Dubai: Tobacco facility shut down for tax violations worth Dh91 million

A commercial facility in Dubai faced foreclosure after authorities found 5.4 million packets of tobacco and tobacco-based products being sold without digital tax stamps.

Following a joint operation by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) and Dubai Police, a total of 5,430,356 packs were confiscated from the violators.

The tax dues on these products amounted to Dh91,833,016.40, according to the Arabic news daily Al Khaleej.

The FTA carried out a joint inspection campaign in cooperation with the General Department of the Federal Criminal Police at the Ministry of Interior and the General Command of Dubai Police, represented by the General Department of Criminal Investigation and Investigation at Dubai Police.

Mandatory implementation of the DTS system began in 2021, following the timeline set for the second phase of the ‘Marking Tobacco and Tobacco Products Scheme’, which aims to protect consumers from commercial fraud and low-quality products.

The initiative will mitigate health and environmental risks and combat tax evasion while ensuring total commitment to the due Excise Tax on these goods, stated the FTA.

On August 22, FTA also announced on social media that it had intensified its monitoring efforts to achieve compliance and combat tax evasion by conducting 2,202 inspection visits in local markets.

The inspections, which took place in July, found 281 violations, Dh4.6 million payable tax liabilities, 136,685 packages of illicit tobacco products not bearing digital stamps, and 767,543 packages of excisable drinks.

A total of 54 notices were issued against non-compliant commercial agencies.

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