Last month a freight forwarder friend sent me a screenshot: one seller's Saudi customer returned an item, and the credit note picked "commercial discount" as the reason. Payout froze for 45 days. ZATCA said the return didn't match the customs entry. Since August, they're checking these hard.
The July rule already says: cross-border return credit notes need a reason code and must match the customs return line by line. One SKU mismatch triggers a review. Too many sellers issue credit notes manually without pulling customs data. That's a trap.
Say the original invoice is SAR 1,200 and they return 35%. You must split the credit note from the original line and link the original B2C invoice UUID. Merge it into one flat credit note? The system rejects it.
Honestly, a wrong return note can freeze payout and be treated as underpaid VAT. Fines run SAR 2,000 to 5,000. My habit is to run the ZATCA portal validation report weekly and list all RETURN failures.
I picked up one trick while using 8ship last year: have your customs broker return the Customs Entry Number on the release day, then use that number to generate the credit note. Amounts and dates always align.
Can your return notes survive that check?