Further to my previous letter on this subject it would appear (according to the GDN) that personal imports up to the value of BD300 are not going to be subject to VAT either!
Either we decide that the small and medium retail sector in Bahrain is going to have supporting conditions to continue to flourish, in what is already a very depressed business climate, or throw our doors open to increasing Internet purchases which are not benefiting the government in any way and, which within a relatively short period will cause many businesses to fail thus depriving the government coffers of revenue from the taxes and indirect fees imposed for services and utilities, etc.
If a retailer wishes to import a special order for a customer they first of all have to pay a normal post or freight charge and upon arrival they are charged customs, BD50 against production of a Certificate of Origin and now VAT .