Section 9: Persons liable for payment of tax and their obligations

Article 33: Persons liable for payment of tax

1. Within the Lebanese territory:

According to the provisions of this law, the taxable person and his legal successors are liable to the tax provided that the supply of goods and services, performed by him, are also taxable.

If the taxable person is non-resident in Lebanon, then his fiscal representative is liable to the tax, pursuant to article 40 of this law. In case the taxable person does not appoint a fiscal representative, then the contracting party is liable for the tax.

2. At import

The importer or the person treated as such is liable to the tax.

Article 34: Scope of the obligations

The obligations, provided for in this section, are applied to:

a) The taxable person specified in article 3 of this law.

b) Persons who perform exempted transactions that allow the right of deduction, as mentioned in article 28(1) item 2 of this law.

Article 35:  Registration and periodical returns 

Every taxable person shall submit:

1. A registration request to the administration of the value-added tax: within 2 months starting from the last day of the quarter where the conditions for being taxable are available.

2. A deregistration request: within 2 months from the end of the calendar year where the conditions for being taxable are not available.

3. Periodical tax return: within 20 days from the end of the tax period as determined in article 26 of this law including, if necessary, the amount of the deductible tax.

The requests and returns shall be submitted to the competent tax authority on paper or/and electronic forms prescribed for this purpose.

Article 36: Accounting obligations

The method of keeping and organizing the necessary accounting documents, adopted by the taxable person, is to be regulated by a decision of the Minister of Finance enabling the application and control of the tax.

Article 37: Retention of records, invoices, and other accounting documents

The taxable person shall retain the records, invoices and other accounting documents for a period of 4 years from the end of the calendar year through which the tax has arisen.

Article 38: Issuance of the tax invoice

Every taxable person shall issue an invoice, or other document serving as an invoice in respect of all goods and services supplied by him to another person.

The invoice shall at least state clearly the following:

1. The name, address, and registration number of the supplier of goods or services at the Ministry of Finance.

2. The name and address of the person for the interest of whom the invoice has been issued.

3. The description of the supply of goods and services.

4. The serial number and date of the invoice.

5. The due amount for the supply of goods and services.

6. The tax chargeable with the applied tax rate.

Article 39: Payment of tax

The tax shall be paid, all at once, within the deadline of the periodical tax return i.e. within 20 days from the end of each tax period, covering the taxable transactions fulfilled through the mentioned period, after deducting the value of the deductible tax.

In case of charging additional or supplementary amounts, the tax shall be paid according to reassessments notes within one month from the date of notification of these assessments notes to the taxable persons.

The tax shall be paid to any of the accepted private banks or its operative branches in Lebanon, according to rules appointed by the Minister of Finance.

Article 40: Non-residents

When the taxable person does not have a real or elected establishment in Lebanon, he shall appoint a fiscal representative who resides in Lebanon before carrying out any transaction in Lebanon, and this appointment is subject to the tax authority approval according to rules determined by the Minister of Finance.

This fiscal representative shall be held jointly and severally liable for payment of the tax and penalties resultant from the taxable transactions, and he shall be responsible, instead of his mandatory, of all the required obligations provided for in this law.

Article 41: Obligations at import

The same rules and forms provided for in the customs legislation shall be applied to the tax declaration at import.

The tax is paid at the time when the merchandises are placed in the domestic consumption according to the rules provided for in the customs legislation.

The collection of the tax will be banned temporarily in all customs situations where the duties are temporarily suspended according to the rules provided for in the customs legislation.