Bahrain Shura apply brakes on infrastructure levy revamp

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Reported by Mahir Haneef

The Shura Council yesterday decided to return a proposal seeking a new criteria for calculation of infrastructure levy for further study by its subcommittee.

Such a decision was taken after considering and discussing the report submitted by the Public Utilities and Environment Committee regarding the proposal to amend the 2015 Infrastructure Levy Law.

Through the proposal, it was suggested that the infrastructure levy should be calculated on the basis of the area where the property is situated, size of the property, the purpose of construction, size of the roads around the property, accessibility to public services and governmental facilities, etc.

While BD12 per square metre was being collected earlier, with BD5.5 for road and sewage services and BD6.5 for electricity and water services, collection of the levy was later suspended in 2022.

During the discussion yesterday, it was pointed out that no controls for estimation have been mentioned in the proposed law and that it does not take into account the differences between the real estate properties in different regions of the Kingdom. Following the discussion, the Shura Council decided to return the proposed law to the subcommittee for further study.