The Federal Tax Authority has called on producers, importers, and stockists of sweetened beverages to start reviewing the sugar and sweetener content in their products and identifying their percentages in preparation for implementing the new mechanism for calculating the selective tax on sweetened beverages, the transition to which was announced to begin from the start of the next year, 2026. The Authority called for early preparation to ensure a smooth transition to the new mechanism for calculating the selective tax on sweetened beverages, based on the 'slab volume model', which links the tax value imposed on each liter of sweetened beverage to the amount of sugar per 100 ml. The Authority confirmed that the legislation governing this new mechanism and defining its application rules is expected to be issued soon. After the new legislation comes into force, entities subject to the selective tax must register sweetened beverages as selective tax goods by submitting an approved laboratory report from the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, which shows the sugar and sweetener content as supporting documentation. Otherwise, the beverage will be classified as a high-sugar sweetened beverage. To inform stakeholders about the new mechanism, its objectives, requirements, and how to determine the sugar and sweetener content in sweetened beverages, the Authority has provided comprehensive information in an easy-to-understand manner on its official website. The Authority urged producers, importers, and stockists to apply for UAE conformity certificates for the sugar and sweetener content in beverages (for selective tax purposes), based on a laboratory report from an accredited lab. If the conformity certificate is not obtained after the new rules are implemented, the beverage will be classified as high-sugar until a laboratory report is submitted proving that its sugar content is below the limit for that category. Under the new rules, sweetened beverages are defined as any product to which any source of sugar or artificial sweeteners or other sweeteners has been added, produced for the purpose of consumption as a beverage, whether ready-to-drink, in the form of concentrates, powders, gels, extracts, or any other form that can be converted into a sweetened beverage.
