Excise Tax Introduced at Dubai Airports – UAE Government
- Dubai Duty Free (DDF) confirmed that both departing and arriving passengers at Dubai’s airports will pay an excise tax
- Passengers at Dubai’s Airports will pay 50% tax on carbonated drinks and 100% tax on energy drinks
- Excise duty will only be charged on tobacco if the buyer exceeds the current allowance of 400 cigarettes, in which case 100% excise duty will be charged on the excess
- Dubai Duty Free expects to see an uplift in its sales of tobacco products as a result of the tax, as DDF customers will only be taxed if they buy over 400 cigarettes
- Excise tax is usually charged on a specific product, and is a flat tax that is added to total sale price of the product
- From 1st October, 2017, UAE implemented excise tax on aerated and energy drinks, of 50% and 100% respectively
- A total of 1610 commodities are subject to the UAE’s new excise tax, of which 60% are soft drinks, tobacco products are 26% and energy drinks make up 14%
- UAE Government hopes pushing up prices will encourage people to turn away from unhealthy products like cigarettes and fizzy drinks
- Businesses in UAE have to register for excise tax if their products come under soft drinks, energy drinks, or tobacco, as per the Federal Decree Law No. 7 of 2017 on Excise Tax