Parliament's planning and budget committee asked the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) for a set of data and to meet for a second meeting in March, according to MP Mervat El-Kassan, a member of the committee, adding that the data relates to the number of employees at the ETA and their distribution across various tax departments. The committee held a meeting in February to discuss how to collect tax arrears and develop the Egyptian Tax Authority. "Tax arrears during the last fiscal year reached EGP 110bn, including EGP 11bn owed by national newspapers," El-Kassan said. She added that the committee would like to know all the problems facing the Egyptian Tax Authority which hinder it from collecting taxes during the current period. The planning and budget committee approved a draft law submitted by the government to amend the provisions of the Income Tax Law with a view to facilitate taxpayers with easier tax payment methods. The amendment stipulates granting taxpayers a period of 60 days to allow the submission of statements after the submission of their tax disclosure, as well as prioritising tax debt so that the payment of judicial expenses be ranked first, followed by deferred tax, then the payable tax, and then interest last. In the first two months of the current fiscal year 2017/2018, July and August, tax revenues amounted to EGP 55.9bn, compared with EGP 37.9bn in the same period last year, an increase of EGP 18bn. The tax revenues during the last fiscal year amounted to EGP 409bn compared to EGP 309bn in the prior fiscal year, up by 32%. The Ministry of Finance aims to collect taxes of EGP 537bn at the end of the current fiscal year, 31% more than the previous fiscal year. A member of parliament, who requested not to be named, said that the Egyptian Tax Authority has been suffering from a lack of youth in the last two decades, and it is necessary to employ new graduates from the faculties of commerce, economics, and political science on terms and regulations that take into account their efficiency through holding training courses for the employees of the ETA.
