Excise tax on sweetened drinks: your compliance pathway ahead of 6 July 2026

This newsletter is further to our alert of 14 April 2026, in which we outlined the key highlights relating to the implementation of the excise tax tiered volumetric model on sweetened drinks, effective 6 July 2026. 

The General Tax Authority (GTA) has officially published Law No. (2) of 2026 amending certain provisions of Law No. (25) of 2018 concerning excise tax. This amendment establishes a tiered volume model for calculating excise tax on sweetened beverages, whereby the tax is determined by the volume of sugar or sweeteners contained in the beverage. 

The Law will take effect in early July and will impact producers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, and/or commercial stockholders – who hold sweetened beverage products for commercial purposes as of 6 July 2026. The transitional provisions of the Law impose immediate and time-bound obligations on such businesses. The window to act is short. We urge you to read this alert carefully and engage your advisers without delay. Outlined below are the key steps for transitioning to the new model:

The window to act is now. Businesses that have not yet begun their compliance preparations, including product classification, laboratory testing, and auditor engagement, are at risk of missing critical deadlines. Do not wait for final regulations to be issued before engaging your tax advisers and auditors.

What has changed?

Excise tax is intended to be imposed on products produced and imported into Qatar that contain (natural and added) sugar or sweeteners. The tax may apply to various products, including soft drinks, juices, as well as beverages, concentrates, powders, extracts, or any other product that can be converted into a sweetened beverage.

Under the Tiered Volumetric Model on Sweetened Drinks, carbonated drinks will be abolished as a separate category of excise good. Instead, the drink previously defined as a carbonated drink will be categorised as a sweetened drink and will be subject to a volumetric rate per litre, tiered by sugar content per 100ml, as follows:

One percent (1%) of excise tax revenue from sweetened beverages shall be allocated to the Ministry of Public Health for health awareness.

Who is directly affected?

For the purposes of the Excise Tax Tiered Volumetric Model on Sweetened Drinks, any person engaged in any of the following activities in the State of Qatar must register for excise tax purposes:

• The import of sweetened drinks: any person that imports excise goods (sweetened drinks) into the State of Qatar 
• The production of sweetened drinks: any process of manufacturing, assembling, blending or converting materials or parts into final excise goods (sweetened drinks) 
• The operation of a tax warehouse: a place where the licensee is permitted to produce, transform, possess, store, or receive locally produced or imported excise goods (sweetened drinks) under excise tax suspension arrangement 

Beyond registered producers and importers, the transitional provisions cast a wider net. Any person who, for commercial purposes and outside a tax suspension arrangement, holds excise goods in accordance with the Tiered Volumetric Model, to which excise tax has not previously been paid, or was exempt, refunded, deferred, or whose classification has changed resulting in a different excise tax treatment upon application of the revised Excise Tax Law, is required to account for and pay the excise tax due.  This includes distributors, wholesalers, and commercial stockholders who may not have had previous excise tax obligations.

There is no registration threshold for excise tax under the Tiered Volumetric Model on Sweetened Drinks, therefore any person that is involved or has the intention to be involved in any of the activities outlined above must register and comply with their respective excise tax obligations. 

Who is impacted by transitional provisions?

The transitional provisions apply to any person holding excise goods commercially outside a tax suspension arrangement on 6 July 2026. This includes, but is not limited to: 

• Producers and manufacturers of sweetened beverages in Qatar 
• Importers of sweetened beverages 
• Large retailers holding significant commercial inventory
• Taxpayers holding commercial stock 

If you have sweetened beverage products sitting in your warehouse, depot, store, or cold chain facility on 6 July 2026, you have obligations under this Law. 

Your compliance pathway: four steps, four deadlines

The following transitional conditions apply to persons possessing excise goods for commercial purposes outside a tax suspension arrangement on the Law's effective date. 

Step 1 – Classify your products and obtain laboratory test reports

Excise tax under the tiered model is calculated by reference to total sugar content per 100ml. A laboratory report issued by a GTA-accredited laboratory is a mandatory prerequisite for product registration and must disclose total, natural, added, and artificial sweetener content per 100ml.

