Three decisions applying from 1 October
Decisions 223/2026, 224/2026 and 225/2026 were signed on 22 September 2026, published in Official Gazette No 1667 on 27 September and made effective from 1 October. They respectively cover veterinary supplies, medicines and equipment for human health, and the food products listed in their schedules. The Tax Authority’s official decision index lists the three instruments as the new zero-rated lists for veterinary supplies, medical products and food items. [OMAN_INDEX] [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
The timetable matters for transactions spanning September and October. Publication is not the effective date: each decision expressly sets 1 October 2026. A business must therefore link each supply to the relevant time-of-supply and tax-point rule, and retain the version of its product table that was used. This article does not determine those rules for any particular contract. [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
The zero rate does not remove product classification
The decisions do not create a nil rate for every food, medical or veterinary product. They refer to detailed schedules. Decision 225/2026 contains 807 numbered food entries, Decision 224/2026 contains 677 human-health entries, and Decision 223/2026 contains 62 veterinary entries. Those counts describe the schedules, but cannot establish by themselves that a particular commercial item is covered. [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
The review should start from the product’s actual description and customs code. A marketing name, purchasing category or internal code is not a substitute for the classification appearing in the schedule. Variations in dosage, presentation, use or composition may affect classification. An uncertain match does not support either applying or automatically carrying forward the 0% rate. For transactions governed by the new regime, the customs classification, exact schedule entry and any required sector clearance must be established before configuration. Otherwise, official confirmation or a documented legally supportable position is required. [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
Sector clearances for healthcare products
Decision 224/2026 covers human medicines, herbal medicines, biological and health preparations, food for medical uses and medical equipment. It makes the 0% rate conditional on a customs-clearance permit issued by the Ministry of Health according to the customs code. Listing in the schedule must therefore be reconciled with that permit; the schedule does not replace the sector document. [OMAN_224]
Decision 223/2026 follows a similar approach for veterinary medicines and equipment. The relevant clearance is issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, again by reference to the customs code. Procedures should preserve this institutional distinction: evidence for the human-health category is not sufficient for the veterinary category, and vice versa. [OMAN_223]
Two earlier decisions are replaced
Decision 224/2026 repeals Decision 59/2021 and any provision that conflicts with it. Decision 225/2026 similarly repeals Decision 65/2021. Businesses should therefore remove the earlier tables from VAT engines for transactions governed by the new regime, while retaining them in the archive needed to review earlier periods. [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
Decision 223/2026 introduces the veterinary list without stating that an equivalent earlier decision is repealed. The repeal clauses in the other two decisions should not be extended by analogy. For transactions whose relevant time of supply or tax point falls before 1 October under the applicable rules, the new schedules do not show that the historical treatment was wrong; the treatment must be reviewed under the rules then applicable. [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
Practical effects for systems and invoices
Implementation should proceed item by item. A working file can map each SKU to its description, customs code, exact schedule entry, sector clearance where required, effective date and retained evidence. This structure distinguishes a confirmed match from a merely probable one and limits bulk changes based on keywords. [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
The zero rate changes the tax calculation on an invoice, but does not automatically establish a lower final price. Contracts, net prices, commercial adjustments and supply dates still require review. Credit notes or rebilling for earlier periods also need separate analysis. The decisions do not, on their own, create a general entitlement to recover VAT already paid. [OMAN_INDEX] [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
Priority controls
Importers can begin with high-volume references and products with stable customs classifications. Local distributors should ask suppliers for the precise basis of the rate and avoid copying a treatment without the schedule and, where relevant, the clearance permit. Tax and customs teams should use the same code so that import and onward-supply classifications do not diverge without explanation. [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
A targeted control should also identify products that remained configured under Decisions 59/2021 or 65/2021 after 1 October. A product-table change should be deployed only after testing the invoice, VAT return and accounting interfaces. The change record should show who confirmed the code, the evidence used and the period covered. [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
Scope and limitations
This analysis is based on the complete official texts and schedules of the three decisions and the Tax Authority’s official decision index, reviewed on 12 October 2026. It does not classify any particular product or verify any permit held by a business. Nor does it determine deduction, adjustment or place-of-supply rules that may apply to an individual transaction. [OMAN_INDEX] [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]
Targeted research did not identify a judicial decision directly addressing these three very recent instruments. That search result is not a general conclusion about Omani VAT case law. An operational decision should remain supported by the applicable decision, the exact schedule entry, the customs classification and, for human or veterinary health products, the required sector clearance. [OMAN_223] [OMAN_224] [OMAN_225]