The Finance Ministry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 10th of May 2017 arranged a briefing session in respect of the new Excise Tax Law. Implementation of the UAE Excise Tax Law follows the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministers of Finance approval in principle, of a unified agreement, in June 2016. In accordance with agreement, excise duty will be introduced in the UAE by the fourth quarter of 2017. The other GCC Member States also have a plan to implement the excise tax by the end of 2017. The 5 per cent excise tax is to be implemented across the GCC countries by 2018. The UAE government has proposed a 50 per cent excise tax on carbonated drinks, and a 100 per cent tax on energy drinks, tobacco and tobacco products. The importer will need to pay the accurate amount of excise tax to the tax authority before discharging the goods from the designated storage area. The final excise tax law is expected to be published before the end of June.
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