Beyond the 10% tax: Companies grapple with interpretation amid budget controversy

Report by Bassam Abou Zeid, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

The ten percent tax imposed in the budget on companies importing petroleum derivatives remains a subject of debate between these companies, as well as how to interpret the text of the article.

The draft text of the article discusses a tax on revenues, while the intention is a tax on exceptional profits that these companies may have achieved due to subsidies, considering that imposing a tax on revenues would lead to the bankruptcy of these companies.

In this context, MP Marwan Hamadeh's statement called for the necessity of separating the text of the article from its interpretation in the file of corporate profit tax during the "subsidy period."

The controversy is not limited to this new tax but extends to the corporate income tax, amounting to 17 percent.

During the "subsidy period," companies used to sell goods in "fresh dollars" and pay this tax based on LBP 1,500 per US dollar initially, then at LBP 3,900. 

These companies benefited from the US dollar exchange rate difference to achieve more profits.