Two separate government charges land on a UAE import shipment before it clears the port: customs duty and import VAT. They are calculated differently and treated differently on a Corporate Tax return.
UAE customs duty is charged at a standard rate of 5% of the CIF value under the GCC Common Customs Law, with tobacco at 100% and alcohol at 50%, while essential foods, certain medical supplies, and books are duty-free. Goods held inside a UAE free zone are not subject to customs duty until they move into the mainland, and re-export outside the GCC is duty-free.
For Corporate Tax purposes, customs duty is a non-recoverable cost generally deductible as part of the cost of goods, while import VAT under the reverse charge mechanism is normally net-neutral and only affects Corporate Tax if it becomes irrecoverable.
The full guide covers the standard rate and higher-rate categories, HS code classification, free zone suspension vs exemption, re-export and temporary admission, how customs duty interacts with VAT, the Corporate Tax treatment, and Free Trade Agreement preferential rates.
Read the complete guide: https://qasproglobal.com/uae-customs-duty-2026/
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