Manama: The National Bureau for Revenue (NBR), in its ongoing commitment to enforce Value Added Tax (VAT) law provisions, has referred several VAT evasion cases to the Public Prosecution. These cases involve the non-payment of amounts due to the NBR for taxable supplies of goods or services.
According to Bahrain News Agency, these referrals are made according to Article (63) Clause (2) of the VAT Law. The NBR found that several VAT-registered entities had collected VAT from customers for taxable supplies of goods or services and declared these amounts in their returns to the NBR, but failed to remit them for more than 120 days from the legal due date. The total evaded amount referred to the Public Prosecution exceeds BHD 160,000.
The NBR emphasised that failing to submit a VAT return and pay the due amount within 120 days of the legal deadline constitutes a VAT evasion offence. This is punishable by law with imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of up to three times the evaded amount. Furthermore, a legal entity can be fined six times the evaded VAT amount, following Article (64) of the VAT Law.