According to a release from the Bahrain News Agency, Bahrain is committed to implementing value added tax (VAT) in 2018 within the framework of the joint commitment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. The Ministry of Finance will take all procedures in cooperation with the legislative branch to approve the VAT law, prepare the private sector and the commercial institutions, and ensure provision of the needed logistic and technical preparations. It is expected that Bahrain will launch its VAT regime around July 2018.