Ghali: Corruption Will Not Be Tolerated

Tough Penalties for Manipulators

Modern Devices and Standards for Real Estate Valuation

Internal Control Mechanisms to Detect Deviations

The Ministry of...

  Ghali: Corruption Will Not Be Tolerated Tough Penalties for Manipulators Modern Devices and Standards for Real Estate Valuation Internal Control Mechanisms to Detect Deviations The Ministry of Finance has reported a bribery incident in the Real Estate Tax Authority (RTA) to the Administrative Control Authority (ACA), within the framework of the ministry's policy to confront and report cases of irregularity or corruption. One of the RTA valuation committee heads has been caught receiving a bribe from a taxpayer. The accused was arrested and referred to the Public Prosecution to complete the investigations. He was remanded in custody for four days. Clearly violating the Ministry of Finance's instructions, which forbid entry of (RTA) officers and valuators into private houses and limit their work to the outside inspection only, the accused did inspect a certain unit from inside. Moreover, he manipulated the unit owner into believing that he could file a report devaluing the apartment or totally exempting it from the Real Estate taxes. On the one hand, the Ministry of Finance will not tolerate any corruption by any of the staff or officials of ministerial sectors and bodies, said Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali, the Minister of Finance, stressing that transparency and evenness were paramount in the application of the law. Staff of the Ministry's revenue bodies must not cover up any corruption or tolerate attempts to break the rules and regulations, demanded the minister. The Ministry has various internal control mechanisms, based on advanced information technology tools used in many of the developed countries to monitor work progress at RTA offices, which ensures the detection of any manipulation attempts of data or tax payments, Ghali pointed out. In addition, there is a central control administration which reviews the work of all tax offices and data files all over the country. On the other hand, the Minister denied the claim that real estate valuators were in a position to devalue real estate units, or totally exempt them from taxes, requesting taxpayers and citizens in general to cooperate with the Ministry and all other regulatory bodies and speed-up the reporting of any corruption incident. RTA officers and valuators are to follow the Ministry's instructions and should not try to enter private units, and violators will be facing tough penalties, warned the minister, requesting citizens to immediately report any irregular entry into their houses on the of pretext RTA valuation.  The Ministry of Finance adopts collective techniques for real estate valuation, which are used in the developed world countries, and applies clear valuation criteria developed by engineering experts. With these standards and controls, there is no need to enter real estate units from the inside; valuation will be based on the property's exterior only. Moreover, with the use of up-to-date devices, there will be no chance for RTA officers and valuators to miss a building or even a unit inside a building. Subjectivity in the valuation process is thus precluded, the Minister added. (Source: Ministry of Finance)