Bahrain introduced VAT from 1 January 2019.
It is the third of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states to do so. This follows the 2016 Unified VAT Agreement for the GCC states, which established the basis of a harmonised VAT union across the states. Bahrain, and the other states, agreed to implement the key principles of the Agreement into their domestic VAT legislation, although there is some scope for variations on taxable supplies.
Generally, Bahrain follows the terms of the Agreement, including the harmonised standard VAT rate of 5%, but has a wider range of zero and reduced VAT rates to provide subsidies to the less well off in society.
