The Government of Saudi Arabia has announced the issuance of the long-awaited Civil Transactions Law (“CTL”), the third of the four laws announced as part of the specialized legislations reform (the others being the Family Law, Evidence Law (both have been issued) and the Criminal law (expected to be issued soon)). The CTL was officially published in the Saudi official gazette on 19 June 2023. The CTL contains 721 articles and marks an important advancement…
Over the course of past weeks, the General Authority of Zakat and Tax (ZATCA) has released a number of public consultations outlining the proposed amendments to a series of tax legislations. As an overall comment, this is a welcoming move and should be closely monitored as and when the proposed amendment is formally introduced in the relevant legislation. Below is a high-level summary of the proposed amendments to the relevant tax legislations in KSA. Consistent…
In brief The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) opened its first office outside of Saudi Arabia in the DIFC. SCCA Dubai has started operating on 2 February 2023 and offers a comprehensive suite of ADR services to local and international businesses based in the UAE and/or operating in the Middle East.[1] In the latest developments, the SCCA has released its second edition of the SCCA Arbitration Rules (SCCA Rules), effective 1 May 2023. The…
In brief The Personal Data Protection Law (“PDPL”) of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”) was recently amended pursuant to Royal Decree No. M/148, dated 05/09/1444H (corresponding to 27 March 2023G) (“Amended PDPL”). These amendments were preceded by a public consultation launched by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (“SDAIA”) in late 2022. The Amended PDPL expands the scope under which Controllers could collect personal data from third parties and process it for purposes other than that for…
In brief In February 2023, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”) Tax Authority released a Tax Circular outlining the mechanism, controls and procedures for the tax refund to persons who are not residents of the GCC Member States and carry out an economic activity with VAT (or a similar tax system) registration in another country (“non-resident taxpayers”) in accordance with Article (67) of the GCC VAT Framework. Recommended actions In response to the opening of…