Manama, October 14th (BNA): The National Bureau for Revenue (NBR) made 260 inspection visits to local markets around the Kingdom of Bahrain in the third quarter of 2025, as part of the NBR’s ongoing commitment to ensuring business compliance with VAT and Excise.
NBR reports 51 violations during 260 market inspections Q3 2025
These visits also aim to maintain market monitoring, assure strong consumer rights protection, and combat VAT and Excise evasion.
The NBR stated that effective market surveillance resulted in 41 VAT infractions being reported, with administrative fines issued in accordance with the law. The most frequently reported violation was failure to comply with the conditions for issuing VAT invoices, followed by failure to show VAT-inclusive prices, failure to display a VAT certificate in a visible location, failure to issue VAT invoices, and issuance of VAT invoices on non-VATable supplies.
To ensure appropriate excise implementation in the local market, the NBR reported ten infractions involving the procurement of excise goods with unpaid excise dues and the delivery of excise goods without a valid and active digital stamp, for which administrative fines were imposed.
The NBR’s increased oversight efforts also resulted in the identification of suspicious cases of VAT and Excise evasion, in which legal action was taken against violators, as well as the reporting of those who are proven to have committed evasion crimes punishable by imprisonment for five years and a fine equivalent to three times the amount of VAT due or imprisonment for one year and a fine equivalent to double the evaded excise.
The NBR emphasized the necessity of following all norms and legislation to guarantee the effective implementation of VAT and Excise. The NBR also encourages all concerned parties to report any infractions by calling the NBR call center at 80008001, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or using the National Suggestions & Complaints System (Tawasul). More information is available on the NBR‘s website, www.nbr.gov.bh.
