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SOCPA Fellowship Exam: Zakat and Tax: free practice test

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Practice test questions with answers and explanations

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01A trader started a trading year with goods and cash worth SAR 800,000 (above the nisab) and earned SAR 200,000 of profit during the year, so trade goods and cash total SAR 1,000,000 at year-end with no debts. What zakat is due if trade profit is merged with the capital and takes its year?

Practice question Unit: Conceptual framework of zakat and tax

  1. ASAR 25,000 ✓ Correct answer

    Zakat is due on the total: 1,000,000 × 2.5% = SAR 25,000, because trade profit follows the capital in its year.

  2. BSAR 20,000

    This is 2.5% of the opening capital alone (800,000), leaving out the year's profit, which is merged with it.

  3. CSAR 5,000

    This is 2.5% of the profit alone (200,000); zakat is due on the capital and the profit together.

  4. DSAR 50,000

    This equals 5% of the total, but the rate for trade goods is 2.5%, not 5%.

Reference: Zakat jurisprudence (fiqh al-zakah): merging trade profit with capital; Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations (Ministerial Resolution No. 1007, 1445 AH), Article 15, paragraph 1 (2.5% rate)

02A resident company is owned 75% by Saudis and 25% by a foreign company from outside the GCC. Its financial year is Hijri, its zakat base is SAR 24,000,000 and its taxable profit is SAR 8,000,000. What are the zakat due and the income tax (at 20%)?

Practice question Unit: Zakat

  1. AZakat SAR 600,000 and income tax SAR 400,000

    This applies zakat to the whole base (2.5% × 24,000,000), although the foreign share is not subject to zakat.

  2. BZakat SAR 450,000 and income tax SAR 400,000 ✓ Correct answer

    Zakat = 75% × 24,000,000 × 2.5% = 450,000, and income tax = 25% × 8,000,000 × 20% = 400,000.

  3. CZakat SAR 450,000 and income tax SAR 1,600,000

    This applies income tax to the whole profit, whereas it should fall on the foreign 25% share only.

  4. DZakat SAR 150,000 and income tax SAR 1,200,000

    This swaps the two percentages: it applies 25% to zakat and 75% to income tax.

Reference: Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations (Ministerial Resolution No. 1007, 1445 AH), Article 3, paragraph 3

03A zakat payer that keeps accounts has a Gregorian financial year that ended on 30 September 2026. What is the last date to file the zakat return and pay the zakat, assuming the last day is not an official holiday?

Practice question Unit: Zakat

  1. A29 November 2026

    This is only 60 days after year-end, while the allowed period is 120 days.

  2. B28 January 2027 ✓ Correct answer

    The period is 120 days: 31 in October, 30 in November, 31 in December and 28 in January, ending on 28 January 2027.

  3. C29 December 2026

    This is 90 days after year-end, while the allowed period is 120 days.

  4. D29 March 2027

    This is about 180 days, six months, after year-end, while the allowed period is 120 days.

Reference: Zakat Collection Implementing Regulations (Ministerial Resolution No. 1007, 1445 AH), Article 102, paragraph 1

04A natural person owns a house in Jeddah. He spent 22 days in the Kingdom during the 2025 tax year, plus 9 days at a Saudi airport in transit between two points outside the Kingdom. What is his status for income tax purposes?

Practice question Unit: Income tax

  1. AResident, because his days total 31 and he has a permanent home

    Transit days between two points outside the Kingdom do not count, so the total is not 31.

  2. BNon-resident, because only 22 days count and transit is not counted ✓ Correct answer

    Only 22 days count, fewer than the 30 required with a permanent home, so he is non-resident.

  3. CNon-resident, because having a home still requires 183 days to be resident

    With a permanent home 30 days suffice, so the 183-day condition does not apply; he simply did not reach 30.

  4. DResident, because his stay exceeded 20 days and he owns a home

    The minimum with a permanent home is 30 days, not 20.

Reference: Income Tax Law (Royal Decree No. M/1, 1425 AH), Article 3, paragraph (a)

05A resident company filed its return and paid its tax 20 days late. Its total revenue was SAR 3,000,000 and the unpaid tax was SAR 100,000. What is the total of the fines due?

Practice question Unit: Income tax

  1. ASAR 5,000

    5,000 is 5% of the tax, but it is lower than the other fine and the higher of the two is charged.

  2. BSAR 21,000

    The 1% delay fine is not added because the delay did not reach thirty days.

  3. CSAR 25,000

    The two fines are not added together; only the higher is collected.

  4. DSAR 20,000 ✓ Correct answer

    1% of revenue = 30,000 capped at 20,000, which exceeds 5% of the tax (5,000); no delay fine arises before 30 days, so the total is SAR 20,000.

