Staying compliant after setup

Once the company exists, the work becomes a calendar. Most obligations repeat — some every month, some every year, some on the anniversary of a licence — and each authority has its own platform.

A missed date rarely stops at a fine. A suspended commercial registration, an unpaid Chamber subscription or a red Nitaqat band can block other services, such as renewing a work permit, which then blocks an employee's iqama. One lapse can hold up the whole company.

Under the Commercial Register Law approved in 2024, a CR no longer expires and is no longer renewed. Instead, the company confirms its CR data every 12 months.

• The confirmation is due one year from the date of registration, and every year after that.
• It covers the company's registered details, including its National Address.
• If it is not made within 90 days of the due date, the CR is suspended, and so are the licences tied to it. A CR still unconfirmed a year after suspension can be struck off.

Every company in the commercial register must subscribe to the chamber of its area. Under the Chambers of Commerce Law the fee becomes payable three years after the CR is registered, and is then paid as an annual subscription. A chamber can suspend its services to a member who has not paid.

• Zakat and income tax: the annual return is filed, and the amount due paid, within 120 days of the end of the company's financial year.
• VAT: a VAT-registered company files a return for each of its tax periods, and both the return and the payment are due by the last day of the month after the period ends.
• Withholding tax: when the company pays certain amounts to a non-resident, it files and pays by the 10th of the following month. ZATCA charges 1% of the unpaid tax for every 30 days of delay.
• E-invoicing (FATOORA): invoices must meet ZATCA's e-invoicing rules, which have applied to resident taxpayers since 4 December 2021 and are being extended in phases.

ZATCA publishes a yearly calendar of return dates; it is worth keeping to hand.

• GOSI: social insurance contributions for each month are paid within the first 15 days of the following month. The Social Insurance Law sets a 2% fine on the late amount for each month, or part of a month, of delay.
• Wage Protection: each month's wage file is uploaded on Mudad. Since 1 March 2025 the platform accepts files only for the previous month (30 days), so a late file cannot simply be sent later.

Each expatriate employee carries two linked dates: the work permit and the iqama.

• Work permits are issued and renewed on Qiwa, for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, and can be renewed once 180 days or less remain. The Ministry of Human Resources makes a valid work permit a condition for issuing or renewing the iqama.
• Iqamas are renewed by the company through its business platforms (Muqeem and Absher Business), with the renewal fee and any late fine.
• Nitaqat: the company's Saudisation band matters. A company in the red band cannot apply for new visas or renew work permits.

A company with premises holds a commercial licence from the municipality, managed on Balady. It is renewed through Balady's "Renew Commercial License" service, which needs a valid CR and the Civil Defense safety requirements met on the Salamah portal. Renewal opens 90 days before expiry, and renewing late brings penalty fees.

• Monthly: GOSI contributions by the 15th, the wage file on Mudad, withholding tax by the 10th if it applies, and VAT if your tax period is monthly.
• On a cycle: each VAT return, by the end of the month after its period.
• Yearly: CR confirmation on the anniversary of registration, the zakat or income-tax return within 120 days of year end, and the Chamber subscription once it is due.
• Per employee and per licence: work permits, iqamas and the Balady licence, each on its own expiry date.

Write every date down once, with a reminder well before it. Most problems start with a date nobody was watching.

Mohla Comply is a monthly service for companies in the Kingdom. Mohla's team builds your 12-month calendar from your company's registrations, keeps each date current, reminds you before every one, checks the government platforms for fines and handles the renewal when you ask — all visible in your Mohla account.

Government fees are paid at cost. Mohla's own fee is in the written quote you receive before any work starts.