The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) on Saturday clarified what qualifies as sweetened drinks and electronic smoking devices that will incur an excise tax when a Cabinet decision on excise goods is implemented from January 1 next year. To know which drinks are included visit gulfnews.com/1.65985829 #tax #authority #UAE
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00:00Hi, my name is Donna and I'm a web news editor here at gulfnews.com.
00:13Today we are going to talk about a much discussed topic and one of our most read stories this
00:18week.
00:19Earlier this month, the Federal Tax Authority, FTA, in the UAE had announced that a new tax
00:25would be levied on sweetened drinks and e-cigarette liquids being sold in the market.
00:31This Saturday, however, FTA released a clarification on exactly which kind of products will be
00:36taxed.
00:37So basically, the sweetened drink tax does not only apply to your favourite soda or diet
00:43soda.
00:44It actually applies to any kind of beverage that has a sugar or sweetener added to it.
00:51So to start off, it could be a ready-to-drink beverage that you buy in store.
00:55It could be concentrates, gels, powders, extracts, anything that can be converted into a sweet
01:03drink is basically taxable.
01:06And what constitutes sweeteners, the FTA is using GCC standards to define what kind of
01:13sources of sugar will be included in this and what kinds of sweeteners will be included
01:18in the tax.
01:20So definitely check out our story on gulfnews.com for details on which or what these standards
01:26are.
01:27Now, are all sweet drinks going to be taxed?
01:31Maybe not.
01:32So the exempt drinks include the ones that have at least 75% milk content.
01:39It can be ready-to-drink beverages.
01:41It could also be beverages with milk substitutes used in them, you know, higher than 75%.
01:48So baby formula or baby food is not going to be taxed.
01:53Beverages consumed for special dietary requirements or special medicinal diets will also not be
01:59taxed.
02:00So all of these details and the standards to which these adhere to have been mentioned
02:05in our story online.
02:07In terms of e-liquids, any e-liquid being used in these e-cigarettes or vaping devices
02:12will be taxed regardless of whether they have nicotine or not.
02:18Again, all those details are in our story.
02:21Another thing that you guys need to know is this tax will only be levied from January
02:241st of 2020.
02:27And however, the FDA has already started the procedures for manufacturers, exporters and
02:34suppliers of these sweetened drinks to start registering their products in the system.
02:40And the next phase would actually start the registration for e-liquids.
02:43So this is what we know about this new tax that it is going to be levied from the 1st
02:49of January next year.
02:51So go on to Gulfnews.com for exactly what kind of drinks will be affected and what kind
02:57of e-liquids would be affected.