → Create invoice, Client type B2B
Simplified tax invoice	You sell to a consumer	Receives a report after issue	Invoices → Create invoice, Client type B2C
Export invoice	You sell goods that leave Saudi Arabia, or services to a buyer with no residence in the GCC	Clears it, like any standard invoice	Create invoice, B2B, Mark as export invoice
Credit note	The buyer owes less than an issued invoice says	Same flow as the invoice it corrects	Invoice's ⋮ menu → Issue credit or debit note → Credit Note
Debit note	The buyer owes more than an issued invoice says	Same flow as the invoice it corrects	Invoice's ⋮ menu → Issue credit or debit note → Debit Note

The click-by-click tasks are in Invoices and Credit and debit notes.

Standard or simplified

ZATCA's rule

• A standard tax invoice is required for any supply over SAR 1,000, and for sales to businesses and government. (Tax Invoicing guideline §4.1.1)
• A simplified tax invoice covers any sale to an individual who is not VAT-registered, whatever the amount, and any sale under SAR 1,000. (Tax Invoicing guideline §4.3.1)
• A business may be given a simplified invoice, but only for a sale under SAR 1,000, and only if you choose to. (E-Invoicing Detailed Guidelines §4.2.1)
• A standard invoice is cleared: ZATCA checks and stamps it before the buyer gets it. A simplified invoice is reported to ZATCA within 24 hours of being issued. (Implementation Resolution, Clause Second (3))

	Standard	Simplified
Buyer	A business or government body; any sale over SAR 1,000	A consumer; a business only below SAR 1,000
Buyer on the invoice	Required	Optional
ZATCA	Cleared before it is valid	Reported within 24 hours — Clix sends it straight away
Typical use	Trade invoices, contracts, services to companies	Shops, restaurants, walk-in customers

How Clix decides

Your ZATCA connection decides first. ZATCA registers each connection for standard invoices, simplified invoices, or both.

• Registered for one type: Clix sets Client type for you and locks it — "Auto-set based on device".
• Registered for both: you choose Client type, B2B or B2C, on each invoice. Invoice for then lists only clients of that type.

A connection cannot issue a type it is not registered for. See Devices, certificates and branches.

The buyer's VAT number does not decide the type

A B2B client need not be VAT-registered. Clix issues a standard invoice to a business without a VAT number, and prints the number when the buyer has one.

Example: a standard invoice

Al-Noor Trading, a VAT-registered company in Riyadh, buys 10 laptops at 3,000 SAR each.

	SAR
10 × 3,000, standard rated	30,000.00
VAT 15%	4,500.00
Total	34,500.00

Choose Client type B2B, pick Al-Noor under Invoice for, add the line, and issue. The invoice is valid once its status reads Cleared.

Example: a simplified invoice

A walk-in customer buys two coffees at 11.50 SAR each, VAT included.

	SAR
2 × 10.00, standard rated	20.00
VAT 15%	3.00
Total	23.00

Choose Client type B2C. Invoice for is optional; leave it empty for an anonymous customer. The customer gets the invoice at once, and its status becomes Reported once Clix has told ZATCA.

Export invoices

What counts as an export

You sell	It is an export, zero-rated, when	ZATCA source
Goods	The goods leave the GCC, and you hold proof within 90 days of the sale	VAT Implementing Regulations Art. 32; Imports and Exports guideline §7
Services	The buyer has no place of residence in any GCC state, and none of the exceptions below applies	VAT Implementing Regulations Art. 33; Imports and Exports guideline §8.2

A service to a foreign buyer is not zero-rated, and 15% applies, when:

• the buyer has a residence or branch in a GCC state, including the Kingdom;
• the buyer, or someone connected to them, uses the service while in a GCC state — a hotel stay in Riyadh, for example;
• the service is performed on goods located in a GCC state during the supply — repairing a machine that sits in Jeddah, for example;
• it is one of the special cases that are always taxed where they happen: transport, renting transport, real estate, telecoms and electronic services.

The 2024 amendment reworded the second and third exceptions; the current wording is in the amendments guideline §2.7. ZATCA's examples for each case are in the Imports and Exports guideline §8.2.

Buyers in other GCC states. Until ZATCA switches on its electronic services system with the other GCC states, each of them counts as outside the GCC. Goods shipped to the UAE, Bahrain or Oman are an export with the same 90-day evidence rule, and services can be zero-rated to a buyer established there and not in the Kingdom. (VAT Implementing Regulations Art. 79(6)–(8); Imports and Exports guideline §9)

Why exports are zero-rated

VAT is a tax on consumption in the Kingdom. Goods and services consumed abroad are taxed, if at all, where they are consumed, so the Kingdom charges 0%.