Where no laboratory report is provided, the GTA will classify the product as high sugar content by default, attracting the maximum rate of QR 1.06 per litre — regardless of actual content.

Action: Commission laboratory testing for every SKU containing added sugar or sweeteners without delay. Demand for accredited laboratory services will increase significantly as 6 July 2026 approaches.

Step 2 – Register your products on the Dhareeba Portal

All sweetened drinks within scope must be registered on Dhareeba from 6 July 2026. Businesses that previously registered carbonated drinks under the 50% ad valorem model must also amend those registrations to reflect the new sweetened drink classification and applicable tier.

Registration requires: product details and composition; brand images and nutritional labelling; the GTA-accredited laboratory report; and the applicable excise tax rate.

Action: Begin mapping your product portfolio against the four tiers. Engage your tax advisers to manage the registration and amendment process ahead of the go-live date.

Step 3 – File your transitional declaration (stock count and audited statement)

Any commercial holder of sweetened drinks outside a tax suspension arrangement on 5 July 2026 must:

• Conduct a full physical stock count on 5 July 2026, classified by product and sugar tier
• Submit a Transitional Declaration accompanied by a formally audited stock inventory report to the GTA via Dhareeba within 90 days — by 4 October 2026

A self-prepared statement will not suffice. The audited report must be prepared by a qualified external auditor or approved accounting firm.

Action: Engage your external auditor now to agree the audit scope, methodology, and timeline well before 6 July 2026.

Note: Current published guidance applies the transitional declaration obligation to stockpilers holding 200,000 litres or more. However, other provisions of the same guidance impose the obligation on any commercial holder regardless of volume. Forthcoming implementing regulations are expected to clarify — and may extend obligations to all commercial holders. Do not assume a volume exemption applies until final regulations are confirmed.

Step 4 – Settle the tax due 

Within 30 days of the date of submission of the audited stock inventory report, businesses must either settle any net excise tax due via Dhareeba.

Note: The transitional declaration settles the net position on stock held as of 5 July 2026 on a going-forward basis only. However, the GTA may take another approach in respect to refunds and calculation of net tax due. 

Key deadlines at a glance

Broader compliance obligations – beyond the transitional period

In addition to the transitional obligations, affected businesses should address the following on an ongoing basis: 

1. Registration: Producers and importers of the goods falling under the scope expansion should assess whether their operations qualify them as taxable persons. Once the impact is evaluated, taxpayers should apply for excise tax registration or amend their current excise tax registration status to reflect the new category of products subject to excise tax. 
2. Product registration: Taxable persons should identify the products falling under the expanded scope and register them in the Dhareeba Portal along with supported documents. 
3. ERP and systems: Taxable persons should update existing ERP systems to ensure the necessary steps are taken to categorise products covered within the scope extension. The material master for the products needs to be changed from non-excisable to excisable, the price master updated to include the excise tax amount, and accounting entries generated by the ERP need to be suitably configured to include the excise tax charged to customers upon release of the products. 
4. Pricing strategy: Taxable persons must determine the impact on pricing of relevant products, as excise tax is now based on the sugar content of each product. Competitive pricing is key to sustainability in the market. 
5. Training: Ensure teams are trained and familiar with the new excise tax requirements and compliance obligations.   

How Deloitte can help

Deloitte has extensive experience in Qatar and across the GCC in providing a range of excise tax-related services, including:

• Assistance with the classification of goods from an excise tax perspective 
• Obtaining clarifications from tax authorities, if required 
• Conducting excise 'health checks' 
• Managing excise tax registrations 
• Handling product registrations 
• Facilitating warehouse keeper registrations 
• Reviewing Retail Selling Price calculations 
• Implementing tax technology solutions, including integrating excise tax into ERP systems

In the context of the current transitional obligations, Deloitte can also assist you with: 

• Designing and executing a compliant stock count methodology as of 6 July 2026 
• Coordinating with your auditors to prepare the required audited stock-on-hand statement
• Preparing and submitting your transitional excise tax declaration via the Dhareeba Portal 
• Calculating the net tax amounts under the new tiered model 
• Advising on pricing, ERP configuration, and ongoing quarterly compliance