Listen up…

If you’ve limited yourself to shopping online from international stores due to the additional five per cent fee on goods over Dhs300, take note as Dubai Customs has announced an update.

In January 2023, Dubai Customs announced that any goods above Dhs300 would be taxed at five per cent. However, in a recent update, Dubai Customs has now reinstated the previous threshold of Dhs1,000. The change was implemented on March 1, 2023.

An email was issued by Dubai Customs stated, “Kindly be informed that Paragraph (a) of Article (2) of Customs Notice 5/2022 related to exemption of consignments with value not exceeding Dhs300 has been suspended and that it has been decided to re-establish the previous threshold for exemption of parcels/shipments of Dhs1,000 effective 01 March 2023 until further notice.’

In 2017 the UAE enforced a 200 per cent tax on products that were harmful to human health or the environment such as tobacco, tobacco products, e-cigarettes and vaping liquids, alongside the ‘sin tax’ enforcing a 50 per cent tax on items such as sugary and carbonated drinks.

Fees for goods above Dhs10,000

Back in January 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation also announced a ‘digital attestation fee’ on commercial invoices for imported goods valued at over Dhs10,000. The fee is Dh150 and attestation can be done online on mofaic.gov.ae. The attestation requirement came into effect on February 1, 2023. The Ministry added that failure to attest invoices for imports within 14 days will lead to an administrative fine of Dhs500.

Certain categories will be exempted from this requirement. It includes invoices lower than Dhs10,000; personal imports; GCC imports; freezone imports; police and military imports and charity imports; transit imports and B2C e-commerce movements.

For further information, consumers can reach out to The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 06 506 8888.

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