Zero-rated is not exempt. The sale is still taxable, at 0%, so you keep your right to reclaim the VAT you paid on the costs of making it. An exempt sale would lose that right.

The proof you must keep

For goods, ZATCA requires three kinds of evidence, obtained within 90 days of the sale (VAT Implementing Regulations Art. 32; Imports and Exports guideline §7.4):

1. the customs export declaration;
2. commercial documents naming the buyer and the place of delivery abroad;
3. transport documents showing delivery outside the GCC.

You may zero-rate on the day of sale if you expect the evidence in time. If it does not arrive within 90 days, ZATCA treats the sale as domestic and 15% VAT is due.

Clix issues the invoice; it does not collect this evidence. Keep the documents with the invoice: open it and use the Attachment tab. See Attach a file to an invoice.

Evidence missing after 90 days

A cleared export invoice cannot be edited or deleted. Speak to your accountant about how to account for the 15% before you issue a correction.

What ZATCA requires on the invoice

Requirement	ZATCA rule	What Clix does
The invoice is flagged as an export	Position 5 of the transaction code is 1: 0100100 (XML Standard BR-KSA-06, p. 48)	Mark as export invoice sets it
Exports are standard invoices; goods exports always need a full tax invoice	Tax Invoicing guideline, note 1	The switch appears only with Client type B2B
No buyer VAT number	The buyer's VAT number must not appear (BR-KSA-46, p. 57)	A client whose Country is not Saudi Arabia has VAT Registered switched off and no VAT number
Buyer name, street, city and country	Required; Saudi address rules apply only when the country is SA (BR-KSA-10, BR-KSA-42)	The client's address step
Every line zero-rated with the export reason	Category Z with VATEX-SA-32 Export of goods or VATEX-SA-33 Export of services (XML Standard §11.2.4)	Clix sets every line to Z and the reason from Products or Services
VAT totals in SAR	Invoice in any currency, tax in SAR, at the Saudi Central Bank's daily rate on the day tax is due (XML Standard §9.1; Tax Invoicing guideline §4.2.2)	Currency & exchange rate; the PDF shows the tax in SAR and the rate
An identifier for the buyer	ZATCA's two documents disagree: the Implementation Resolution says the other buyer ID is not mandatory for exports (Annex 2, item 5.4); the XML rule BR-KSA-81 asks for one whenever there is no VAT number (p. 61)	Clix asks for one — GCC ID, Passport or Other ID — so the invoice clears without the BR-KSA-81 warning

Set it up in Clix

The client, once:

1. Add Client with Client type B2B.
2. Set Country to the buyer's country. Clix switches VAT Registered off; there is no separate "non-resident" setting.
3. Under Business ID Type, choose GCC ID, Passport or Other ID — the only types offered for a foreign buyer — and enter the number.
4. Fill in the address: street, city and country at least.

Each export invoice:

1. Create invoice, Client type B2B.
2. Switch on Mark as export invoice — "Zero-rates every line and sends the export transaction code to ZATCA".
3. Under Invoice for, pick the foreign client. Only foreign buyers are listed — "Only non-Saudi buyers can be selected while Export Invoice is on".
4. Under Currency & exchange rate, choose the currency and enter the Exchange rate to SAR for the day.
5. Add the lines under Products or Services. Clix zero-rates them with VATEX-SA-32 or VATEX-SA-33.
6. Review invoice, then Issue invoice to ZATCA.

Problems with foreign buyers

What you see	Why	What to do
Mark as export invoice is not on the form	Client type is B2C	Choose B2B. Clix offers export only on standard invoices
The buyer is missing from Invoice for	The client's Country is Saudi Arabia, or the client is marked VAT-registered	Edit the client: set the real Country. A foreign buyer cannot be VAT-registered in Clix
"Export Standard Invoice buyer must not be from Saudi Arabia or VAT registered."	The same, caught on the server	As above
The client form will not accept the ID	For a foreign buyer only GCC ID, Passport and Other ID are allowed	Choose one of those three
ZATCA accepts with warning BR-KSA-81	The buyer has no ID	Add the buyer's ID to the client, then use it on the next invoice
The exchange rate is refused	For a foreign currency the rate cannot be 1; for SAR it must be 1	Enter the day's rate to SAR
A line reads S 15 in the line list	A display fault: the list shows the category you picked	The Summary and Review invoice show VAT 0.00, and ZATCA receives the line zero-rated
"Export exemption reason not available — contact support"	Clix could not load the export reason codes	Write to support@goclix.ai; the invoice cannot be issued until this is fixed
A service to a foreign buyer who has a branch in Saudi Arabia	Not an export: 15% applies (Imports and Exports guideline, Example 13)	Issue a normal standard invoice at 15%
A foreign consumer	Clix issues exports only as standard (B2B) invoices	Create the buyer as a B2B client with their Country and Passport number

Example: an export of services

Gulf Design LLC in Dubai buys a 2,000 USD consulting package. The buyer has no branch in the Kingdom and uses the service in Dubai. The day's rate is 3.75.

