Online Tax Service Draws More Applicants

Lebanon - Friday, February 7, 2014

The Finance Ministry in Lebanon said that over 9,000 companies and individuals had applied to the ministry’s online tax payments by the middle of December. According to ministry’s monthly bulletin, 9,204 applications were sent electronically to its website. It added that the E-registration received 7,647 applications from companies and institutions and 1,557 from individuals. The new online tax service allows taxpayers to pay all their dues to the treasury using credit and debit cards. The purpose of the online tax system is designed to cut bureaucracy and red tape and facilitate the lives of taxpayers who used to go to the Finance Ministry in person to pay their taxes. The ministry added that 52,850 people had clicked on the Tax Inquiry Web Application to inquire about the conditions and terms for paying taxes online. Caretaker Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi, who launched the new service last year, said online tax payment would also cut the work burden on government employees. He said most banks and businesses had welcomed the new move. But the ministry did not say what percentage of all taxpayers intended to switch to the online system. It has yet to be seen whether the majority of the taxpayers will start paying their dues online or will continue to handle the procedure at the ministry. Source:The Daily Star dated 07/02/2014