The Pharmacists' Syndicate has called on its members to rally today in the emergency general assembly under the slogan "together against the Tax Authority's decision". "We should stand together against whoever wants to do harm to the pharmacists or dissuade them from doing their role in the service of the Egyptian patients," the syndicate said. It warned that the pharmacists might be imprisoned due to the Tax Authority's decree on chargers of tax evasion, stressing the importance of re-following the agreement signed between the syndicate and the Tax Authority.
The syndicate and the authority had previously agreed on the basis and rules of pharmacies' tax accounting. Under this agreement, the head of the Tax Authority had issued executive instruction No. 58, item 181 for the year 2005 on the basis of pharmacies' tax accounting. The pharmacies have been dealing with the Tax Authority in accordance with this agreement since 2005, the syndicate said.
"We were taken aback by the issuance of the executive instruction on canceling the previous agreement although this violates the law and the statements of the Minister of Finance in the People's Assembly (parliament) during the discussion and endorsement of the tax law. The Minister of Finance said that pharmacies are small facilities and there should be an agreement on the basis of their tax accounting."
"Thanks to their unity in the general assembly, the pharmacists managed to face all attacks on the part of the Tax Authority in 1986, the action on the imprisonment of the pharmacists in 1998 and the abuse in inspection as well as other issues that faced pharmacist."
Today's general assembly is due to discuss a number of "escalating" measures, such as closing pharmacies, staging an open sit-in nationwide and protests before the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance.
