Arab governments are putting more taxes on the poor
Some collect more than half their tax revenue from regressive levies
LIFE IN EGYPT gets more expensive by the month. Sitting in a café on a shady street, Mahmoud, a software developer, runs through the new taxes and fees. A value-added tax (VAT) was introduced at 13% in 2016, then hiked to 14%. A few years ago the government added a tax of ten Egyptian pounds ($0.55) to Mahmoud’s monthly phone bill. His cigarettes go up a pound or two whenever the treasury needs a puff of extra cash. Last time he got a new driving licence, it cost 15 times more than before.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Collecting from the wrong people”
Middle East & Africa April 9th 2022
From the April 9th 2022 edition
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