Bahrain Mirror: Information Affairs Minister Ali bin Mohammed Al-Romaihi today held a press conference at the Information Affairs Ministry, attended by Finance Undersecretary Arif Khamis and local newspapers editors in chief and journalists, to cast light on the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) unified VAT agreement and the GCC's unified agreement on selective taxation.

According to Bahrain News Agency (BNA), Khamis said that "the tax will not affect persons with low or middle incomes, and that the list of commodities comprises more than 90 items while basic consumer commodities are exempted." 

He further noted that the minister said the agreements will not be considered as an income tax, but will be applied to goods and services at 5%, whereas basic food commodities, medicines and medical supplies have been exempted, stressing that the applied percentage in Bahrain is the lowest among more than 150 countries adopting it.

Moreover, the Finance Undersecretary noted that an independent taxation apparatus might be responsible for this before the Council of Representatives.

Arabic Version