IMF in Egypt for first time since 30 June

[DJKeefy]

In its first visit to Egypt since 30 June uprising, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation met with Finance Minister Ahmed Galal Wednesday evening, Al-Ahram's Arabic website reported.

Galal was keen to continue discussions with the global lender over providing Egypt with the technical support to introduce the new Value-Added Tax (VAT), steering clear of ongoing negotiations over the IMF’s $4.8 billion loan.

In August, Egypt’s government considered replacing sales tax with VAT, as a backbone for financial discipline and social justice.

The delegation will stay for three days in Cairo to meet officials from the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) to discuss the VAT implementation criteria.

The Egyptian government is expecting an additional LE322 billion (roughly $46 billion) in tax revenues, as part of the 2013/2014 budget, an ETA official told Ahram Online in August.

The revenue boost is a 50 percent rise from revenues in the 2012/13 fiscal year, the ETA official added.

Galal previously asserted Egypt does not want a loan from the IMF, as the need for cash and credibility among international investors no longer exists, Al-Ahram's Arabic website reported two weeks ago.

There have been two years of negotiations over a $4.8 billion loan without agreement between the two sides, mostly as a result of the reluctance of successive Egyptian governments to impose reforms that would squeeze living standards, such as the lifting of fuel subsidies and raising of taxes.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/85174.aspx

[A-Four]

Who is playing the joker here? - Its either the Government, IMF or Al ahram,......or perhaps all of them, though one thing is for sure, this will probably run longer than The Mousetrap.

[lotusflower]

There is a very poor regulation on taxes in Egypt, Income Tax, Inheritance/Gift Tax, Capital Gains Tax.

Let us look at Gift Tax. I bet if there was a Threshold for Gift Tax in Luxor of say 50,000 Egyptian pounds and any amount over this figure being taxed at say 30%, I am absolutely sure a lot of tax could be collected by the Government on all of the monies paid for by foreigners paying for properties (particularly on the West Bank in Luxor) and such properties ultimately being registered in an Egyptians names under one of their scamming schemes and cases in Court being pleaded that such monies were gifted to them by their tourist friends, wives etc.

That would certainly flush out the scammers.