Minister of Finance Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali announced that President Mubarak has issued a presidential decree for the merging of the General Tax and Sales Authorities  and the establishment of a new tax authority.  He said it will take months to prepare before the merger is in line with international standards.

Ghali explained that the employees in the former departments will be equally treated and that there will be no difference between both departments which will be regarded as a single entity in line with the President’s approval over the merge.  Ghali specified that training centers for the employees  will be set up in accordance with the specialization of employees. He said that promotion of employees will be based on performance and specialization. He explained that grave deviancies only will be reported to the attorney general based on the approval by the Minister of Finance.

Dr. Ghali corrected misunderstandings with regards to the  tax law on new leases, saying such taxes will be implemented from June 2005 and not the beginning of 2005; a misunderstanding that has led to reasonable concerns among taxpayers.  He said tax differences will be returned to taxpayers in a sign of good faith between the tax authority and the taxpayers.

  Ghali also explained that tax files are a private and a confidential matter and will not be open except with a court order.

In an effort to begin a new chapter in relations between the authority and the taxpayer, Ghali said that he has called on heads of tax districts to conclude open files and return taxpayers’ dues however minimal.

Dr. Ghali’s statements came during his meeting with the heads of the tax districts.  He also promised employees to work on improving their living standards and change the bonus system.  He said that employment will be solely based on training and tests.  He nevertheless said he has already worked out details with a number of  companies and factories to offer employment to relatives within the tax authority as a show of support.(source: ministry of finance)