Tax assessment
In one sentenceZATCA's decision on the amount of tax due from the business after reviewing its return; it may match what the business declared or adjust it upward.
Simply put
The return is what the business says, and the assessment is what ZATCA decides after review or audit.
If the assessment comes with a difference, you pay it or object to it within the statutory deadline; do not ignore it, because penalties are calculated from the due date.
Worked example
A company declared taxable income for income tax of 400,000 SAR, and in the audit ZATCA disallowed expenses of 50,000 SAR for lack of documents.
Taxable income in the return400,000 SAR
Expenses disallowed by ZATCA50,000 SAR
Calculation400,000 + 50,000
Taxable income after assessment450,000 SAR
Don't confuse it with
Zakat assessmentThe same idea, but the Zakat assessment is on the Zakat base and the tax assessment is on the tax.