Kuwait postpones 100% customs duty on e-cigarettes until further notice
The tax was originally planned to take effect on January 1, 2023
Dubai: The Kuwaiti government has announced that the implementation of a 100 per cent customs duty on electronic cigarettes and their flavours will be delayed until further notice, local media reported on Monday.
The tax was originally planned to take effect on January 1, 2023 after being postponed from September 1 of this year, Al Anba newspaper said.
Suleiman Al Fahd, Acting Director General of the General Administration of Customs, has issued instructions deferring the application of the 100 per cent customs tax to single-use nicotine cartridges and packages of nicotine liquids or gels, whether flavoured or unflavoured.
Al Fahd had previously issued customs instructions to postpone the imposition of 100 per cent tax on electronic cigarettes for a period of 4 months, specifically on January 1, 2023 instead of last September 1, 2022, but according to the instructions, it was decided to postpone the tax application on four items until further notice.
Additionally, Kuwait is one of the last two countries yet to introduce a value-added tax regime under the 2017 Gulf Cooperation Council agreement to create a VAT union. Qatar is expected to launch VAT in 2023.