UAE Excise Tax: What Changed and How to Comply

Excise tax is an indirect tax on specific goods considered harmful to health. If you import, produce or store these goods, you may have registration, return and record-keeping obligations.

Excise goods and rates (Cabinet Decision No. 197 of 2025, effective 1 January 2026)

Carbonated drinks were abolished as a separate category from 1 January 2026; if sweetened, they fall under the tiered model.

Who must register?

According to the Federal Tax Authority, anyone carrying out, or intending to carry out, any of these activities must register:

• Importing excise goods into the UAE
• Producing excise goods in the UAE
• Releasing excise goods from a Designated Zone
• Stockpiling excise goods in the UAE for business purposes in certain cases, where excise tax has not previously been paid

There is no registration threshold; the application is due within 30 days of the end of the month in which the activity started or the intention formed. Anyone operating a Designated Zone (an excise warehouse) registers as a Warehouse Keeper.

How EQRAR helps

• Excise tax registration: we register your business with the Federal Tax Authority and prepare the required documents.
• Return filing: we prepare and file your excise tax returns on time, with the related inventory, purchase and sales records organised.
• Advisory: we explain your obligations and how changes affect your business.