Expat faces fine, jail term and deportation for tax evasion

Muscat: An expat has been fined OMR 1,000, imprisoned for a month and will be deported from the Sultanate of Oman for non-adherence to submit tax returns.

"The Court of First Instance in the Wilayat of Al Buraimi recently issued a court ruling against one of the companies operating in the Sultanate of Oman that is not obligated to submit tax returns for violating the provisions of the Income Tax Law issued by Royal Decree No. 28/2009 and committing a misdemeanor of non-compliance to submit tax returns, " Tax Authority said in a statement.

The Anti-Tax Evasion Department received a notification of financial transactions managed by one of the partners in the company, and by referring to the electronic systems and records of the Tax Authority, it was found that the accused did not file tax returns.

 The judicial control officers conducted investigations, collected evidence and edited the records, and then the case file was referred to the Public Funds and Money Laundering Cases Department of the Public Prosecution to complete the legal procedures. The accused was referred to the competent court.

 The court ruled to convict the accused of a misdemeanor of intentionally refraining from submitting tax returns that must be submitted for any tax year, and sentenced him to one month imprisonment and a fine of OMR 1,000 , along with ordering the deportation of the accused from the country at the end of his sentence and referring the civil claim to the competent civil court.