ZATCA Wave 25 E-Invoicing: Criteria, Deadline & How to Prepare (2026 Guide)

Introduction

Most businesses don't find out they're in a new ZATCA wave from a phone call. They find out from a deadline notice, a finance manager forwarding an email, or — worse — a rejected invoice. In September 2026, ZATCA announced Wave 25 of the E-Invoicing Integration Phase, pulling in a much wider band of VAT-registered businesses than earlier waves.

Wave 25 matters because the threshold has dropped to SAR 187,500 — a level that now reaches small and mid-sized businesses that assumed integration was “a big company problem.” If your VAT-taxable revenue crossed that line in 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025, ZATCA already considers you in scope.

This guide breaks down exactly who Wave 25 applies to, what the Integration Phase requires technically, how the wave thresholds have evolved, and a practical path to being ready before the deadline.

What Is ZATCA Wave 25?

Quick answer: Wave 25 is the 25th group of taxpayers ZATCA has named for Phase 2 (the “Integration Phase”) of e-invoicing. Businesses in this wave must connect their e-invoicing systems directly to ZATCA's Fatoora Platform, issue invoices in the required technical format, and transmit them for clearance or reporting — not just generate a compliant PDF, as Phase 1 required.

Source: ZATCA — Wave 25 Integration Phase criteria (official announcement)

Wave 25 Criteria: Are You in Scope?

ZATCA's criterion is simple to state but easy to miss in practice: if your VAT-taxable revenue exceeded SAR 187,500 in any one of the years 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025, you fall inside Wave 25 — even if your revenue has since dropped, and even if you were not notified individually by ZATCA.

This is a meaningfully lower bar than previous waves. Many small retailers, single-branch service businesses, clinics, contractors, and family-run trading companies now qualify for the first time. The most common mistake at this threshold is checking only current-year revenue and missing that an earlier year already triggered inclusion.

• Check VAT-taxable revenue for each of 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 separately — not just the most recent year.

• Include all VAT-registered revenue streams, not only your primary business line.

• Assume you are in scope until your tax adviser confirms otherwise — ZATCA does not always notify every business individually before enforcement.

ZATCA Wave Timeline: How the Threshold Has Dropped (Waves 22–25)

Wave 25 is the latest step in a steady, predictable pattern: each wave lowers the revenue threshold, pulling in progressively smaller businesses. Seeing the last four waves side by side makes it clear where this is heading — toward universal Integration Phase coverage for VAT-registered businesses.

Sources: ZATCA — Wave 24 Integration Phase criteria; ZATCA — E-Invoicing Roll-out Phases overview

What the Integration Phase Actually Requires

Phase 1 (“Generation Phase”) only required businesses to generate e-invoices electronically. The Integration Phase is a different order of technical work: your system must connect to ZATCA's Fatoora Platform and exchange data with it in real time.

Step-by-Step: How to Prepare for Wave 25

1. Confirm your revenue history. Check VAT-taxable revenue for 2022 through 2025 against the SAR 187,500 threshold before assuming you are out of scope.

2. Audit your current invoicing system. Determine whether your ERP or accounting software already supports XML generation, QR codes, and API connectivity, or whether a ZATCA-approved e-invoicing solution provider is needed.

3. Clean up your master data. Customer VAT numbers, addresses, and tax categories must be accurate — this is the single most common cause of rejected invoices during integration testing.

4. Select and onboard a compliant solution. Whether in-house or through a vendor, confirm the solution is listed as ZATCA-compliant and supports both clearance (B2B) and reporting (B2C) flows.

5. Run a sandbox test with ZATCA. ZATCA provides a testing environment before go-live — use it to catch formatting and connectivity errors early.

6. Train finance, sales, and IT teams. Integration failures are rarely pure IT problems; invoice data quality usually starts outside the finance department.

7. Document everything before the deadline. Keep evidence of testing, sign-off, and go-live dates in case ZATCA requests proof of compliance.

Common Mistakes That Delay Wave 25 Integration

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Missing the Wave 25 deadline exposes a business to e-invoicing non-compliance penalties, on top of any VAT filing and payment risk that already exists. ZATCA's broader penalty framework for e-invoicing, VAT, and Zakat violations is covered in detail in our related article, ZATCA Penalties in 2026: Fines for VAT, Zakat and E-Invoicing Violations, including how ZATCA's penalty waiver initiative may (or may not) apply to late integration.

The safest position is to treat the February 1, 2027 deadline as a project milestone with its own internal cut-off weeks earlier — not as the date testing begins.

Wave 25 Readiness Checklist

• VAT-taxable revenue confirmed against the SAR 187,500 threshold for 2022–2025

• E-invoicing solution integrated with the Fatoora Platform

• Invoices issued in compliant XML / PDF-A3 format with QR code

• Cryptographic stamp and UUID applied to every invoice

• Real-time reporting (B2C) and clearance (B2B) confirmed with ZATCA

Conclusion

ZATCA Wave 25 is not an isolated announcement — it is the latest point on a clear trajectory toward full Integration Phase coverage for every VAT-registered business in Saudi Arabia. A SAR 187,500 threshold means the businesses least prepared for real-time e-invoicing are often exactly the ones now in scope.

The safest approach is the same one that works for every ZATCA deadline: confirm your position early, treat integration as a cross-functional project rather than an IT ticket, and build in time for testing before February 1, 2027 arrives.

Related Resources

Near the end of any e-invoicing readiness project, the Saudi Arabia Zakat, VAT, and Corporate Tax Compliance Certificate can help finance and compliance teams strengthen their understanding of the wider ZATCA framework Wave 25 sits inside — including VAT, e-invoicing, and Zakat obligations covered in one certificate.

Related Course: Saudi Arabia Zakat, VAT, and Corporate Tax Compliance Certificate

Related Article: ZATCA Penalties in 2026: Fines for VAT, Zakat and E-Invoicing Violations

Related Article: Fatoora API Integration Rules: Avoiding Real-Time B2B Blocks

Related Article: Mastering ZATCA Phase 2: Resolving Broken Invoice Hash Chains

Related Article: Saudi Zakat, VAT & Corporate Tax Guide for Businesses