Import tax in Middle East & Africa

Middle East & Africa Customs Duty

Duty rate 0% duty under ~AED 1,000; 5% VAT always applies
Low-value threshold ~AED 1,000 (duty only - no VAT threshold)
UAE, with more Middle East & Africa markets coming Reviewed 13 Aug 2026

The UAE is currently the only Middle East & Africa market covered on this site. It charges a flat 5% VAT on every import with no low-value exemption at all, plus a separate 5% customs duty that only kicks in above a roughly AED 1,000 exemption threshold for personal courier shipments.

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Key Takeaways

  • The UAE is currently the only Middle East & Africa market with sourced, verified figures on this site - see the full UAE country guide for the complete breakdown.
  • Unlike most other regions on this site, the UAE’s VAT (5%) has no value-based exemption at all - it applies to every import regardless of size.
  • Only customs duty has a low-value exemption, for personal courier shipments valued at roughly AED 1,000 or less.
  • We’ll add more Middle East & Africa markets here as their rules are verified to the same sourcing standard as the UAE’s.

Why the UAE Gets Its Own Deep Dive

The UAE runs one of the simpler tax structures covered on this site in terms of rate count (a flat 5% VAT, a flat 5% general duty rate) but with a genuinely distinctive feature: VAT never has a value-based exemption, unlike every other VAT/GST system covered elsewhere on this site. Only customs duty is exempted for smaller personal courier shipments, at a threshold that’s moved before (briefly lowered to AED 300 in early 2023, then reinstated) and carries an honest caveat about how recently it’s been reconfirmed. Read the full breakdown on the UAE country page.

More Middle East & Africa Markets Are Coming

The Middle East and Africa each include several other large e-commerce markets with genuinely different tax systems - Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Egypt among them. We’d rather ship one well-sourced country page at a time than publish estimates we haven’t verified, so this region page will grow as each market is added.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the UAE charge VAT on every import with no exemption?

The UAE’s VAT law (introduced in 2018) doesn’t carve out a low-value exemption the way some other countries’ VAT or GST systems do - it applies from the first dirham of any import. Only customs duty, a separate charge, has a value-based exemption for personal shipments.

Is the UAE representative of the wider Middle East and Africa region?

Not necessarily - each country in this vast region runs its own separate tax system, and the UAE’s specific 5%/5% structure with no VAT de minimis is a feature of UAE law rather than a regional pattern. Treat this page as UAE-specific until more countries are added.

Will you add other Middle East and Africa countries soon?

Yes - this page will expand as each additional market’s rules are researched and sourced to the same standard as the UAE’s.

See also

  • Asia - China runs two entirely different import tax systems: an ordinary personal postal tax (13-50% depending on category) for regular international parcels, and a reduced cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) rate for orders bought through a registered platform. Which one applies depends on how the store sells to you, not just what you buy.
  • European Union - Orders under €150 from an IOSS-registered seller pay a flat €3 customs duty per item type since 1 July 2026; non-IOSS orders under €150 stay duty-free for now. Orders over €150 always pay import VAT, category-based customs duty, and a carrier handling fee, regardless of IOSS status.
  • Europe - "Europe" here means the continent's markets outside the EU customs union: the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. Each runs its own, genuinely separate import system - VAT ranges from Switzerland's 8.1% up to Norway's 25%, and low-value treatment ranges from Iceland's total absence of an exemption to Norway's NOK 3,000 VOEC scheme. Liechtenstein is the one exception: it applies Swiss rules directly rather than running its own system.

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