Egypt Tax Collection up 5.5 pct Between July and March

Egypt's tax revenues reached LE115.4 billion ($19.2 billion) in the first three quarters of the current financial year, Finance Minister Momtaz El-Saeed said on Monday. while the minister indicated that tax collection increased by 10 per cent over last year, Ahram Online calculations show an increase of just 5.5 per cent.

In a statement, El-Saeed said the hike in revenues was proof that corporations are still able to perform well in Egypt despite political and economic turmoil. Around LE67.2 billion was collected in 'general' while sales taxes made up around LE48.2 billion -- or 42 per cent -- of the total collected, according to the statement. Egypt's tax revenue target for the 2011/12 fiscal year is LE232 billion (around $38 billion).

The figure collected for the first nine months of the year are roughly 50 per cent of the target. The target for the previous year was LE200 billion, but only LE192 billion was eventually collected. The Ministry of Finance earlier this year introduced several programs to boost tax collection and ease Egypt's swollen budget deficit, projected to reach LE140 billion. A new law offered partial discounts to taxpayers if they resolved at least some of their deferred dues before 31 March 2012. Egypt's tax authority last week said around LE2 billion ($333 million) in deferred taxes were collected during this initial grace period.