VAT Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Every single business in the UAE that produces, imports or stockpiles excise goods, or intends to do so, is necessary to register for the Federal Excise Tax UAE.
Excise goods with tax rates are the following:
- Tobacco and tobacco products (100%),
- Energy drinks (100%), and
- Carbonated drinks (50%).
Some will be required to registering excise tax in UAE even when you are not a producer or importer of excise goods. The first one will be if you are a stockpiler of excise goods before the federal excise tax UAE introduction. The next will be if you are not registered for UAE Excise Tax but you are releasing excise goods from a Designated Zone. Taxable activities cannot be carried out by any business unless it has been registered for Excise Tax.
As announced by the government of Dubai, the UAE VAT rate is 5% for all goods and services. This is one of the lowest rates in the world. According to the provisions in the law, there are four exemptions and 14 zero-rated VAT items. There will be more budget for infrastructures and public services through the revenue that will be acquired from the UAE tax. The new tax regime is seen to improve the economy of the State.
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Procedure for Excise Tax Registration
- Every business that is involved in the activities above is required to register. However, an entity may be entitled to a registration exemption in the event that the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) deems it acceptable that you are not regularly importing or releasing excise goods from Designated Zones.
- An entity still needs to register even when it already possesses a Tax Registration Number. A different TRN for UAE Excise Tax will be given when the registration application is successful.
- There can only be one TRN for Excise Tax for one entity. The responsibility of having no duplications in registration lies on you.
- Businesses can register using the Online Excise Tax registration UAE facility provided by Federal Tax Authority
- The excise registration procedure will only take an estimated time of 20 minutes.
- Since the entries that you input are not automatically saved, it is advisable for you to always click the “Save as Draft” every time you add any information on the form.
- If you are inactive for 10 minutes, you will be automatically logged out for data security purposes.
- A TRN for Excise Tax purposes will be provided once the application is approved. This will let you submit your tax returns. Your online excise payment will also be activated so you can pay excise tax online. The services that are related to Excise Tax will be available as well.
Documents Required for the Excise Tax Registration UAE
- Trade License(s) (if applicable)
- Certificate of Incorporation (if applicable)
- Customs number(s) issued by Customs department(s) (if applicable)
- Passport, Emirates ID of the manager, owner, and senior management
- Authorized signatory documents
- Articles of Association/Partnership Agreement/Club or Association Registration/Law or Decree (if applicable)
- Bank Account details
In some cases, the copies of these documents need to be uploaded. The following are the only accepted file types: PDF, JPG, PNG, & JPEG. The individual file size limit is 2 MB.
Important Definitions:
Business: involved in and an ongoing activity/s in any form of the following such as industrial, commercial, professional, trade, etc.
Stockpiler: someone whom or a business that is keeping plenty of excise goods, which the business cannot show has been subject to Excise Taxation.
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