Parliament' Planning and Budget Committee criticised the Ministry of Finance for the weak tax revenues during the previous fiscal year 2015/2016. The real estate tax revenues during that year reached EGP 1.294bn, from a target of EGP 3.097bn, marking a deficit of 56.7%. The committee asked to meet the Egyptian Real Estate Taxation Authority (RTA) in the first half of December to discuss improving the performance. The committee held a meeting with officials of the RTA on Wednesday. MP Talaat Khalil said that the RTA needs improvements in the coming period, in terms of legislative aspects, as well as administrative and technical aspects, through the provision of modern equipment for its employees. He added that the committee asked RTA Head Samia Hussein for a list of employees and their roles to learn about the shortcomings. The committee also sought a report on the preparedness of the authority's offices in other governorates. He said that the real estate tax collected reached EGP 968m versus a target of EGP 2.3bn. The agricultural real estate tax also reached EGP 203m, against a target of EGP 58m. Tax collected from entertainment facilities reached EGP 122m, from a EGP 45m target. According to Khalil, the development of the tax system, especially with regard to real estate tax, is capable of reaching above EGP 2.5bn per year, which could ease the financial burden on the public treasury. MP Mervat Alexan, a member of the planning and budget committee, said the number of employees in the RTA is 26,000 employees, including 23,000 that were assigned from local councils. She added that the committee asked the Ministry of Finance to reopen the Money Changers Institute for two years, in order to provide efficient employees. The Ministry of Finance aims to collect taxes of EGP 604bn through expanding the tax community base and developing the state's tax authorities.
