Get to Know Which Goods will be Exempt from VAT

We thought you’d obviously want to know which items will not be taxed (zero-rated goods)… and as always, we’ve got you! The VAT on food is going to be 5% but the Tax Authority want to minimise the impact by extending zero rating to over 90 food items, which largely resemble food items that are exempt from Customs duty.

Here’s a breakdown of food items that are zero-rated for VAT, distributed across 12 categories:

1. Poultry, Meat and Fish:
   Layer chicken; broiler chicken; chicken weighing not more than 185g from Gallus Domesticus species; full and half carcasses of bovine animals; bovine meat cuts with bones, boneless bovine meat; full and half carcasses of lamb, full and half carcasses of sheep; sheep meat cuts with bones; boneless sheep meat; full and half carcasses of goat; goat meat with bones; boneless goat meat; offal and other parts of sheep or goat; meat, offal and other parts of camel and other camelids; frozen meat, offal and other parts of camel and other camelids; yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares); Bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus); Atlantic and pacific bluefins tuna (Thunnus, Thynnus, Thunnus orientalis); southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii); longtail tuna (Thunnus tungle); Kawakawa (Thunnus Avinus); Mackerel (Kingfish, soitted soabusg mackerel); Trevally; Seabream (Sparidae); Grouper (example Hamor, Bertam, Chenino, Cato, Nagel, Samman); Shei’ri fish (Sheoor); Hamra fish (Alesmaudi); Nagroor fish; Bori fish (Meed and Biyah); Safi fish, and Barracuda.
2. Dairy Products:
   Long life milk in containers exceeding 1 litre; Milk in powder, granular or solid form, of fat content by weight exceeding 1.5 per cent, not containing added sugar or sweetener; Fresh Yoghurt; Fresh (unripe or uncured) cheese, including whey cheese and curd.
3. Fresh Eggs:
   Fresh eggs of fowls of the species Gallus Domesticus (Fresh chicken eggs)
4. Fruits and Vegetables:
   Potatoes; Tomatoes; Onions for food (green or dry rind); Garlic; Cabbage lettuce (head lettuce); Carrots and turnips; Cucumbers and gherkins; Peas (pisum sativum); Beans (Vigna spp, Phaseolus spp); Other beans, fresh or chilled Aubergines (egg-plants); Fruits of the genus Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta; Spinach, New Zealand spinach and orache spinach (garden spinach); Olives; Pumpkins, squash and gourds (Cucurbita spp.); Marrow; Okra; Parsley; Coriander; Fresh dates; Pressed dates; Pineapples; Guavas; Mangoes; Oranges; Mandarin (tangerines & satsumas), clementines, wilkings and citrus hybrids; Fresh lemons; Dried lemons; Fresh grapes; Watermelons Green Melon; Yellow melons; Apples; Pears; Apricots; Sour cherroes (prunus cerasus); Kiwifruit and Pomegranates.
5. Coffee beans, tea and cardamom:
   Unroasted coffee beans (not decaffeinated); Roasted coffee beans (not decaffeinated); Green tea (not fermented), in packages not exceeding 3 kilograms; Other green tea (not fermented); Tea bags not exceeding 3 grams each; Other black tea (fermented) and other partly fermented tea; Cardamom (neither crushed nor ground); Crushed or ground cardamom;
6. Grains:
   Normal wheat; Thin wheat; Semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed and Wheat flour.
7. Olive oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified: Virgin olive oil.
8. Sugar: Refined sugar (fine crystals)
9. Baby food supplies: Infant and baby food based on milk or malted milk prepared as substitute for mother’s milk, not containing cocoa.
10. Breads: Ordinary bread of any kind.
11. Water: Artificial mineral water; Ordinary natural water
12. Salt: Common salt (table salt).