Riyadh, Dec. 31 -- Saudi Arabia's Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) has approved amendments to the executive regulations of the excise tax, introducing a sugar-content-based levy on sweetened beverages from January 1, 2026.

The revised framework replaces the current flat 50 percent excise duty with a four-tier methodology that calculates tax according to the total sugar content per 100 millilitres of locally produced ready-to-drink beverages.

Four-tier excise tax methodology:

Tier 1 (Zero tax): Beverages sweetened only with artificial sweeteners and containing no added sugar

Tier 2 (Zero tax): Low-sugar sweetened beverages containing less than 5g of sugar per 100ml

Tier 3 (SAR 0.79 per litre): Sweetened beverages with sugar co...