Federal Tax Authority rolls out new electronic system for excise registration

The tax authority urges relevant businesses to register their excise goods in the new system

Excise tax was introduced across the UAE in 2017 on carbonated drinks, tobacco products and energy drinks. Ravindranath K / The National

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) rolled out a new electronic system for registering excise goods and new reporting requirements related to excise tax returns and declarations.

The FTA called on all businesses dealing with excise goods, which are products that are taxed at the point of manufacture rather than sale, to follow the new process of registering excise goods online and to submit all of the required documents.

The requirements are clarified in new guides and request businesses submit products details, ingredients, marketing information including images and videos, lab tests in some cases and the retail price of the product based on UAE retailers or the relevant country in cases where products are not sold in the UAE.

The authority also urged the taxable entities to comply with the new tax return forms and reporting requirements including import, produce, release from designated zones and local purchase scenarios, which ensures increased transparency and accuracy, FTA said.

Excise tax was introduced across the UAE in 2017 on carbonated drinks, tobacco products and energy drinks to boost revenue of the government following a slump in oil prices. Carbonated drinks are subject to 50 per cent excise tax, 100 per cent for tobacco products and 100 per cent on energy drinks.

The FTA further clarified that any person who produces or imports an excise good to be sold in local markets is subject to excise tax, as is any person who stores said goods or releases them from a designated area in the UAE.

The FTA also clarified that there is no threshold for excise tax, meaning that any business with activities involving excise goods is required to register in the new system and calculate its tax amounts.

New manuals were published with instructions on how to register excise goods in the new system and comply with the new reporting requirements, the FTA said.