Real Estate Transaction Tax (5%) refunds: when you can claim and how

Real Estate Transaction Tax (5%) is refunded in three cases: when it was overpaid or paid in error, when it was paid on a disposal that was not completed, or when it was paid on a disposal cancelled under the cancellation rules. The request is filed within 12 months of payment; ZATCA decides within 30 days and pays within 30 days of approval.

1. What RETT is and who pays it

• The rate is 5% of the value of the real estate disposal, whatever the property’s condition, form or use, completed, under construction or off-plan, and whether or not the disposal is notarised (RETT Law, Art. 2).
• It is paid to ZATCA on the date of the disposal and may be paid earlier; a notary does not register the disposal before the tax is paid (Art. 5).
• The person disposing of the property (the seller or transferor) owes the tax; the acquirer is jointly liable if ZATCA proves they caused the non-payment (Art. 7).

2. When you can claim a refund

Under Art. 9 of the Law the tax is refunded in these cases, with the procedures and periods set by the Implementing Regulations:

• Tax overpaid or paid in error.
• Tax paid on a disposal that was not completed.
• Tax paid on a disposal cancelled under the cancellation case set out in the Law.

Sale cancelled by mutual consent within 90 days

Returning the property to its previous owner when a notarised sale is cancelled by mutual consent is exempt if the cancellation happens within 90 days of the original notarisation, the property is returned unchanged and the seller returns the full price. The tax paid on the original, cancelled sale is refunded.

Off-plan sale to a developer before the project licence is issued

If the off-plan sales licence has not been issued, the transferor pays the tax or provides a cash or bank guarantee for it, and has 90 days to present the licence. If it is presented in time, the guarantee is released or the tax refunded; if not, ZATCA calls the guarantee and no refund is possible afterwards.

3. The claim window and the decision and payment periods

1. 1

   12 months

   to file the refund request from the date the tax was paid, or 60 days from a final court decision or settlement.

2. 2

   30 days

   for ZATCA to decide, extendable once.

3. 3

   30 days

   for ZATCA to pay, from the approval.

4. 4

   5 years

   to keep records and documents from the date of the disposal.

If you find an error in the registered data, or something breaks the conditions of an exemption you claimed, the correction is due within 30 days of learning of it.

Disposals before 10 April 2025

Refunds of tax under the previous regulation had to be requested within 12 months of 10 April 2025; that window closed on 10 April 2026, unless a court decision or settlement is issued later.

4. What to prepare before you apply

• The RETT invoice or payment receipt and its date, to count the 12 months.
• The title deed or contract, and proof that the disposal was not completed or was cancelled.
• The disposal’s registration data on the ZATCA portal, and any earlier correction.
• Any final court decision or settlement, if there is one.

5. Not the same as the 2018–2020 VAT refund

The VAT refund on property sales is a different case: it is for individuals who sold between 1 January 2018 and 4 October 2020, before RETT began, and is claimed on the Hiyad portal within a limited window ending 11 November 2026. RETT (5%) covers disposals after that date and is refunded by ZATCA on a request filed within 12 months of payment.

6. How Entry Post helps

Entry Post, licensed by SOCPA (No. 933), reviews your case and the claim deadline and prepares the refund request and documents under the rules. We cannot promise the outcome: ZATCA decides.