	USD	SAR
Consulting, zero rated, VATEX-SA-33	2,000.00	7,500.00
VAT 0%	0.00	0.00
Total	2,000.00	7,500.00

Example: an export of goods

Al-Khaleej Supplies in Muscat orders 50 printers at 1,200 SAR each, shipped by truck from Riyadh. Issue the export invoice with the printers under Products; each line is zero-rated with VATEX-SA-32. Within 90 days, attach the customs export declaration, the delivery order to Muscat and the waybill to the invoice.

Credit and debit notes

A cleared or reported invoice cannot be edited or deleted. You correct it with a note that points at it.

ZATCA's rule

• Issue a note when a sale is cancelled, its nature changes, its price changes, goods are returned, or the buyer's or your details were wrong. (Tax Invoicing guideline §7.1)
• Issue it within 15 days of the month after the event. (Tax Invoicing guideline §7.2; VAT Implementing Regulations Art. 54(6), current Arabic text)
• It must reference the original invoice and give a reason. (XML Standard BR-KSA-56 and BR-KSA-17)
• It follows the original's type: a note on a simplified invoice is simplified. (E-Invoicing Detailed Guidelines §4.3)

How Clix applies it

	Credit note	Debit note
Use it when	The buyer owes less: a return, a late discount, an overcharge, a cancellation. Each line either returns units at the invoice's price or takes an amount off each unit (a price correction). It keeps the invoice line's name and VAT	The buyer owes more: an undercharge, an extra service, a price rise
Corrects	One or more tax invoices from the same buyer and ZATCA connection	One tax invoice
Limit	Per line, returns and price corrections together cannot exceed the line's value	None
Reason	Required	Required

• The original must be a tax invoice that ZATCA has cleared or reported. A note cannot correct another note.
• The note keeps the original's type, buyer, ZATCA connection and currency.
• Reasons come from your own list under Invoices → Adjust Reasons, which starts empty. See Manage the list of reasons.

flowchart LR
    A["Tax invoice<br/>Cleared or Reported"] -->|"buyer owes less"| B["Credit note<br/>up to what is left"]
    A -->|"buyer owes more"| C["Debit note"]
    B --> Z{"ZATCA"}
    C --> Z

Example: a return

Al-Noor returns 2 of the 10 laptops. In Invoices → Issued, open the original invoice's ⋮ menu, click Issue credit or debit note, choose Credit Note — "Reduce invoice amount" — and pick the reason Returned goods.

	SAR
2 × 3,000, standard rated	6,000.00
VAT 15%	900.00
Credit	6,900.00

Al-Noor now owes 27,600 SAR. A later credit note on the same invoice can take at most that.

Example: a discount after the sale

Two of the 8 laptops Al-Noor kept arrive scratched. You agree to take 500 SAR off each, and Al-Noor keeps them. ZATCA treats a price change after the sale as a reason for a credit note. (Tax Invoicing guideline §7.1) Open the invoice's ⋮ menu, click Issue credit or debit note, choose Credit Note, set the laptop line to 2, tick Reduce the price instead of returning units, type 500 in Amount off per unit, and pick the reason Late discount.

	SAR
2 × 500, standard rated	1,000.00
VAT 15%	150.00
Credit	1,150.00

Al-Noor now owes 26,450 SAR. The note keeps the laptop line's name and its 15% VAT; you choose only the units and the amount off.

A price correction takes no units back. All 8 laptops can still be returned later, but each line has a money limit: the laptop line was worth 30,000 SAR, and 7,000 is already credited (6,000 returned, 1,000 off). Returning all 8 at 3,000 would credit 24,000, more than the 23,000 left, so Clix refuses it. Returning 7 fits.

A credit note never credits more per unit than the invoice's price. To raise a price, issue a debit note.

Example: a missed delivery fee

You forgot a 500 SAR delivery fee on the laptop invoice. Open the invoice's ⋮ menu, click Issue credit or debit note, choose Debit Note — "Increase invoice amount" — and pick the reason Missed charge.

	SAR
Delivery, standard rated	500.00
VAT 15%	75.00
Debit	575.00

Example: cancelling an invoice

There is no delete. Issue a credit note for the full amount with a cancellation reason. Both documents stay on record and net to nothing.

