Jail and fine upheld for company director who evaded BD35,000 in taxes

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A company director who failed to pay BD35,000 in taxes for more than a year and later blamed Covid-related cash flow issues has lost his appeal against a six-month jail term.

The High Criminal Appeals Court upheld his sentence and ordered him to pay BD70,000, covering both the unpaid tax and the fine.

Prosecutors said he had not settled the value-added tax (VAT) due on taxable services, despite being required to do so within 120 days.

Income

His tax returns, submitted to the National Bureau for Revenue, listed income collected during the relevant periods, yet the outstanding sum of BD35,327.319 remained unpaid.

He admitted to the charge, claiming he had struggled to meet the payments because his business had not received expected earnings during the pandemic.

Investigations showed that the defendant, who owned a sole proprietorship, registered for VAT with the National Bureau for Revenue on 1 July 2019.

Amount

Over the following years, he lodged six tax returns but failed to pay the required amount.

The head of tax revenue at the bureau testified that between 31 October 2021 and 31 January 2023, six further returns were submitted without any VAT being paid, despite the legal deadline having passed.

The case was then passed to the collections department before being referred for legal action.