Mubasher: Bahrain will be the next GCC country to implement a 5% value-added tax (VAT).
This move comes as part of a framework agreed by the Gulf states, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia have already imposed the tax on payments as of January.
Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain are expected to implement VAT in early 2019 while Kuwait likely to impose it later next year, VAT implementation leader at EY David Stevens said.
“We hope all four will make public announcements as to their intended start dates after Eid Al Adha, so businesses can act with some certainty in their time consuming and essential readiness preparations,” Stevens added, according to the UAE daily Khaleej Times.
Arabian Business earlier said that “consumer spending will dip and price inflation will rise in the immediate aftermath of the introduction of value added taxation (VAT) in Bahrain, according to the head of consultancy EY’s VAT advisory services.”
