The tax and Zakat appeal system in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia : an overview

Abstract EN

The competent judicial authority for adjudicating tax disputes differs from state to state.

Some laws allow general courts jurisdiction to adjudicate tax disputes.

Others allow administrative courts jurisdiction over taxation and zakat disputes because one of the parties involved in most such disputes is the competent government authority vested with administrative decision-making powers for assessment and collection of taxes.

Therefore, it is natural for the administrative judiciary to be vested with the adjudication of tax disputes.

However, there is a different legal system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to address such disputes.

This study examines the differences between the legal systems in the west and those in the Arabic world regarding appeals in tax disputes and analyzes the apparatus under KSA by drawing on comparative law in this field.

The KSA has apparently implemented significant immediate solutions such as special tribunals in the form of Tax Committees by Royal Order.

However, the findings revealed the limitations of these tribunals and proposed several changes, such as limiting the members within Saudi tax tribunals to legally qualified persons because of the judicial nature of the job, and made other recommendations for improving the state of the tax judiciary in the KSA.