From June 10, On May 23, Saudi Arabia will start taxing cigarettes, energy drinks and carbonated drinks, according to The Saudi General Authority of Zakat and Tax (SGAZT).
An official in the agency said that “the decision was taken by the General Secretariat of Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) to impose 100 per cent tax on cigarettes, and energy drinks, and 50 per cent on carbonated drinks”.
Saudi Arabia will become the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country to impose excise (sin) tax among the gulf countries.
According to some local news outlets, The SGAZT tasked with the responsibility of collecting value added tax (VAT) and excise tax announced this on Saturday following ratification of the tax treaties by the General Secretariat of GCC on May 23.
The Zakat Authority officials were confirmed saying that their main mission is to raise (through the excise tax) revenues to $1.87 billion (SR7bn) in mere six months.
Report gathered also indicates that the government has put measures in place to ensure that If registered business people fail to present a tax declaration to the General Authority of Zakat and Tax, they are accordingly penalized by a fine, which ranges between 5 per cent and 25 per cent of the tax value
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