Dates on every document

Date	Who sets it	Rule
Issue date and time	Clix, from the Riyadh clock, at the moment of issue	You cannot back-date or forward-date an invoice or a note
Supply date	You — "The date the goods or services were delivered"	Defaults to today; may be in the past
Supply end date	You — for delivery that spans more than one day	Not before the supply date

Why you cannot choose the issue date

ZATCA fixes the issue date to the moment the final invoice is created:

• "The invoice issuance date is the date on which the tax invoice is created … A tax invoice shall be issued only once, and the issuance date may not be amended." (Tax Invoicing guideline §4.5, p. 25)
• The issue date must not be later than today. (XML Standard BR-KSA-04, p. 47)
• An invoice that waits for internal approval takes the date it becomes final, not the date it was first drafted. (E-Invoicing Detailed Guidelines, FAQ, p. 60)

The same holds for credit and debit notes: a note is dated the day it is issued, and refers to the original invoice for everything else.

So Clix stamps the date and time itself, from the Riyadh clock. Each real need for "a different date" has its own field:

How late may an invoice be? A standard tax invoice may be issued up to the 15th of the month after the supply. A simplified invoice is due on the day of supply or payment, whichever is first. (Tax Invoicing guideline §4.5, p. 25) Clix does not warn when a date falls outside these windows; keep to them yourself.

Late invoices and your VAT period

VAT becomes due at the earliest of the supply date, the invoice date and the payment date. (Tax Invoicing guideline §4.5.1, p. 26) A sale delivered on 28 September and invoiced on 5 October owes its VAT for September. Clix's VAT report groups sales by issue date, so it shows that invoice in October. If you invoice after the month of supply, check with your accountant which period the VAT belongs to before you file. See VAT reports.

Drafts keep their supply date. A draft saved on the 1st and issued on the 20th still carries the supply date you entered on the 1st. Check Supply dates before you issue it.

Connected systems. If your ERP or point-of-sale sends invoices to Clix, store the issue date and time Clix returns, not your own. The two can differ, for example around midnight or when a submission waits in a queue. Clix is the e-invoicing unit that ZATCA registers, so an invoice exists only once Clix has created it: a till that cannot reach Clix cannot issue a valid invoice until it reconnects. ZATCA allows a unit to queue invoices while offline (Implementation Resolution, Annex 1, p. 14); with Clix that unit is the Clix server.

VAT categories

Every line carries a category, not just a rate (XML Standard §11.2.4):

Code	Category	Rates	Needs a reason
S	Standard rated	5% or 15%	No
Z	Zero rated	0%	Yes
E	Exempt from VAT	0%	Yes
O	Not subject to VAT	0%	Yes — free text

Zero-rated and exempt lines need a VATEX-SA-… reason code and its text. There are sixteen, covering exports, education, healthcare, military and more. "Not subject to VAT" takes your own wording.

An ordinary invoice may mix categories line by line. An export invoice may not: every line is zero-rated.

Document codes

ZATCA identifies each document by a code (XML Standard §11.2.1). You see them in the API and in the XML, not on screen.

Code	Document
388	Tax invoice — standard, simplified or export
381	Credit note
383	Debit note
386	Advance payment invoice — API only; see Reference data and E-Invoicing Detailed Guidelines §8

Keeping records

Keep invoices and the records behind them for at least six years from the end of the tax period, and 15 years for real estate. Records must be kept in the Kingdom. (VAT Implementing Regulations Art. 66; Tax Invoicing guideline §8.3) Clix stores your invoices in Jeddah; see Your data.

ZATCA documents cited

All are ZATCA's official publications. Where the English and Arabic texts differ, ZATCA says the Arabic prevails.

Document	Where to find it
Guideline for Tax Invoicing and Records under VAT Provisions, v3, May 2026	English · Arabic
Guideline on Imports and Exports under VAT Provisions, 2nd ed., May 2026	English · Arabic
E-Invoicing Detailed Guidelines, v2, May 2023	English · Arabic
E-Invoicing Implementation Resolution (controls and technical specifications), 2023	English · Arabic
Electronic Invoice XML Implementation Standard, v1.2, 2023	PDF
VAT Implementing Regulations	English, 2021 edition · Arabic, current — the English lacks the 2022–2024 amendments
Guideline for Amendments to the VAT Implementing Regulations, April 2025	English

ZATCA's guideline index is at zatca.gov.sa → Guidelines and Manuals, and the e-invoicing documents at zatca.gov.sa → E-Invoicing.

Related

• ZATCA e-invoicing in Clix
• Invoices
• Credit and debit notes
• Clients and client groups
• Reference data — the code lists as the API returns them