Draft law imposing tax on foreign cash transfers from Bahrain ready

TDT | Manama                                                         

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Finance and Economic Affairs Committee of the Bahrain Shura Council, chaired by Khaled Hussein Al Masqati, has prepared its report on a draft law concerning the tax on foreign cash transfers.

The report was based on the proposed law on foreign cash transfers and the amended version proposed by the House of Representatives, which was submitted in their unified integrated format. The report will be presented to the council’s office for discussion in an upcoming session.

The committee has completed its report, which includes its opinion on the draft law after deliberating on the viewpoints and comments of the committee members. The committee also took into account the opinions of relevant entities, including the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Bahrain Chamber, and representatives of exchange companies.

The committee’s report provides details on the economic, financial, and social dimensions and impacts of the draft law. It includes the opinion of the Shura Council’s Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee, as well as the opinions of the relevant entities that the committee met with. The report also incorporates legal, financial, and economic perspectives and summarises the laws, data, and agreements relevant to the content of the draft law that the committee reviewed.

The draft law on foreign cash transfers, in its first article, imposes a tax of 2% on foreigners on the value of cash amounts they transfer outside the borders of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The second article stipulates that the tax should be paid during the process of transferring cash amounts through licenced financial institutions.

Institutions

The National Revenue Authority is responsible for collecting the tax from these institutions. The third article of the draft law states that “the Minister of Finance and National Economy shall issue the necessary decisions to implement the provisions of this law,” while the fourth article is executive in nature. During the same meeting, the committee discussed its legal and financial opinions on a draft law amending Article 9 of Law No. 58 of 2009 regarding the rights of the elderly.

This amendment was prepared based on the amended version proposed by the House of Representatives. The Finance and Economic Affairs Committee sought the opinions of the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee on this draft law at the request of the Services Committee of the Council.