The General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) in Saudi Arabia revealed significant progress at the level of digitization in its work.
This comes in light of the increase in the level of satisfaction of taxpayers in the Kingdom to 80 percent; since the implementation of the transformation strategy.
GAZT has seen a number of successes since implementing its strategy (2018-2020); through which it transformed from an institution into a public authority concerned with the management of zakat and taxes in the Kingdom, guided by the Vision 2030 and its requires economic sustainability.
In its transformation journey, GAZT relied on international practices; while developing and implementing advanced systems for managing zakat and taxes.
These included the effective implementation of the value-added tax and excise tax projects; as well as the establishment of settlement committees and launching two projects to price transactions and digital tax seals.
A performance platform launched on smart devices during the past two years to link all zakat and tax data in one platform. Besides, classifying and analyze it to help make sound decisions that would attain GAZT's objectives.
In terms of serving zakat and taxpayers; the Authority worked to enrich its clients' experience by improving its system of technical solutions and improving service delivery procedures.
More than 155 procedures were documented and improved and more than 60 e-services were launched. In addition to issuing disclosed forms; resulting in an increase in the taxpayer satisfaction index in the Kingdom that amounted to 80 percent in late 2019.
At the international level, GAZT's strategy resulted in an effective international presence; the most notable of which was electing it as one out of 14 countries responsible for monitoring the implementation of the world countries of the transparency standards; issued by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
The Authority's continuous efforts contributed to improving the Kingdom's rank in the Ease of Doing Business Ranking index issued annually by the World Bank.
Saudi Arabia was at 57th in the world after it was at 78.
In 2019, GAZT launched its first "Zakat & Tax Conference," in which 3.5 thousand visitors took part. It was also classified in the electronic maturity index; as one of the government bodies in the Kingdom issued by the e-government program (Yesser).
