ZATCA Phase 1

Phase 1 changes what your invoices look like. They become bilingual English and Arabic tax invoices with the ZATCA QR code. There is no connection to ZATCA in Phase 1.

#Switch on Phase 1

1. Go to Vite Invoice → Compliance and stay on the Settings tab.
2. In the ZATCA e-invoice (Phase 1) card, enter the Seller legal name, as registered with ZATCA. Arabic is fine.
3. Enter the Seller VAT number: 15 digits, starting and ending with 3.
4. Turn on the switch at the top of the card.
5. Click Save.

The switch stays locked until the name and VAT number are valid. The page then shows "Enter a valid seller name and VAT number below to turn this on."

#The seller name limit

Under the name, a counter shows how many bytes it uses. The QR code can hold at most 255 bytes, and each Arabic letter takes 2 bytes. If you plan to use Phase 2, keep the name to 120 bytes or less, about 60 Arabic letters.

#What changes on your invoices

New invoices now:

• Have a bilingual title: Simplified Tax Invoice / فاتورة ضريبية مبسطة, or Tax Invoice / فاتورة ضريبية when the buyer gave a VAT number.
• Show labels in English and Arabic, such as the number, the date and "Bill to".
• Show your seller VAT number.
• Carry the statement "Amount includes VAT".
• Carry the ZATCA QR code.

The QR code holds the five values ZATCA asks for: the seller name, the seller VAT number, the date and time of the invoice, the total with VAT, and the VAT total.

Which kind of invoice an order gets depends on the buyer. Customers who enter a VAT number get a Tax Invoice; everyone else gets a Simplified Tax Invoice. Both carry the QR code. See Buyer VAT number.

#Invoices already issued

Invoices that were already issued are never changed. An invoice issued before ZATCA was switched on never gets a QR code later.

The QR data is saved with each invoice when it is issued. Regenerating prints the same QR code. If the order amounts have changed since, the invoice is not redrawn and the issued PDF is kept. Record the change with a credit note.

Pro: Credit notes are part of Pro. With ZATCA on, each credit note is bilingual and carries its own QR code. See More documents.

#Switching it off

Turn off the switch and click Save. New invoices then carry no ZATCA data. The page warns you: "ZATCA is off. New invoices carry no ZATCA data. Phase 2 cannot run without it, so it is switched off as well."

#Test it

1. Switch on Phase 1 with your details. For a test site, you can use the ZATCA test VAT number 399999999900003.
2. Place a test order, for example for Chris Lee, and let it reach your trigger status.
3. Open the invoice from Vite Invoice → Invoices and check the title, the Arabic labels and the QR code.
4. Print it on the printer your store uses and scan the QR code with a phone to check that it reads.

Tip: Your site language decides the language of the rest of the invoice. On an Arabic site, the whole page is mirrored right to left. See Translation and RTL.