GCC Indirect Tax Weekly Digest

UAE developments

FTA issues press release on DTS timeline for additional tobacco products

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has published a press release stating that a new Decision has been issued which sets out the timeline for the implementation of the Digital Tax Stamps (DTS) scheme for water pipe tobacco and electrically heated cigarettes (Designated Excise Goods).

According to the press release, the DTS scheme is to be implemented on Designated Excise Goods as follows:

• 1 November 2019 – Stamps will be available to order by importers or producers of Designated Excise Goods
• 1 March 2020 – it will be prohibited to import Designated Excise Goods into the UAE if they do not bear Stamps
• 1 June 2020 – it will be prohibited to supply, transfer, store, or possess unmarked Designated Excise Goods in the UAE.

The Decision itself is not yet available on the FTA website.

We recommend that producers and importers of water pipe tobacco and electrically heated cigarettes make the necessary preparations for impacted products as soon as possible to avoid any delays in operations. 

KSA developments

Tax Ruling requests guide updated

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) has published an updated version of its Tax Ruling requests guide, which is currently only available in Arabic.

Section 4, which provides details on the process of submitting a Ruling request application, has been updated. Taxable persons should ensure that they follow the updated process when submitting a Ruling request to GAZT.

Oman developments

Excise Tax transitional return due 15 July 2019

The deadline for filing the Excise Tax transitional return to the Secretariat General for Taxation (SGT) in Oman, and any Excise Tax due, is July 15^th, 2019. 

All businesses that held any stock of Excise Goods on the introduction of the Excise Law must file this return and make their payment accordingly. Failure to pay the Excise Tax will incur penalties.

The Excise Tax transitional return can be accessed on SGT’s e-Services portal on their website. A guide is also available (in Arabic) on how to complete the transitional return. 

The SGT has also released the Import Declaration form and the Standard Price list. Both continue to be revised regularly and any items missing from these can be added by contacting SGT.

This digest is for information purposes only and should not be construed as advice. It does not necessarily cover every aspect of the topics with which it deals. You should not act upon the contents of this alert without receiving formal advice on your particular circumstances.