VALUE ADDED TAX LAW - databank.com.lb

1 VAT Lebanon law REPUBLIC OF LEBANON. MINISTRY OF FINANCE. VAT. VALUE ADDED TAX. LAW. December 2001. 1. VAT Lebanon law VAT law Contents Article Section 1: Introduction of the VALUE ADDED tax Introduction of the VALUE ADDED tax .. 1. Section 2: Scope of the tax Taxable transactions .. 2. Taxable persons .. 3. Computation of the turnover .. 4. Persons and transactions outside the scope of the tax .. 5. Supply of goods .. 6. Goods considered as tangible property .. 7. Self-supply of goods by a taxable person .. 8. Transfer of a going concern.

2 9. Supply of services .. 10. Self-supply of services by a taxable person .. 11. The intermediate .. 12. Place of supply of goods .. 13. Place of supply of services .. 14. Import transactions .. 15. Section 3: Exemptions from the tax Sub-section 1: Exemptions within the Lebanese territory Exempted activities .. 16. Exempted 17. Sub-section 2: Exemptions at import Exemptions at import .. 18. Sub-section 3: Exemption of exports, like transactions, international transport and some of the intermediates operations Exemption of exports and like transactions.

3 19. Exemption of international transport .. 20. Exemption of some of the intermediates operations .. 21. Section 4: Due date of tax Due date of tax .. 22. Section 5: Taxable base Taxable base within the country .. 23. Taxable base at import .. 24. 2. VAT Lebanon law Section 6: Tax rate Tax rate .. 25. Section 7: Tax period Tax period .. 26. Section 8: Deductions The right to deduct .. 27. The deductible tax .. 28. Rules governing the right to deduct .. 29. The excess of deductible tax .. 30. The right to deduct partially.

4 31. Adjustments of deductions .. 32. Section 9: Persons liable to tax and their obligations Persons liable for payment of tax .. 33. Scope of the obligations .. 34. Registration and periodical returns .. 35. Accounting obligations .. 36. Retention of records, invoices and other accounting documents ..37. Issuance of the tax invoice .. 38. Payment of tax .. 39. Non-residents .. 40. Obligations at import .. 41. Section 10: Travel agencies transactions Travel agencies transactions .. 42. Section 11: Control Rules of control.

5 43. Professional confidentiality .. 44. Cases and rules governing the direct assessment of the tax ..45. Section 12: Collection of tax Collection of the tax within the Lebanese territory .. 46. Collection of the tax at import .. 47. Section 13: Offences and penalties Offences and penalties .. 48. 3. VAT Lebanon law Section 14: Recovery of tax Recovery of tax .. 49. Section 15: Objections and appeals Rules governing the objections and appeals within the Lebanese territory ..50. Rules governing the objections and appeals at import.

6 51. Section 16: Time limits Time limits .. 52. Section 17: Miscellaneous provisions Stamp duties .. 53. Perishable amounts .. 54. Abrogation of indirect taxes .. 55. Administration of the VAT .. 56. Transitional provisions .. 57. Section 18: Executionary provisions Special cases of restitution of tax .. 58. Special cases of restitution of tax regarding exempt transactions .. 59. Other special cases .. 60. Other .. 61. Details of application of the law .. 62. Effectiveness of the law .. 63. 4. VAT Lebanon law Section 1: Introduction of the VALUE ADDED tax Article 1: Introduction of the VALUE ADDED tax An introductory tax called the VALUE - ADDED tax is charged, paid and collected in accordance with the provisions of this law.

7 The expression Tax , whenever mentioned in this law, means the VALUE - ADDED tax. The expression Lebanese territory or Lebanon , whenever mentioned in this law, means the Lebanese territorial lands, atmospheres and waters. Section 2: Scope of the tax Article 2: Taxable supplies Are subject to the tax: 1- The supply of goods and services carried out by a taxable person, for consideration, within the Lebanese territory. The transactions provided for in articles 8 & 11 of this law are considered as a supply of goods and services for consideration.

8 2- Import transactions undertaken by any person, whether that person is taxable or not. Article 3: Taxable persons A taxable person is every natural or juridical person who, in the course of an independent economic activity, performs taxable supplies of goods and services or exempted supplies with the right of deduction (zero-rated) in accordance with the provisions of this law, providing that he achieves a total turnover covering four successive quarters that exceeds 500 million LBP. The persons, whose turnover varies between 150 million LBP and 500 million LBP, may voluntarily apply for being taxable.

9 In order to preserve the competitiveness of the market, the Minister of Finance may lower the turnover specified above below 150 million LBP. Article 4: Computation of the turnover The turnover mentioned in article 3 of this law is composed of the following amounts: - The VALUE of the taxable transactions, excluding VAT;. - The VALUE of the transactions provided for in articles19, 20 and 21 of this law. - The VALUE of the transactions provided for in articles 16 and 17 of this law. The calculation of this turnover does not take into consideration: - The VALUE of transfer of capital assets.

10 5. VAT Lebanon law Article 5: Persons and transactions outside the scope of the tax The transactions dealing with non-built lands are outside the scope of the tax Are also outside the scope of the tax the State, municipalities and other public bodies regarding the transactions they perform when acting as a public authority, even if these transactions are paid for by fees or subscriptions, except for the following transactions that are always taxable: - Renting out private properties - Communication - Water and electricity - Audiovisual media - Consumer markets, slaughterhouses, and warehouses - Tobacco - Car parking - Seaports and airports - Co-ops Article 6: Supply of goods For the purposes of this law, the supply of goods means the transfer by the taxable person of the right to dispose, as an owner, of a movable or immovable tangible property, such as a sale or a barter.