Oman tax authority issues list of over 90 food items exempted from VAT

Published 16 Jan,2021 via Muscat Daily - As Oman braces for the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) from April 16,2021, the Tax Authority has issued a list of over 90 food items that are exempted. Food items that are not specifically zero rated would attract VAT at the standard rate of five per cent.

According to the earlier report released by the Ministry of Finance as part of Oman’s Medium-Term Fiscal Plan 2020-2024, the introduction of VAT, which was introduced via Royal Decree No 121/2020 on October 12, 2020, will serve as the foundation for the sultanate’s revenue-raising framework by introducing a broad-based indirect tax.

‘A socio-economic impact assessment has been carried out by an independent third-party to assess the fiscal, social and economic impact of VAT in Oman,’ the report said.

With the implementation, Oman will join over 150 other countries globally that impose VAT and experts say the tax is expected to provide an additional source of support to the Oman’s treasury. The move is also in line with the sultanate’s commitment to its Vision 2040 programme, which seeks to diversify the economy away from oil and towards non-oil sectors such as manufacturing, logistics and tourism.

Zero VAT for over 90 items

1. Poultry, Meat and Fish
2. Layer chicken
3. Broiler chicken
4. Chicken weighing not more than 185g from Gallus Domesticus species
5. Full and half carcasses of bovine animals, fresh or chilled
6. Bovine meat cuts with bones, fresh or chilled
7. Boneless bovine meat, fresh or chilled
8. Full and half carcasses of lamb, fresh or chilled
9. Full and half carcasses of sheep, fresh or chilled
10. Sheep meat cuts with bones, fresh or chilled
11. Boneless sheep meat, fresh or chilled
12. Full and half carcasses of goat, fresh or chilled
13. Goat meat with bones, fresh or chilled
14. Boneless goat meat, fresh or chilled
15. Offal and other parts of sheep or goat, fresh or chilled
16. Meat, offal and other parts of camel and other camelids, fresh or chilled
17. Frozen meat, offal and other parts of camel and other camelids
18. Yellowfins tuna (Thunnus albacares)
19. Bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus)
20. Atlantic and pacific bluefins tuna (Thunnus, Thynnus, Thunnus orientalis)
21. Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii)
22. Longtail tuna (Thunnus tungle)
23. Kawakawa (Thunnus Avinus)
24. Mackerel (Kingfish, spotted soabusg mackerel)
25. Trevally
26. Seabream (Sparidae)
27. Grouper (Hamor, Bertam, Chenino, Cato, Nagel, Samman)
28. Shei’ri fish (Sheoor)
29. Hamra fish (Alesmaudi)
30. Nagroor fish
31. Bori fish (Meed and Biyah)
32. Safi fish
33. Barracuda
34. Dairy Products
35. Long life milk in containers exceeding 1lt
36. Milk in powder, granular or solid form, of fat content by weight exceeding 1.5 per cent, not containing added sugar or sweetener
37. Fresh yoghurt
38. Fresh (unripe or uncured) cheese, including whey cheese and curd
39. Fresh Eggs
40. Fresh eggs of fowls of the species Gallus Domesticus (Fresh chicken eggs)
41. Fruits and Vegetables
42. Potatoes, fresh or chilled
43. Tomatoes, fresh or chilled
44. Onions for food (green or dry rind), fresh or chilled
45. Garlic, fresh or chilled
46. Cabbage lettuce
47. (head lettuce), fresh or chilled
48. Carrots and turnips, fresh or chilled
49. Cucumbers and gherkins, fresh or chilled
50. Peas (pisum sativum), fresh or chilled
51. Beans (Vigna spp, Phaseolus spp), fresh or chilled
52. Other beans, fresh or chilled
53. Aubergines (egg-plants), fresh or chilled
54. Fruits of the genus Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta
55. Spinach, New Zealand spinach and orache spinach (garden spinach)
56. Olives
57. Pumpkins, squash and gourds (Cucurbita spp)
58. Marrow
59. Okra
60. Parsley
61. Coriander
62. Fresh dates
63. Pressed dates
64. Pineapples
65. Guavas
66. Mangoes
67. Oranges
68. Mandarin (tangerines & satsumas), clementines, wilkings and citrus hybrids
69. Fresh lemons
70. Dried lemons
71. Fresh grapes
72. Watermelons
73. Green melons
74. Yellow melons
75. Apples
76. Pears
77. Apricots
78. Sour cherroes (prunus cerasus)
79. Kiwifruit
80. Pomegranates
81. Coffee beans, tea and cardamom
82. Unroasted coffee beans (not decaffeinated)
83. Roasted coffee beans (not decaffeinated)
84. Green tea (not fermented), in packages not exceeding 3kg
85. Other green tea (not fermented)
86. Tea bags not exceeding 3g each
87. Other black tea (fermented) and other partly fermented tea
88. Cardamom (neither crushed nor ground)
89. Crushed or ground cardamom
90. Flour
91. Normal wheat
92. Thin wheat
93. Semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed
94. Wheat flour
95. Olive oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
96. Virgin olive oil
97. Sugar
98. Refined sugar (fine crystals)
99. Baby food supplies
100. Infant and baby food based
101. on milk or malted milk
102. prepared as substitute of mother’s milk, not containing cocoa
103. Breads
104. Ordinary bread of any kind
105. Water
106. Artificial mineral water
107. Ordinary natural water
108. Salt
109. Common salt (table salt)

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