SOCPA Fellowship Zakat and Tax Study Plan: Seven Weeks and How Many Answers You Need to Pass

Last verified: 31 October 2026. Check the Fellowship exam page on the SOCPA website before you start, because dates and weights can change. This is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA), the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) or any government body.

Zakat and tax packs many laws and many figures into one paper, so time will not stretch evenly over everything. This plan is ordered by the official weights, starts today, 31 October 2026, and ends at the 21 December 2026 sitting (seven weeks). If your sitting is in 2027, stretch the same plan over a longer period (end of the second section). The topics are explained in the exam content guide.

Numbers to build your plan on

How many multiple-choice answers do you need?

Multiple choice is 75 marks spread over 70 questions (about 1.07 per question). The number of correct answers you need depends on what you score on the essays, because the total has to reach 60. Since the essay floor is 5 of 25, in the worst case you need 55 marks from multiple choice, about 52 questions:

The practical reading: do not count on a high essay score. If you can secure 52 of 70 (about 74%), you pass even with only the minimum on the essays. If you can secure only 42, you need 15 of 25 on the essays. And even with every multiple-choice question right, scoring below 5 of 25 on the essays fails you, so do not neglect Part 2.

Rank the topics by number of questions

SOCPA publishes a percentage range for each topic, and the next table shows the approximate number of questions (total 70):

The first three topics add up to 52 questions, the same number you need in the worst essay case. Do not stop there: nobody gets every question in a topic right, and the last four topics (18 questions) are easier to memorise and make up for what you lose on the calculation cases.

What this site offers for your plan

• The 10 free questions, no sign-up, covering the seven topics and ending with your score and your weakest topics. Start with them today.
• The practice area: practise topic by topic, with every answer explained and tied to its article of the law or the regulations, revisit your errors in the mistakes notebook, and try a mock exam with Part 1's timing: 70 questions in 160 minutes.
• The free questions cover the seven topics. The rest of the question bank and the mock exam need a pass for this exam.
• The question bank is multiple choice only. For the essay part use the essay questions guide.

A seven-week plan to 21 December 2026

If your sitting is in 2027

If you will sit on 22 March 2027 (registration 4 to 13 February) you have about 20 weeks: double each stage, give zakat, income tax and VAT a week for each part, and go through every topic twice before you start full mock exams. Remember that a subject you pass lapses after four calendar years and thirty days if you do not complete the Fellowship subjects.

The traps that come up again and again

1. Two marks, not one. A total of 60 is not enough if you fall below 5 of 25 on the essays.
2. The zakat base under the 1445 regulations. The base has an upper and a lower limit: no more than year-end equity at carrying value plus the difference between adjusted and book profit, and no less than adjusted net profit. Long-term funding is added back only up to the assets that are deducted. Someone who studied from an old book will compute a different base. Check the text of the regulations, not summaries.
3. Mixed ownership. Zakat at 2.5% on the Saudi and GCC owners' share, and income tax at 20% on the foreign partner's share. This is often asked with figures that make you compute both amounts together.
4. Natural gas at 20%. Natural gas investment falls under the Income Tax Law, not the zakat regulations, and its rate is 20% after the Income Tax Law amendment, not the oil rate. Oil and hydrocarbons production is taxed between 50% and 85% depending on the capital investment bracket. A company with both activities computes each base separately, and a gas loss is carried forward only against the gas base.
5. Excise after the December 2025 amendment. Sweetened beverages are charged a fixed amount per litre by sugar per 100 ml (SAR 0, 0, 0.79 and 1.09), not 50%. Total sugar includes added and natural sugar, artificial sweetener is ignored, and a concentrate is counted after dilution as the label instructs. Tobacco, energy drinks and electronic smoking devices stay at 100%.
6. Income tax: the 25% loss cap. A carried-forward loss has no fixed time limit, but no more than 25% of the year's profit can be deducted in a year, so you do not deduct the whole loss.
7. Fines look alike but differ. The late-payment fine is 5% for each month or part of a month in excise and VAT (one month and ten days counts as two). Failing to file the excise return is 5% to 25% of the tax. A calculation error in a VAT return carries a fine of 50% of the difference. Evading excise on goods carries a fine from the tax due up to three times the value of the goods. Write your own table for each tax.
8. Periods counted day by day. The zakat return and payment are due within 120 days of the end of the zakat year for payers that keep books; count day by day (a year ending 30 September runs to 28 January). A VAT tax invoice is due by the 15th of the month after the month of supply.
9. Real estate transaction tax. 5% of the agreed value of the transaction, and the broker's commission is not part of it. A documented gift to a spouse or to relatives up to the third degree is exempt, and a brother's son is third degree.

The day before the exam

• Check your entry time and ID. SOCPA provides calculators in the exam hall, so get used to a simple one.
• Split your time: about 160 minutes for multiple choice and 80 minutes for the essays. Do not leave an essay question blank, because the floor is 5 marks.
• Start with what you know, flag the long cases and come back to them.

This is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA), the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) or any government body.