By Innovation-sa on January 1, 2018 in News
The General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) announced that tourists and Hajj and Umrah pilgrims from non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will be provided with a refund of Value Added Tax (VAT) amount they paid on purchases made in the Kingdom. However, GAZT is still working on the mechanism to reimburse VAT to tourists and pilgrims, said Hamoud Al-Harbi, director of VAT operations at GAZT. The process, mechanism, rules and payment modes are yet to be established and will not be implemented in the early months of 2018, he added. In addition to providing the required proof of VAT payment made on products and services, pilgrims and tourists arriving from non-GCC countries should also submit an application to obtain VAT reimbursement.
GAZT is also studying the prospect of opening reimbursement offices at airports and land borders with countries other than GCC nations. Harbi further clarified that pilgrims and tourists who live in the GCC countries will not be exempted from VAT. The implementation of 5 percent VAT in Saudi Arabia is to take effect from January 1, 2018 and more than 83,000 companies in the Kingdom have registered to VAT.
Source
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/524745/SAUDI-ARABIA/Pilgrims-visitors-to-get-VAT-reimbursement