The Taxpayer E-invoicing User Journey represents the key steps that Taxpayers can take in order to be able to fulfil their obligations for the Integration Phase of E-invoicing. It should be noted that some of these steps represent optional steps or capabilities that the authority has made available to Taxpayers and EGS system developers in order to better equip and provide a full suite of tools allowing compliance with the E-invoicing requirements. The core steps and processes indicated within this Guideline represent mandatory steps that need to be undertaken by Taxpayers in order to meet their E-invoicing obligations.
Listed below, are the three key steps of the Taxpayer Journey for obtaining an EGS system and successfully onboarding it with ZATCA, for the purposes of submitting e-documents to ZATCA:
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The taxpayer should make sure the e-invoicing solution is compliant with the e-invoicing requirements
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The Taxpayers׳ ability to onboard their EGS devices for integration with ZATCA; and
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The Taxpayers׳ ability to successfully submit electronic invoices, credit notes and debit notes for Clearance or Reporting to ZATCA.
More details about each of these steps is provided in the sections below.
Compliance of EGS
The taxpayer has to make sure that his EGS is compliant with the e-invoicing requirements. For more details on the requirements, please check the E-invoicing Implementation Resolution (here)
Onboarding
The second step of the Taxpayer E-invoicing Journey involves the onboarding of Taxpayers׳ EGS units and devices with FATOORA Platform. This step is a mandatory step that all Taxpayers who are subject to E-invoicing must undertake and comply with. In line with the integration waves for targeted Taxpayer groups that ZATCA will be enforcing from 1 January, 2023 onwards.
By accessing ZATCA׳s FATOORA Portal, Taxpayers can access the onboarding related options and initiate the process to onboard their EGS units and devices and integrate them with ZATCA. Onboarding is a highly automated process between the EGS(s) and FATOORA Platform with very limited interaction required by Taxpayers. A Taxpayer or user simply needs to indicate how many devices they would wish to onboard, generate the respective One Time Passwords (OTP(s)) which can then be inserted into their EGS and the rest of the process should be automated through APIs between the Taxpayer’s solution and ZATCA’s systems.
For the full details and options of the onboarding process, as well as the detailed guidance of the steps involved, please refer to Section 3 of Detailed Technical Guideline.
Sharing invoices and notes (Clearance and Reporting)
Following the successful completion and onboarding of the Taxpayer’s EGS, Taxpayers can start submitting documents to ZATCA for clearance or reporting. ZATCA׳s FATOORA Platform will perform all required validations against the documents submitted.
For more details regarding the processes of clearance and reporting and all relevant information, please refer to Section 4 of Detailed Technical Guideline.
Additional Step - Compliance and Enablement Toolbox
In addition to the above, another optional step in the Taxpayer E-invoicing Journey which can be followed by Taxpayers, is the ability of Taxpayers to verify and confirm the compliance of their electronic documents. In order to do that, Taxpayers and their system developers can use the Compliance and Enablement Toolbox that can be accessed from ZATCA׳s Developer Portal or through ZATCA׳s web- site. Through both the Developer Portal and ZATCA׳s website, Taxpayers can download the SDK and integrate it on their solutions or use the command line interface. Furthermore, Taxpayers who are less technical users can also access and use an online Portal-based validator, which allows Taxpayers to upload specific XML files and check their compliance directly through the validator.
For more details and information about the Compliance and Enablement Toolbox and how to access and use it through ZATCA׳s Developers Portal, please refer to the Developer Portal Guideline
Additional Step - Integration Sandbox
Furthermore, another optional step in the Taxpayer E-invoicing Journey that can be followed, is Tax- payers being able to test and confirm their ability to successfully integrate with ZATCA׳s systems through APIs. In order to check the integration, Taxpayers can use the Integration Sandbox, which can also be accessed through ZATCA׳s Developer Portal.
Taxpayers can access ZATCA’s Developer Portal and navigate to the dedicated page for the Integration Sandbox. From here they can access the API integration documentation and the different swagger files. Using these swagger files, developers can simulate the different integration calls that Taxpayers’ Solutions will have to do with ZATCA’s FATOORA Platform and test these integrations, including simulating the integrations required to onboard their solutions and obtain their test CSID(s), but also simulating and testing the submission of standard (B2B) and simplified documents (B2C) to ZATCA.
For more details and information about the Compliance and Enablement Toolbox and how to access and use it through ZATCA’s Developers Portal, please refer to the Developer Portal Guideline.