Muscat: Effective 1st of July, the Tax Authority began receiving the first set of Value Added Tax (VAT) returns, via their website for a period of 30 days. The quarterly tax return for VAT registrants covers the added value of imports, accruals, deductibles, due tax and refundable tax credits.

The Tax Authority has issued an advisory guide through which it explained the mechanism of presenting tax returns for VAT registrants, as well as terms for tax refund, rectification of submitted tax returns and ways of maintaining tax registers and bills. The Tax Authority underscored the significance of taxpayers presenting their disclosures in time to avoid penalties stated in the VAT Law’s Article 101, which penalizes anyone who fails to submit the tax return or presents false data or commits any other violations stated in the law.

With effect from July 1, the Tax Authority started receiving registrations of merchants and service providers committed to paying the VAT from among those whose baseline annual imports or expected imports range between RO 250,000 and RO 499,999.

The Tax Authority also confirmed that, starting December, it will begin imposing compulsory registration for those whose annual imports or expected imports reach a minimum of RO 38,500. Businesses or other commercial entities with annual or expected imports range between RO 19,250 and 38,499 have a right to apply for optional VAT registration.