The ill-reputed property tax has again come under the spotlight, with a surprising statement made by President Hosni Mubarak at a rally in the Delta Governorate of Kafr el-Sheikh on Sunday. He pointed out that the newly-ndorsed property tax is still under discussion. The property tax is supposed to take effect this year, by means of a bill approved by the People's Assembly (the Lower House of the Egyptian Parliament) in its foregoing session, which has stirred controversy ever since its endorsement. The reason is that citizens oppose the idea of paying taxes on their residences. Moreover, much doubt has been cast on the assessment of housing units' value, since only those reaching LE500,000, according to market value, will fall under the bill. Citizens are required to submit a property ownership statement, whose deadline was extended for three months by the Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros-Ghali against the inability of real estate tax employees to cater for long queues of owners. The Real Estate Tax Administration has engaged a number of its employees in the past few months to explain obscure aspects of the law to citizens and to answer their enquiries. While Mubarak's disclosure concerning the law's ambivalence relieved citizens' minds, since it suggested that the controversial situation would be eased, it reflected a lack of co-ordination. President Mubarak was keen to stress that the law would be most probably amended. However, the Minister of Finance has been speaking of the law for a long time as an established fact.
