Manama: The Attorney-General has issued an edict establishing a specialised unit called “Tax Evasion Crimes Unit”.
Affiliated with the Financial Crimes and Money Laundering Prosecution, the new unit will investigate the crimes stipulated in the Value Added Tax Law No. (48) of 2018.
Financial Crimes and Money Laundering Prosecution Advocate Chancellor Nayef Yusef Mahmoud said that the establishment of this unit aims to reinforce the executive procedures regarding the application of the provisions of the law to tackle the cases of tax evasion.
He stressed the importance of establishing a specialised unit to probe such types of crimes and speed up the investigation of the reports related to the violation of the provisions of this law, in line with the requirements of the law for the urgent consideration and referral to the courts.
The Attorney General directed the necessity to verify that the reports fulfill the legal requirements specified in the law and to speed up the completion of investigations and follow up on the court rulings.
“Due to the seriousness of these crimes, the legislator classifies cases of tax evasion as felonies involving breach of honour, incurring a prison sentence of up to five years, in addition to a fine not less than the value of the tax due and up to three times it,” said Chancellor Mahmoud, adding that the law permits reconciliation in these crimes after paying the incurred fines.
