50% tax on sweetened drinks from October 1, says Oman Tax Authority

Muscat: The Tax Authority announced that the establishments concerned will have to start paying selective tax (excise tax) on sweetened drinks with effect from October 1, 2020.

The tax application comes within the context of the Unified GCC Agreement on Selective Tax, already imposed by some GCC states on the said products before the Sultanate did.

The Tax Authority further explained that, according to the provisions of Article 15 of the Selective Tax Law, all parties with business in sweetened drinks subject to the tax (importing, production, trading or distribution) must submit a notice of their existing stocks of such products on the day preceding the date of application of the tax (which means existing stocks by the end of September 2020).

The notice has to be filed within 15 days (from the date of application of the tax) via the electronic portal of the Tax Authority.

The Tax Authority urged importers of the Selective Tax-listed products (including sweetened drinks) to compare the list of their imports to the list published on the portal of the Tax Authority.

To avoid any delay in clearing imported consignments at customs outlets, the importers have to apply, much in advance, for the addition of “selective products” that are not included in the selective tax list, before beginning import operations.