Reference: Implementing Regulations of the Income Tax Law (Ministerial Resolution No. 1535, 1425 AH, as amended), Article 67, paragraph 2, and Article 68, paragraph 2

06A licensed company makes a sweetened carbonated drink containing 6 g of total sugar per 100 ml. In one tax period it released 5,000 bottles of 1.5 litres each to the local market. What excise tax is due (in riyals)?

Practice question Unit: Excise tax

  1. A8,175

    This applies the fourth-tier rate of 1.09 to 7,500 litres, but the drink is in the third tier.

  2. B3,950

    This multiplies 0.79 by the 5,000 bottles instead of the 7,500 litres.

  3. C0

    Zero applies only to the first and second tiers (under 5 g); this drink is in the third tier.

  4. D5,925 ✓ Correct answer

    Correct: 6 g falls between 5 and 7.99, so it is the third tier at SAR 0.79 per litre; 5,000 × 1.5 = 7,500 litres and 7,500 × 0.79 = 5,925.

Reference: Implementing Regulations of the Excise Tax Law (ZATCA, as amended December 2025), Article 3, paragraph 3, and Article 4, paragraph 2

07A registered company sold goods to a customer for a total of SAR 11,500 including VAT at the basic rate. What is the amount of VAT included in that total?

Practice question Unit: Value added tax

  1. ASAR 1,500 ✓ Correct answer

    Tax = 11,500 × 15 ÷ 115 = SAR 1,500, and the value before tax is SAR 10,000.

  2. BSAR 1,000

    This figure does not result from applying the formula to the tax-inclusive amount.

  3. CSAR 1,150

    1,150 is 10% of the inclusive total, which is not the VAT rate.

  4. DSAR 1,725

    1,725 comes from applying 15% to the tax-inclusive total, which is wrong because the total already contains the tax.

Reference: VAT Implementing Regulations (ZATCA, 10th ed., 2025), Article 45, paragraph 1

08A resident business that was not registered found at the end of March 2026 that its supplies over the previous twelve months exceeded the mandatory registration limit. It submitted its registration application on 12 April 2026 and the Authority accepted it. From what date does its registration take effect?

Practice question Unit: Value added tax

  1. A1 May 2026 ✓ Correct answer

    Registration takes effect from the start of the month following the month of application, that is 1 May.

  2. B1 April 2026

    1 April precedes the application, and registration is not retroactive in this case.

  3. C12 April 2026

    The day of the application is not the effective date.

  4. D1 July 2026

    The start of the next quarter is not the effective date.

Reference: VAT Implementing Regulations (ZATCA, 10th ed., 2025), Article 3, paragraph 1 (second part)

09An individual bought a villa through financing from a licensed financier. The contract states a price of 2,000,000 riyals and a cost of deferral of 300,000 riyals, so the instalments total 2,300,000 riyals; the price is within fair market value. What is the tax base and the tax due?

Practice question Unit: Real estate transaction tax

  1. ABase SAR 2,300,000 and tax SAR 115,000

    This base includes the cost of deferral (2,300,000), which is excluded from the transaction value in licensed financing.

  2. BBase SAR 2,000,000 and tax SAR 100,000 ✓ Correct answer

    The cost of deferral under licensed financing is excluded from the transaction value, so tax = 2,000,000 x 5% = SAR 100,000.

  3. CBase SAR 300,000 and tax SAR 15,000

    The cost of deferral alone is not the base; the base is the property price once that cost is excluded.

  4. DBase SAR 2,150,000 and tax SAR 107,500

    No rule takes an average of the price and the deferral cost; the cost is excluded in full from the base.

Reference: Real Estate Transaction Tax Law (Royal Decree No. M/84, 1446 AH), Article 2, paragraph 2

10The Authority's board has 13 members including the chairman. Eight members attended a meeting, including the chairman, who presided. Four voted for a draft resolution and four against, and the chairman was among those against. What is the result?

Practice question Unit: ZATCA's statute and the dispute committees

  1. AThe meeting is invalid because the quorum requires at least two-thirds of the board members including the chairman

    The quorum is at least a majority of members including the chairman (7 of 13), not two-thirds; eight attendees suffice.

  2. BThe meeting is valid and the draft fails, because the chairman's side prevails ✓ Correct answer

    Eight attendees meet the quorum (at least 7), and on a 4–4 tie the side the presiding chairman voted with prevails, which is rejection.

  3. CThe vote is repeated in the same meeting because no resolution can pass on a tie

    The statute resolves a tie itself, so no revote is needed: the side the presiding chairman voted with prevails.

  4. DThe decision is postponed to a later meeting because a majority of members did not vote for the draft

    The attendance majority is met (8 members ≥ 7), so nothing requires postponement.

Reference: ZATCA Statute (Council of Ministers Resolution No. 570, 1442 AH), Article 6, paragraph 3

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