Al-Ahram Weekly | Economy

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 6 - 12 December 2001 Issue No.563
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Consumer smarts
THE Sales Tax Authority is launching a campaign aimed at encouraging consumers to ask traders to give them "tax invoices" for their purchases. The authority's ultimate goal is to track down every single sales transaction in an attempt to eliminate tax evasion.
"This is a document that guarantees the source and quality of the purchased goods or service," said Mahmoud Mohammed Ali, head of the Sales Tax Authority.
According to the second and third phases of the sales tax, imposed a few months ago, both wholesale and retail traders of goods and services are required to issue a detailed invoice of the trading operations they undertake. The tax invoice should display the trader's name, the kind of service performed, the quantity and price of sold items and the amount of sales taxes imposed on them.
Since traders are strongly opposed to the procedure, the Sales Tax Authority has had to rely on consumers to play an effective role in imposing these rules. "It is the end consumer that pays the taxes anyway, so he has to make sure that it goes to the state's coffers and not into the trader's pocket," said Ali.
Speeding up
THE US Administration has agreed to speed up the dispensing of USAID funds to Egypt. The step is aimed at alleviating difficulties caused by the 11 September attack on the US, and the effects of generally adverse conditions in the local economy. The decision was announced by Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher in Washington last week. The details of the initiative will be worked out during an upcoming visit to Cairo by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. That visit will be scheduled within the coming weeks. USAID funds to Egypt for the year 2000-2001 reached approximately $650 million.
The initiative will also involve both sides examining the possibility of rescheduling "pipeline funds" (sums designated to specific sectors of the economy), which have not yet been disbursed, either due to bureaucratic impediments, or because USAID demands for economic reform in the relevant sectors have not yet been met. The US trade representative is also expected to discuss the Egypt-US Free Trade Area (FTA). Both the Egyptian government and Egyptian business have long called for an FTA to facilitate the access of Egyptian exports to the US market.
So far, discussions on the FTA have stalled. The Bush administration has been preoccupied with first obtaining "fast track authority." This would mandate the administration to work out the details of free trade arrangements, before presenting them to Congress for approval.

Recommend this page

© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved

Send a letter to the Editor

ARCHIVES
Letter from the Editor
Editorial Board
Subscription
Advertise!

WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly
Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time
weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg

Al-Ahram Organisation