The Federal Tax Authority stated that there were no violations on the sales outlets that applied the selective tax on sweetened drinks as of December 1, 2019, or waited for a period of application, as long as the amount of the stock is not considered “surplus” in accordance with the provisions of the selective tax law.

Consumers said to «Emirates Today» that the outlets applied the selective tax on sweetened drinks since the first of December 2019, and raised their prices by 50%, at a time when other outlets continued to sell according to the old prices, until the stock ran out, noting that the tax was applied On the first of December means that some outlets offered sweetened drinks stored in them, according to the new prices.

Tax application

In detail, the consumer Ali Al Hammadi said that he noticed that sales outlets and cooperative societies have applied the selective tax on sweetened drinks since December 1, 2019, and raised their prices by 50%, while other outlets added the tax after a period of up to weeks after the tax began to be applied.

Al-Hammadi asked whether this is considered manipulation that requires violating the sales outlets that applied the tax as of the first of the first of December, considering that sweetened drinks are stored with them, and they must be sold according to the old prices.

In turn, the consumer, Aya Al-Shenawi, said that she also noticed a variation in the prices of sweetened drinks at the sales outlets, after a long period of application of the tax, noting that some outlets applied the tax on December 1, 2019, while other outlets continued to offer sweetened drinks at old prices, for a period Not short before you start your new quote.

Al-Shennawi called on the supervisory authorities to impose fines on violating outlets to regulate the market and protect consumers.

As for the consumer Hassan Al-Amir, he considered the policies of the sales outlets in applying the selective tax on sweetened drinks to raise questions, given the difference in the date of application between them.

He stressed that this created question marks for consumers about the correctness of the position of the outlets in both cases, noting that he had not submitted a complaint to the Consumer Protection Department until he had verified the situation.

No violations

In addition, the Federal Tax Authority confirmed that there are no violations by the sales outlets in both cases, given that selective tax legislation allows any person with a commercial stock of selective goods, not to register as a store of selective goods, or pay the tax for a specific amount equivalent to his stock and sales in A year before application, as long as this amount is not considered “surplus” according to the provisions of Article (11) of Cabinet Resolution No. (37) for the year 2017 regarding the executive regulations of Federal Decree No. (7) of 2017 regarding selective tax, in the context of Obligations of the sweetened drink store Electronic smoking devices, devices and tools and the liquids used in them, which are stored for business purposes as of December 1, 2019, the date of the entry of Cabinet Resolution No. (52) for the year 2019 regarding selective goods and tax rates imposed on them, and how the selective price is calculated, into effect.

Store goods

In its response to the Emirates Today’s questions, the authority clarified that before the Cabinet Resolution No. (52) of 2019 entered into force, any store of sweetened beverages for business purposes on December 1, 2019, should consider whether that stock was considered “excess” », Which results in his classification as a person stored for the purposes of selective tax.

And the classification of the person as a stockpile of selective goods entails his obligation to be registered for the purposes of the selective tax, as of December 1, 2019, and to pay the tax due from the excess stock that was available to him on this date.

Storage standards

Regarding the criteria by which sweetened drinks or other selective goods are considered as stored, the Federal Tax Agency stated that selective goods are considered stored in the state if they are held in free circulation in the state, with the intention of selling them in the context of doing business, provided that the selective tax is not These commodities were previously paid for, and their payment, return, or postponement were not exempt, and the selective goods stored were “surplus” goods.

Surplus goods

The commission clarified that there are legal conditions that must be met to classify selective goods as “surplus”, since the goods must be owned by a person on the first of December 2019, the date of the tax application’s entry into force, and that these goods have been previously owned A person who is stored before this date, and that the goods are intended to be sold by the person in the course of doing business, and that the stock is greater than the average of the monthly stock or twice the average monthly sale that is calculated by referring to the 12-month period prior to the first of December 2019, which is Between December 1, 2018 and November 30, 2019.

Variation in the application

The official at a large outlet, Mohamed Al-Asaad, said that the outlet waited for his stock of sweetened drinks to run out and then applied the selective tax on the new incoming goods.

As for the official in a sales outlet (A.A.), he saw that the selective tax applies from December 1, 2019, regardless of whether the drinks are stored or not, explaining that he had contacted with other sales outlets and officials of the Federal Tax Authority about that.

Consumers: The tax application on the first of December means that the sales outlet displays the stored drinks according to the new prices.

The Commission: There are conditions that must be met to classify selective goods as “surplus”.