Drinks under 5 g of sugar: the Gulf tax tiers and Ramadan 2027

In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, a sweetened drink with 4.9 g of sugar per 100 ml pays no sugar tax. At 5 g, it pays 0.79 per litre: AED in the UAE, SAR in Saudi Arabia. A tenth of a gram decides the tier.

That’s how the excise on sweetened drinks has worked in the UAE and Saudi Arabia since 1 January 2026. Both countries replaced a flat 50% rate with tiers based on total sugar per 100 ml.

For a drinks brand, that tenth of a gram adds up across every litre sold. It’s also a tenth of a gram that takes real engineering to remove without losing the taste.

The tiers, in one table #

Try your own drink in the calculator below.

When natural sugar counts #

In the UAE, a drink with only natural sugar and nothing added is not taxed, as the tax authority confirmed before the tiers began. Once sugar or a sweetener is added, the tier counts the total: natural and added sugars together, per 100 ml. The fruit, the dates and the grape molasses all go on the scale.

That changes the maths for traditional recipes. A drink that sounds natural on the label can still land in a taxed tier once anything sweet is added, and whether a sweet ingredient counts as added is a question to settle for each SKU.

Some drinks sit outside the tiers. In the UAE, for example: 100% natural juice with no added sugar or sweeteners, drinks with at least 75% milk, baby formula and drinks for special dietary needs; energy drinks stay at 100% excise. Check each SKU with the FTA in the UAE or ZATCA in Saudi Arabia.

In the UAE, the tax also covers concentrates, powders, gels and extracts used to make drinks (Middle East Briefing). If you sell a syrup or a powder, check how your product is assessed.

Why 4.9 g is hard #

Cut sugar and the drink tastes thin or sharp, and sweeteners alone can linger. Sugar was doing three jobs at once (sweetness, body and acid balance), and a sweetener mostly covers the first.

Ramadan drinks raise the bar. People expect jallab, tamarind and qamar al-din to taste rich and full, and their signature ingredients bring sugar of their own.

Five levers, pulled together #

No single swap gets a drink under 5 g with the taste people expect. So the work uses several levers at once.

1. 01

   Sweetener blends

   Several sweeteners working together, so no single one lingers or tastes off.

2. 02

   Rebalance acid and sugar

   With less sugar, the acid has to be tuned too, or the drink tastes sharp.

3. 03

   Rebuild the body

   Fibres or hydrocolloids bring back part of the mouthfeel that sugar used to give.

4. 04

   Flavour modulation

   Flavours chosen to round out sweetness, so less sugar still tastes complete.

5. 05

   A lab test of the sugar in every SKU

   The tier depends on the measured total sugar, so every flavour and every change gets tested.

Each lever moves the others. Lower the acid and the sweetness reads differently; add body and the flavour can feel muted. That’s why they are adjusted together, with a tasting after every round.

Plan back from Ramadan #

Ramadan 2027 is projected to start around 8 Feb 2027, subject to moon sighting. A reformulated drink needs time for development, a factory trial, lab tests and labels, so plan backwards from that date.

Cutting sugar without losing taste: that is my work. If you’re reformulating a drink for Ramadan 2027, tell me about your drink.