CAIRO - Egypt's Finance Ministry aims to double tax receipts in five years to an annual 408.3 billion Egyptian pounds, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. In the 2010-11 financial year, which began on July 1, the ministry expects to collect taxes of 197.27 billion pounds, al-Mal cited an unnamed Finance Ministry source as saying. There was no official comment on the report. In May, Egypt approved an increase in the sales tax on steel and a 5 per cent tax on cement sales, replacing a flat-rate tax. It expects to bring in another 1.8 billion to 2.4 billion Egyptian pounds annually when a new property tax law enacted earlier this year comes into force at the end of 2010. Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said Egypt's 2010/11 budget deficit was set to increase by 3.5 billion pounds as result of plans to increase spending in key areas like health and agriculture. The minister cut income taxes when he took office in 2004, aiming to improve tax revenues by encouraging individuals and businesses to improve reporting of taxable income. Tax earnings have risen steadily since then.
