English translation published by the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission. The Arabic text published in the Official Gazette remains the legal reference in the event of any discrepancy.
A Taxable Person must maintain organised records, Tax Invoices and accounting books concerning Imports and Supplies and provide them to the NBR on request. The Regulations set types, periods, controls and storage conditions.
Taxable Persons, finance teams and advisers applying this Article to a Bahrain VAT position.
Record retention requires a traceable link between transactions, invoices and returns, with reliable retrieval on request.
Current text
Application steps
- 1
Map required record types and retention periods.
- 2
Test retrieval and links to the return.
- 3
Protect copies and track changes and access rights.
Connected provisions
Official guides and tools
Connected Madar tools
Invoice without an audit trail
Keeping the invoice alone may not explain a Return figure. The record set should connect the transaction, accounting entry, Tax Invoice, calculation and Return disclosure.
Questions to help you apply it
- Which records and periods apply?
- Can the transaction be reconstructed from retained evidence?