Shortly after millions of people had heaved a deep sigh of relief after being assured that their private domiciles would be exempt from the new Property Law, the chief of the Tax Department, Ashraf el-Erabi, made a disappointing statement. Rebutting legal sources in Parliament, the chief taxman firmly said that the owners of private homes would not be exempt from the tax enshrined in the new law. The new Property Law, according to which any building, irrespective of its purpose and use will be taxed, has provoked wide repercussions ��" and discontent as well ��" across the nation. Landlords, whose private homes are currently exempt, were dismayed to discover that they will have to knock at the doors of the Tax Department in five or 10 years' time. Economically devastated homeowners were briefly overwhelmed by optimism when two MPs sympathetically campaigned in Parliament to compel the Minister of Finance to be less hostile to these people. The nation's dim hopes were rekindled after a senior legal adviser in the Council of State advised landlords to ignore calls urging them to sign and submit their Property Law documents, although if they don't submit them they will be fined. The disappointment of these homeowners increased when the chief taxman denied that the new law is unconstitutional. “[The property law] is fully consistent with the Egyptian Constitution,” el-Arabi declared during a meeting with members of a social club in Cairo. “The law is based on the foundations of justice and equality.”
