Bahrain Court Sentences Business Owner to 5 Years for VAT Evasion

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

The High Criminal Court in Bahrain has sentenced a businessman to five years in prison and fined him BHD 247,559.551 for evading value-added tax (VAT). The court also ordered him to repay the full amount of unpaid tax and deport him after completing his sentence.

The case involves the owner of a chain of food retail stores who was found guilty of evading VAT by submitting false documents to the National Bureau for Revenue (NBR) and failing to maintain proper transaction and import records.

The accused did not appear in court despite being notified, and was represented by his lawyer during the proceedings. The Public Prosecution charged him, in his capacity as the owner of the business, with deliberately evading VAT payments due from his company and its branches after the legally specified deadlines.

Investigations revealed that the defendant submitted inaccurate tax returns, deliberately understating payable amounts to avoid tax obligations. He was also found to have unlawfully deducted VAT inputs, failed to issue tax invoices for taxable transactions, and neglected to maintain proper financial records and documentation.

The case came to light following a complaint submitted through the “Tawasul” app, alleging tax evasion. Authorities conducted inspections at the company’s branches and discovered multiple violations, including failure to issue tax invoices, improper pricing methods, and incomplete reporting of sales and revenues in tax filings.

The matter was subsequently referred to the Tax Evasion Crimes Unit under the Financial Crimes and Money Laundering Prosecution. Following a detailed investigation, authorities obtained access to the defendant’s bank accounts and reviewed relevant documents and testimonies from NBR officials.

Evidence confirmed that the businessman had submitted false documentation, improperly claimed VAT deductions, failed to issue invoices, and did not maintain organized accounting records related to imports and services—ultimately leading to proven charges of tax evasion.