Registration with the National Bureau for Revenue (NBR) depends on your yearly taxable sales, counting both standard-rated and zero-rated supplies:
- Must register: when those sales go over BD 37,500 a year.
- May register: when your taxable sales or expenses go over BD 18,750 a year.
This applies to individuals as well as companies, and NBR says it covers anyone resident who runs an economic activity, even without a commercial registration and even if the business is run only through social media.
A business based outside Bahrain that sells to people who are not VAT-registered here must register within 30 days of its first taxable sale, whatever the amount.
How: create a profile on the NBR online portal, wait for it to be approved, then apply for VAT registration in the same portal. The form asks for your bank details (IBAN, bank name, account holder, SWIFT code) and your income, expenses, imports and exports for the past and next 12 months. NBR tells you its decision by SMS and email.
Once approved, download the VAT registration certificate from "My Documents" in the portal. It holds your VAT account number and has to be shown clearly at your premises.
NBR's call centre is 80008001.
Steps
- Add up your taxable sales for the last 12 months and expected for the next 12.
- Create a profile on the NBR portal and wait for approval.
- Apply for VAT registration in the portal with bank and financial details.
- Download the VAT certificate from My Documents and display it at your premises.