UAE bans waterpipe tobacco products, e-cigarettes without tax stamp

Any type of waterpipe tobacco or electrically heated cigarettes cannot be sold in the UAE unless they bear Digital Tax Stamp (DTS) starting January 1st, 2021.

The Federal Tax Authority(FTA) has announced that the products will also not be allowed to transport, store, or possess without the stamp.

The step has been taken to help the FTA improve its ability to collect excise tax charged on the said products. It also helps to strengthen control over these products, enabling stakeholders to analyse the supply chain to better control illicit tobacco product.

The digital stamps will be placed on the packages of tobacco products and registered in the FTA database. The DTS contains data that can be read with a special device to make sure all taxes due on these products have been paid.

“When orders are made for these stamps, they are sent to factories to be placed individually. This will ensure each package is tracked to the port of entry of each country, with the supplier submitting the permit form and the fees for the digital stamps will be paid for when the suppliers make a request for them. This will ensure all digital stamps are registered and tracked through a central database,” FTA stated.

The DTS feature many advantages that contribute to combating the illicit trade of tobacco products.