Bahrain - More than 700 inspection visits were carried out in the first half of this year, to ensure compliance with Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise regulations.

The National Bureau for Revenue (NBR) said yesterday that it had conducted 724 inspection visits across local markets during the period, registering 71 VAT-related and eight excise violations.

“The most frequently reported violation was the failure to comply with the conditions for issuing VAT invoices, in addition to other violations such as failure to show prices inclusive of VAT, failure to display a VAT certificate in a visible location, failure to issue VAT invoices and issuance of VAT invoices on non-VATable supplies,” added a statement.

In addition, eight violations related to unpaid excise duties on excise goods were recorded.

Of the 79 total violations, 43 related to failure to comply with the conditions for issuing VAT invoices.

Failure to show prices inclusive of VAT accounted for 16 violations, while eight fines each were imposed for acquisition of excise goods with unpaid excise dues and failure to display a VAT certificate in a location.

Failure to issue VAT invoices resulted in three fines, while issuance of VAT invoices on supplies not eligible for VAT accounted for one fine.

In all the cases, necessary legal action was taken and administrative fines were imposed.

The checks are part of a wider strategy to monitor market practices, protect consumer rights and clamp down on tax evasion.

The bureau noted that confirmed evasion offences are subject to severe penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines reaching three times the VAT amount due, or one year’s imprisonment with fines up to double the evaded excise.

Authorities reiterated the importance of full compliance with tax legislation to ensure the proper implementation of VAT and excise duties. 

The NBR urged the public and businesses to report any violations by contacting the 24/7 call centre on 80008001 or via the National Suggestions & Complaints System (Tawasul).

Further information is available on the NBR website.

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