The National Anti-Commercial Concealment Program (Tasattur)

The National Anti-Commercial Concealment Program is a governmental program launched by the Ministry of Commerce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2017 to rid commercial sectors of commercial concealment and improve the associated regulations and legislations by relying on modern digital solutions. Moreover, Tasattur supports and stimulates e-commerce and creates attractive jobs for Saudis, in addition to promoting growth, encouraging investment, and reducing the flow of funds outside the Kingdom and illegal foreign ownership within commercial activities.

The program’s tasks are distributed among the relevant governmental entities involved in combating commercial concealment. As such, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority is responsible for developing the required funding solutions to provide support for citizens, and appoint them in functions occupied by foreigners, in line with localization and Saudization, and to minimize the dependency on expats.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development also attracts citizens to its training programs aimed at introducing them to retail sales methods. It also seeks to Saudize and localize commercial concealment activities. On the other hand, the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing exercises its role in developing and raising the specifications used in sales outlets.

Tasattur includes a number of recommendations, most importantly the issuance of the Franchise Law, the review and amendment of the Anti-Commercial Concealment Law, in addition to encouraging the use of technical solutions for combatting and annihilating concealment across all sectors.

In order to control financial transactions and monitor their sources, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority imposes on all sales outlets the issuance of saved electronic invoices. Moreover, SAMA monitors the movement of financial transactions, and tracks suspicions resulting from money laundering or concealment.

The program plays a role in facilitating ownership, as well as investing and doing commercial business in all sectors, supporting and assisting funding programs, setting the appropriate circumstances for the business environment, not to mention regulating financial matters and protecting the national economy from the damages caused by capital outflow.

Tasattur has set a number of criteria in order for establishments to comply with market standards to reduce cases of commercial concealment in a sustainable manner, as follows: developing a valid and updated commercial registry for the establishment with all the required data and licenses to conduct the activity; opening a bank account for the establishment; refraining from using personal accounts in commercial transactions; renewing business licenses; updating the establishment’s relevant addresses; registering the establishment in the wage protection program, recording labor wage data, documenting all employment contracts electronically; refraining from employing irregular workers, documenting all financial transactions of the establishment; adhering to the relevant regulations in this regard; refraining from granting non-Saudis tools leading to absolute disposal of the establishment; providing electronic payment methods; issuing and saving invoices electronically; financing the establishment and its activities through regular methods; documenting all of these operations; and complying with regulations and instructions related to the exercise of economic activities.