Refund Lead Auditor

About the Role

The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority is seeking a Refund Lead Auditor to join their team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role is for an experienced professional capable of conducting work with general direction, focusing on developing solutions to challenges requiring analysis and addressing escalated issues.

Role Purpose and Scope

The Refund Lead Auditor undertakes complex operational activities, including researching and examining industries to benchmark revenues and developing audit reports in accordance with applicable policies, procedures, and guidelines. The role involves a focus on refund planning and operations to ensure compliance and accurate assessments.

Refund Planning Responsibilities

• Review and study refund policies to stay current on refund limit utilization, risk control authorizations, and applicable margins, ensuring adherence to ZATCA’s rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Develop and update assessment templates and audit tools in line with operational procedures and policies to facilitate customer request analysis and timely evaluation.
• Monitor the latest developments, news, and updates by industry type and sector (*, business and insurance, telecommunication, consumer goods) to incorporate new tax practices adopted by taxpayers and businesses into assessments and audit reviews.
• Maintain and update refund manuals, eligibility criteria, legal requirements, and supporting documents by taxpayer type, integrating them into computer-aided audit tools to facilitate audit assessment and review.

Refund Operations Responsibilities

• Consolidate, categorize, and prioritize refund requests and schedules, sorting them by tax/industry type and dispatching them to relevant audit teams for assessment and review.
• Review refund applications and requests, examine the validity of legal documents, and ensure completeness of supporting documents prior to case assessment.
• Gather data for desk audits, communicate with stakeholders (account managers, taxpayers, banks, audit bureau, government entities) for information and clarifications, and liaise with the legal function for contractual structures to safeguard applicant legitimacy.
• Research public news, articles, databases, and shared channels to investigate taxpayers’ business activity, including structure, size, process, and jurisdictions.
• Study and assess taxpayers’ financial status, income statements, financial strength, capabilities, and revenue streams to compare with benchmarks and similar industries, deciding on the assessment approach (actual, estimated, reduced).
• Inspect and investigate taxpayers’ declarations, pinpoint high-risk and speculative issues, detect non-compliant cases, and communicate with internal stakeholders to avoid potential risks, including tax evasion.
• Consolidate legal and financial observations, evaluate them against pre-approved eligibility criteria and refund requirements, and recommend approval/rejection decisions in line with applicable policies and procedures.
• Manage the development of audit reports, including tax assessments (actual/reduced/estimated), to identify taxpayers’ refund amounts.
• Develop lists of compliant taxpayers with accepted refunds and related amounts, submitting them to internal committees for payment release/transfer approvals.
• Monitor taxpayer objections and appeals, coordinating with Legal Affairs or AMANA to resolve disputes and support key testimonies by providing clarifications on final audit findings and results.
• Maintain and update refund operations-related systems and databases, ensuring all audit findings are administered and stored securely to facilitate data exchange with internal stakeholders and other government agencies.

Reporting and Support

• Draft refund audit reports highlighting recommendations and conclusions, along with relevant evidence, proofs, and supporting documents, for revision and verification.

Qualifications and Experience

Candidates for this role should possess 2-5 years of relevant experience. The position requires a professional capable of conducting work with general directions and developing solutions to complex challenges.