UAE Excise Tax Basics for Founders: Who Must Register, Which Goods Are Covered and What Changed in 2026

Most founders know about VAT and Corporate Tax. Fewer know about Excise Tax, until they launch an energy drink, a soda brand or a vape accessory line and discover there is a separate registration with its own rules. Excise Tax only touches a small number of businesses, but if yours is one of them, there is no threshold and no grace period for getting started.

This guide uses the Federal Tax Authority's Excise Tax Registration service page, its Excise Tax Taxable Persons Guide (ETGTP1, January 2026, PDF) and its Excise Goods Registration page, all linked at the end. We have left out tax rates, prices and amounts; the FTA publishes current figures.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; check the official source.

What Excise Tax is for

The FTA's guide explains that Excise Tax is generally levied on goods considered harmful to the health of the general public, with the aim of discouraging their consumption. It is set by the Excise Tax Decree-Law, its executive regulation and Cabinet decisions on excise goods and rates.

Unlike VAT, it is not charged at every stage of a supply chain. The guide notes that, as a result, a relatively low number of businesses need to register. When a business or consumer buys excise goods inside the UAE, the tax should already be included in the price.

Which goods are covered

According to the FTA's January 2026 guide, the goods subject to Excise Tax are:

• Tobacco and tobacco products
• Energy drinks
• Liquids used in electronic smoking devices and tools
• Electronic smoking devices and tools
• Sweetened drinks

The guide records two changes from 1 January 2026:

• Carbonated drinks were abolished as a separate category of excise good. They are taxed under the new model only if they are sweetened drinks.
• Sweetened drinks moved to a tiered-volumetric model, with rates that depend on how the drink is categorised by its sugar and other sweetener content.

If you are building a beverage brand, that change matters. The tax now depends on your recipe, so product formulation and tax planning go together. The FTA also publishes a separate guide on the transition to the tiered-volumetric model for sweetened drinks.

Who must register

The guide lists four activities that create an Excise Tax liability:

1. Importing excise goods into the UAE
2. Producing excise goods in the UAE
3. Releasing excise goods from a Designated Zone in the UAE
4. Stockpiling excise goods in certain cases, where tax has not already been paid and the stockpiling is for business purposes

Warehouse keepers of Designated Zones can also be liable in certain cases. And the guide warns that tax can become the liability of another person involved in these activities if the person originally liable fails to pay.

There is no threshold

This is the single most important point for founders. The FTA guide states plainly: there is no registration threshold for Excise Tax. Anyone who has been involved, or intends to be involved, in one of the activities above must register, unless an exception applies.

Compare that with VAT, where small businesses below a threshold do not need to register. With excise, your first import counts.

When to register

According to the FTA's registration page, a person liable to register must apply within 30 days from the end of any month in which they carry out, or intend to carry out, activities that give rise to an Excise Tax liability.

The guide adds that the person is then registered with effect from the first day of the month in which they started the activity. Note the word "intend". If you are planning your first shipment, the clock can start before the goods arrive.

The exception for occasional importers

The FTA may except a person from registration if they do not regularly import excise goods. The guide defines "regular" as more than once in a 6-month period or more than three times over a 24-month period. People importing excise goods for non-business purposes may also be excepted.

But an exception from registration is not an exemption from tax. The guide explains that the importer must still pay the Excise Tax due before or at the point of import for the goods to clear customs. If your business model depends on repeat imports, plan to register.

How to register

The FTA's registration page lists these steps:

1. Sign up for an EmaraTax account on the FTA website and activate it.
2. Access the EmaraTax dashboard.
3. Create a new Taxable Person profile.
4. Click "View" to open the Taxable Person account.
5. Click "Register" under "Excise Tax".
6. Complete the registration.

The page also notes that FTA services are accessed through UAE PASS.

Documents listed on the page include:

• Certificate of incorporation, memorandum of association or partnership agreement (if applicable)
• A valid trade licence
• Emirates ID and passport of the authorised signatory, with proof of authorisation
• An official declaration on company letterhead, signed and stamped, stating the entity's activity in relation to excise goods, the activity type (production, import, stockpiling or release from a Designated Zone) and the start date
• Supporting documents such as invoices, purchase orders and contracts, as applicable
• A bank letter validating the registrant's bank account details

The FTA says the application takes about 45 minutes to submit, and the FTA aims to complete it within 20 business days of receiving a complete application.

Registering your products

Registering the business is not the end. The FTA's Excise Goods Registration page explains that persons importing, producing or stockpiling excise goods register their products for inclusion in the FTA's list of excise goods, through EmaraTax. According to the page:

• Goods must be registered using their Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and barcode.
• Goods must be registered as single units, not packs or promotional packs.
• You provide the product's details and components, plus clear pictures of the product and its label.
• Some drinks need extra certificates, such as a Certificate of Compliance for Excise Tax purposes from the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology for sweetened products.

The FTA aims to complete product registration within 20 business days.

Returns and payment

According to the guide, the standard tax period is one calendar month. The Excise Tax return is due no later than the 15th day of the month after the tax period ends, or the next working day if that date falls on a weekend or public holiday, and is filed online. Declarations made during the month, such as import declarations, pre-populate the return, and you are responsible for checking the figures.

Tobacco: digital tax stamps

The guide explains that tobacco and tobacco products fall under the Digital Tax Stamps scheme, which requires importers and manufacturers to apply security markers and codes to packs so they can be tracked through the supply chain. Anyone entering this category needs to plan for it before the first shipment.

Deregistration

If you stop, you must tell the FTA. The guide says a taxable person must notify the FTA within 30 days of the activity ending, and must be up to date with returns and payments. The FTA may refuse if you still intend to carry out taxable activity within 12 months, or if less than 6 months have passed since registration.

Official sources

• Federal Tax Authority, Excise Tax Registration: https://tax.gov.ae/en/services/excise.tax.registration2.aspx
• Federal Tax Authority, Excise Tax Taxable Persons Guide, ETGTP1, January 2026 (PDF): https://tax.gov.ae/Datafolder/Files/Pdf/2026/Guide/Taxable%20Person%20Guide%20for%20Excise%20Tax%20-%20EN%20-%20Jan%202026.pdf
• Federal Tax Authority, Excise Goods Registration: https://tax.gov.ae/en/services/excise.goods.registration.aspx
• Federal Tax Authority, Excise Tax guides and public clarifications: https://tax.gov.ae/en/taxes/excise.tax/guides.listing.aspx

Last checked: 25 October 2026.

Know your tax before you launch

For a consumer brand, excise can shape your recipe, pricing and launch timeline. Startup Roof brings UAE founders together around practical checklists built from official sources. Explore what we are building at startuproof.com.

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