SOCPA Fellowship Zakat and Tax Exam Content: The 7 Topics and Their Weights

Last verified: 31 October 2026. Topics and weights can change, so check the Fellowship exam page on the SOCPA website and the exam topics document before you start studying. 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 is one of six Fellowship subjects. SOCPA says it measures theoretical knowledge and the ability to apply it, and the questions show it: many are cases with figures where you work out a zakat base, a tax due or a fine, and others ask what a legal text provides.

Two parts in one paper

This structure has applied since the third sitting of 2025 and is set out in SOCPA's amendments to the structure and weights of the Fellowship exams. The question bank and practice test on this site cover Part 1 only. Part 2 has its own essay questions guide. Registration, fees and dates are in the registration guide.

The seven topics and their weights

In its Fellowship exam topics document SOCPA publishes a minimum and a maximum share for each topic. The table below shows the approximate number of questions in each topic out of 70.

Zakat, income tax and VAT together take 52 of the 70 questions in this split, about three quarters of the multiple-choice part.

Topic 1: Conceptual framework of zakat and tax (about 4 questions)

A theory topic in three parts. Zakat: its definition and features, the conditions for liability (Islam, reaching the nisab, a full lunar year, full ownership), who is liable, the safeguards for payment, its types, its rate and its eight categories of recipients. Tax: its features, the canons of taxation, types, theories for determining taxable income, ways to measure it, accounting profit versus adjusted profit, tax avoidance versus evasion, and double taxation. Then the relationship between zakat and tax: similarities and differences. The questions are direct, and exact memory of the definitions wins them.

Topic 2: Zakat (about 18 questions)

One of the three big topics, with eight subtopics:

• Who is liable and the rate: Saudi and GCC nationals and the companies they own, and mixed-ownership companies by each owner's share.
• Obligations: registration, keeping books, and filing the return and paying within 120 days of the end of the zakat year for payers that keep accounts.
• The base for payers keeping proper books: long-term funding that is added back, assets that are deducted, and an upper and a lower limit on the base. Many of the calculation questions are here.
• Deductible and non-deductible expenses: the conditions for a deduction and items added back to adjusted profit, such as personal expenses and undocumented hospitality.
• Special cases: holding companies, waqf, charities and non-profits, natural gas investment, financing activities, insurance and the estimated basis.
• Collection procedures: instalments, refunds of overpayments, seizure and compulsory collection.
• Zakat accounting rules: recognising zakat in the financial statements.
• Assessment, objection and appeal.

The legal basis is the Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations issued by Minister of Finance Decision 1007 of 19/8/1445 AH and its amendment, which apply to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2024. A book or summary written on the old regulations gives you a different base. Read the text in the regulations published on the ZATCA website.

Topic 3: Income tax (about 17 questions)

Thirteen subtopics built on the Income Tax Law and its Implementing Regulations:

• Who is liable, the concept of residence (183 days or more in the tax year, or fewer days with a permanent home under conditions) and the permanent establishment.
• Obligations, penalties and fines.
• Taxable activities, the source of income and exempt income.
• Deductible and non-deductible expenses.
• Carried-forward losses: no fixed time limit, with the annual deduction capped at 25% of the year's profit.
• The base and rates (20% for foreign-owned companies, and special rates for oil and hydrocarbons production and natural gas investment), advance payments and refunds.
• Special cases: long-term contracts, insurance companies, natural gas, withholding tax and the estimated tax.
• Adjusting accounting net income for the return, assessment, objection and appeal, and the tax rules for partnerships.

References: the Income Tax Law and its Implementing Regulations on the ZATCA website.

Topic 4: Excise tax (about 7 questions)

Ten subtopics: definition and features, taxpayer obligations, customs declarations, the tax warehouse, moving excise goods under tax suspension, the monthly transport permit, the excise goods transport document, penalties and fines, exemptions, deductions and refunds, and special cases (goods held when the law took effect, the suspended position, and deferred payment).

The December 2025 amendment of the Implementing Regulations changed how sweetened beverages are taxed: a fixed amount per litre by sugar tier (SAR 0, 0, 0.79 and 1.09 per litre) instead of a percentage, while tobacco products, energy drinks and electronic smoking devices stay at 100%. See the Excise Tax Law and its Implementing Regulations on the ZATCA website.

Topic 5: Value added tax (about 17 questions)

Six subtopics: definition and features, taxpayer obligations (registration, invoices, records), penalties and fines, exemptions, deductions and refunds, special cases (deemed supply, reverse charge, the cash basis and capital assets) and the VAT return. The basis is the VAT Law and its Implementing Regulations, 10th edition, 2025. If you are also studying for the VAT Specialist exam you will meet the same content, but the questions here go less deep into sectors and lean more on fines and the return; the details are in the VAT Specialist exam content guide.

Topic 6: Real estate transaction tax (about 5 questions)

Transactions taxed at 5% (completed, under construction or off-plan, documented or not), exempt cases such as a documented gift to a spouse or relatives up to the third degree, payment procedures, penalties, and the tax treatment of off-plan sales. The basis is the Real Estate Transaction Tax Law issued by Royal Decree M/84 and its new Implementing Regulations (from 10 April 2025).

Topic 7: ZATCA's statute and the dispute committees (about 2 questions)

The smallest topic: the nature of the Authority, its board and responsibilities, its Sharia committee, and the working rules of the committees for tax violations and disputes. The questions are few but entirely textual, so anyone who has read the text once picks them up.

How the questions are asked

• Cases with figures: a zakat base, income tax on a mixed-ownership company, a late-payment fine counted in months, or excise tax on a drink by its sugar content.
• Legal-rule questions: what is the period, what is the rate, who bears the obligation.
• You can sit the exam in Arabic or English, so learn each term in both languages.

What to do after this guide

• See where you stand now with the 10 free questions, no sign-up: you get your score and your weakest topics.
• Order your time by the weights in the study plan.
• Prepare the essay part with the essay questions guide, because the question bank here does not cover it.

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.