Federal Taxes begins executive procedures to expand selective tax to include sweetened beverages and electronic smoking devices and liquids

The Federal Tax Authority has initiated the executive procedures of the Council of Ministers' decision on "Selective Commodities, Tax Rates and How to Calculate the Selective Price" issued during the month of August, extending the scope of the goods to which the selective tax is applied to include electronic smoking devices and liquids. Sweetened beverages, which will come into force in early January 2020, in addition to tobacco and its products, energy drinks and soft drinks, which began to apply the selective tax from the beginning of October 2017.

The new decision comes as part of the government's continuous efforts to promote healthy lifestyles for the UAE community to reduce diseases related to the consumption of goods harmful to human health, within the framework of the UAE Vision 2021, which aims to make the UAE among the best countries in the world.

As a first stage, the TRA called on all producers, importers, and stores of sugar-sweetened beverages to register with the Authority for selective tax purposes and to abide by the decision aimed at the public interest, noting that the selective tax is an indirect tax imposed on certain harmful goods to reduce consumption.

She explained that within the framework of the basic procedures to implement the decision of the Council of Ministers to expand the scope of selective goods, the Federal Tax Authority modernized and developed the electronic registration system, which is characterized by ease and speed of procedures, in order to add the goods covered by the new decision of the Council of Ministers in this regard, and to facilitate the business sectors concerned to complete the process Registration in the selective tax system without obstacles.

In addition to the updates that have been made to the registration systems, the TRA has implemented a new mechanism for registering selective commodities from August 18th, and called on all concerned business sectors including producers, importers and stockpiles of selective commodities to register all these traded goods. Through the new system.

Pursuant to the Council of Ministers' decision to expand the scope of the goods to which the selective tax is applied to include electronic smoking devices and devices, liquids used in those devices, and drinks sweetened with added sugar, the Federal Tax Authority in the first phase called on all concerned with sweetened beverages to be registered in the new system launched by the Authority, This will be followed by the announcement of the second stage, which includes the registration of those concerned with electronic smoking devices and liquids.

According to the decision, the Federal Tax Authority determines the procedures necessary to prove the classification of any product to ensure that it is a selective commodity.

The Director General of the Federal Tax Authority, Khalid Ali Bustani, said that the Authority has developed a comprehensive multi-track plan with the aim of ensuring the accurate and smooth implementation of the decision of the Council of Ministers. In addition to the updates that have been made to the registration systems, and the application of the new mechanism for the registration of selective goods, the Authority has prepared a set of guides Which describes the mechanisms and criteria for the application of selective tax on electronic smoking devices and devices, and the liquids used in those devices, and drinks sweetened with added sugar, as well as simplified methods necessary to complete the registration process, whether subject In addition to initiating a comprehensive awareness campaign with workshops and introductory seminars for stakeholders on the executive procedures in light of the new decision throughout the country.