Dubai Slashes Tax On Overseas Parcels

Attention, internet shoppers.

A tax threshold on parcels brought in earlier this year has been suspended and the earlier limit reintroduced.

Therefore, you will be spending Dhs1,000 before you pay any tax on your purchases – a change from the previous Dhs300 threshold introduced in January. It means that you will get way more for your dirham from this point on. Hooray.

The message read: “Kindly be informed that Paragraph (a) of Article (2) of Customs Notice 5/2022 related to exemption of consignments with value not exceeding Dhs300/- has been suspended, and that it is has been decided to re-establish the previous threshold for exemption of parcels/shipments of Dhs1,000/- effective 01-March-2023 until further notice.”

It all links back to a UAE custom notice first issued in June 2022.

The notice stated that you must pay a five percent customs duty charge and five percent VAT if you buy something worth more than Dhs300.

But now that is only in place if you pay more than Dhs1,000.