Client

The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) was established by a Council of Ministers decision to merge the General Authority of Zakat and Tax with the General Customs Authority into a single entity. The Authority is responsible for collecting zakat, taxes, and customs duties while ensuring the highest levels of taxpayer compliance in line with international best practices.

In addition, ZATCA oversees and regulates all activities related to ports and customs operations, aiming to maximize compliance, productivity, and competitiveness. Through this mandate, the Authority plays a central role in supporting the Kingdom’s ambition to become a global logistics hub—facilitating trade while safeguarding national security.

Goal

ZATCA sought a comprehensive and independent evaluation of its performance management system across all five core capability areas: Strategic Planning, Performance Measurement, Performance Improvement, Employee Performance Management, and Performance Culture.

The objective was to obtain an integrated maturity assessment and translate it into actionable outputs, including a detailed audit report, an executive dashboard, and a structured improvement roadmap supported by visual infographics. Beyond measurement, the goal was to gain a clear, evidence-based understanding of organizational maturity, benchmark performance against international best practices, and position ZATCA among top-performing public sector entities.

Story

The GPA Unit conducted an Integrated Performance Management System Maturity Assessment for ZATCA—one of the most comprehensive evaluations within its Saudi public sector portfolio. The methodology combined evidence-based analysis, perception-based insights, and structured interviews across all five capability areas: Strategic Planning, Performance Measurement, Performance Improvement, Performance Culture, and Employee Performance Management.

The findings revealed an organisation operating well beyond foundational compliance. Across all five modules, ZATCA demonstrated advanced, deeply embedded practices. KPIs were tightly aligned with strategic objectives, while Business Intelligence tools enabled real-time dashboards and automated data collection. A strong performance culture was evident, with innovation and continuous learning actively encouraged across all levels of the organisation.

Performance improvement processes were dynamic and data-driven, and employee performance management was built on participatory planning, fair evaluation, and a balanced recognition system.

The overall result placed ZATCA at Level V – Optimized, the highest level on the five-point maturity scale, across all five capabilities assessed. This positioned the Authority among the top-performing government entities evaluated by the GPA Unit, with particular distinction in Performance Measurement—the strongest capability identified.

Key Numbers

300+ 

assessment items evaluated across five capability areas

35 

assessment days

6 

awards received at the Performance Excellence Forum & Awards Gala

5 

capabilities assessed: Strategic Planning, Performance Measurement, Performance Improvement, Performance Culture, and Employee Performance Management

Client & Expert Feedback

“ZATCA demonstrates advanced maturity in strategy and performance management, ranking among the top government entities we’ve assessed. Its strengths across strategic planning, measurement and improvement, combined with robust employee performance practices and a deeply embedded performance culture, highlight a disciplined, enterprise-wide commitment to excellence.”
— Doina Popovici, Head of Assessment & Accreditation Services, Global Performance Audit Unit

Key Lessons

1. Trust is built through transparency
   Revenue authorities operate on public trust—and trust depends on transparency. ZATCA’s strong performance culture reflects an institution that recognizes its accountability mandate: when citizens and businesses are required to comply, the institution itself must be measurable, transparent, and open.
2. Structural transformation can accelerate maturity
   The merger of zakat, tax, and customs functions could have resulted in fragmentation. Instead, ZATCA leveraged this transformation to build a unified, integrated performance system—turning organisational change into a catalyst for maturity.
3. Measurement becomes powerful when it serves leadership
   ZATCA’s strongest capability—Performance Measurement—was not driven by reporting for its own sake, but by aligning every KPI with strategic objectives and enabling decision-making through real-time Business Intelligence. This marks the shift from measurement as a function to measurement as a leadership instrument.