Glossary
Common terms used in Bahamas VAT compliance.
A
Audit Trail
A chronological record of all changes made to transactions, categories, and VAT returns in CoralLedger Comply. The trail is kept in two complementary surfaces: the per-business log (/reports/audit) and the cross-tenant viewer (/ops/audit, PlatformAdmin only). See Audit Trail.
Attestation Lifecycle (§32 admin)
The persistent record that a BICA-licensed practitioner has accepted the §32 attestation body text for a specific client. Has its own state machine (Active → Superseded / VoidedByAssignmentChange) and is distinct from the per-return Signatory Capacity Declaration captured at filing time. Required for §3 restricted-segment clients. See §32 Attestation Overview.
Awaiting Lodgement
The displayed label for the AwaitingDirConfirmation state — the return's artefacts (PDF / XML / Excel / Form 301) are generated and you now record the DIR lodgement externally. See the VAT Returns lifecycle.
B
Bad Debt Relief
A provision (VAT Act s. 53(3)) allowing businesses to claim back VAT on supplies they have written off as bad debts in their accounts. CoralLedger Comply surfaces long-outstanding debts (more than 12 months) as candidates to review and write off.
Breadbasket Items
Essential food items eligible for the reduced 5% VAT rate when sold by licensed food stores.
C
Construction VAT
The reverse charge mechanism for construction services exceeding $1 million. Part of the 2025 VAT reforms.
Comptroller
The Comptroller of the Department of Inland Revenue, responsible for VAT administration in The Bahamas.
Compliance Score
A grade (A+ to F) indicating your VAT compliance health based on categorization accuracy, filing timeliness, documentation, and anomaly resolution.
D
DIR
Department of Inland Revenue - the government agency responsible for tax collection including VAT.
DIR Acknowledgement
The user-captured record in Comply that confirms a return has been lodged with the DIR. Recorded in the Record DIR Acknowledgement dialog with date, method (DIR Online Portal / Walked into DIR Office / Authorised Agent / Other), optional reference number, and an acknowledgement checkbox. See Record DIR Acknowledgement.
E
Exempt Supply
Goods or services that are outside the VAT system. No VAT is charged and no input VAT can be recovered.
F
Filing Wizard
The 5-step in-app flow that finalises a VAT return — Transaction Review → VAT Validation → Document Generation → Approval (§61 acknowledgement + signatory capture) → Submission. See Filing Wizard.
Food Store License
A licensed food store qualification for VAT purposes.
In current Bahamas food-safety law, food-business registration and oversight sit with the Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority (BAHFSA), not the Ministry of Health. See Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority Act, 2016, s. 4; Food Safety and Quality Act, 2016, ss. 25-27.
I
Input VAT
VAT paid by a business on purchases that can be claimed as a credit against output VAT.
Immutable Audit Ledger
The append-only audit trail surface backed by IImmutableAuditLedgerService. Every regulatorily significant event in Comply (filing initiation, lodgement, attestation lifecycle, etc.) writes to this ledger. See Audit Trail.
Invoice
A document recording a taxable supply, which must include specific information for VAT purposes.
L
Lodged
The displayed label for the Lodged state — DIR Acknowledgement has been captured and RETURN_LODGED_WITH_DIR written to the audit ledger. For payable returns the next state is Lodged & Paid after payment is recorded; for credit/zero returns the state advances automatically. See the VAT Returns lifecycle and Record DIR Acknowledgement.
Lodged & Paid
The terminal state for a payable return — cumulative payments equal or exceed the Net VAT due. Credit/zero returns reach this state automatically immediately after Lodged per the VR-STATE-001 invariant.
O
Output VAT
VAT collected by a business on sales that must be remitted to the Comptroller.
P
Pending Re-attestation
A KPI surfaced on the Firm Portal landing that counts clients whose (client, practitioner) pair has no Active §32 attestation, or whose existing attestation's body-text version hash has drifted. Clicking the KPI navigates to the filtered client grid for triage. See Firm Portal.
Practitioner of Record
The BICA-licensed practitioner holding an Active §32 attestation for a client business. Determined by a correlated EXISTS check across ClientAssignment (active workload) AND Attestation (active regulatory authority) — both gates must pass. See §32 Attestation Overview and Practitioner Revocation Gate.
R
Refund Eligibility
Businesses where 50% or more of supplies are zero-rated may be eligible for VAT refunds. CoralLedger Comply monitors this threshold.
Registrant
A business registered for VAT with the Department of Inland Revenue.
Restricted Segment (§3)
A client classification (per Julian's CLR memorandum §3) requiring an active §32 attestation before returns can be lodged — typically construction with retention, retainer-billed services, SaaS subscription, real-estate developers. §3 here refers to the internal CLR memo section, not §3 of the VAT Act. See §32 Attestation Overview.
S
Signatory Capacity Declaration
The per-return capture inside the Filing Wizard's Approval step where the user records who is signing this specific return and in what capacity (RegisteredTaxpayer, BicaLicensedPractitioner, AuthorisedEmployee, AuthorisedAgent). Distinct from the persistent §32 Attestation Lifecycle. See Filing Wizard — Step 4 Approval.
Standard Rate
The default VAT rate of 10% applied to most taxable supplies in The Bahamas.
T
Tax Invoice
A formal invoice that includes all VAT-required information: seller details, buyer details, TIN, VAT number, itemized amounts, VAT calculations, and total.
TIN
Tax Identification Number - a unique number assigned to businesses by the Comptroller.
Taxable Supply
A supply of goods or services that is subject to VAT (at 10%, 5%, or 0%).
V
VAT
Value Added Tax - a consumption tax on the supply of goods and services.
VAT Number
A registration number assigned to VAT-registered businesses.
VAT Period
The time period covered by a VAT return (monthly or quarterly).
VAT Return
A periodic report submitted to the DIR summarizing taxable supplies and VAT collected/paid.
V
VR-STATE-001
The regulatory invariant (Julian-approved 2026-05-25) that every VAT return — including credit and zero-balance returns — must transition through the Lodged state before reaching Lodged & Paid. The Lodged event always produces a clean RETURN_LODGED_WITH_DIR audit row before any auto-advance to Lodged & Paid runs.
W
WORM
Write Once Read Many — a data storage compliance standard ensuring records cannot be modified or deleted after creation. CoralLedger Comply's ImmutableAuditEntry table is treated as append-only by the application layer; database-level WORM enforcement depends on operator configuration. See Audit Trail.
Z
Zero-Rated Supply
A taxable supply where VAT is charged at 0%, but input VAT can still be recovered.