UAE is one of those countries placing a premium on health and well-being of its people. In order for that target to be attained, there are some policies set by UAE government which bans something or make some things free. One of these rules recently announced by UAE authorities is penalty for violating excise duty stamp of tobacco products.
Penalties set on goods
According to the recent report of Khaleej Times website, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) on Saturday have announced that special penalties have been set for some types of violations in a program called the Digital Tax Stamp scheme which marks tobacco and tobacco products in an effort to protect consumers and also not allow low-quality products to enter local markets and the most important goal is preventing the existence of smuggled goods in the UAE.
Details of this program
According to the details of this program, a person carrying unmarked designated excise goods will incur a penalty of Dh 50,000 and 50 percent of the excise tax due on those goods.
If premises of a person is used for the sales of unmarked designated excise goods with the person’s information, he should pay a penalty of Dh 25,000 for the first disobedience, and Dh50,000 in case of repetition.
If a person tries to alter the stamps affixed on designated excise goods, he should pay a fine of Dh50000 and 50 percent of the excise tax due.
Other banned products
Also, the importation of any kinds of cigarettes with no digital tax stamps on them have been prohibited since May 1, 2019. In addition to this, sales of these products in UAE markets will be banned in August 2019.
However, all of points mentioned above were a part of marking tobacco and tobacco products scheme.
In cases of failing to report all of crimes put forward above, a fine of Dh 20000 would be applicable for each time the disobedient occurs.
About other parts of the rule Khaleej times has said : “ the FTA said in case a person fails to comply within time limits for returning unused marks to the authority , the penalty is Dh 50,000 per incident, whereas failure to affix digital tax stamps to designated excise goods in manner and location specified by the authority exposes the person in question to an administrative penalty of Dh 25,000 for the first violation and Dh 50,000 in case of repetition ”.
Also, this amount of penalty has been considered for conducting unauthorized trading, swapping, selling or supplying of digital tax stamps in addition to 50 percent of the amount collected as tax.
The FTA has approved that the scheme will cover all tobacco products over time in order to tackle commercial fraud and protect consumers against low-quality products having detrimental effects on their health. The FTA will increase inspection and control over the products in ports and markets.
*Writer: Maral Aryanpour