The real estate tax took another pummeling in the opinion pages yesterday, with Mahmoud Khalil calling it unnecessary, untimely and even a waste of effort. For one, he quotes Finance Ministry officials as saying that revenues from the new 2.5% tithe would only amount to EGP 5 bn. This is an insignificant number for the state budget, but makes all the difference to the people who are taxed. It is untimely as people are suffering from subsidy cuts and inflation, he writes for El Watan. Furthermore, the amount is also tiny compares to the EGP 400 bn in unsettled tax disputes, which should be a more pressing priority for the ministry, he added.

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