Merchants in Gaza resumed importing fruit and livestock after the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in Gaza abandoned the new income tax collection mechanism.

Palestine Economy Portal

Translated by: Tamara Barakat

The Assistant Undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance in the Gaza Strip, Auni Al-Basha, confirmed to the Palestine Economy Portal that the new mechanism for collecting the income tax placed on fruit and livestock merchants was cancelled.

After the cancellation of the decision to implement a new tax collection mechanism, which had led to lots of objections, the merchants resumed importing fruit and livestock on Monday. They had previously decided to halt their work until the decision is cancelled, since they believe it added more economic burdens on them.

In the beginning of December, the MOF in Gaza announced a decision stating the collection of taxes on a monthly, rather than on an annual basis.  

According to the MOF’s statement, issued at that time, 3 agoras were imposed as taxes for each gram of fruit, and 2 agoras for each kilogram of vegetables.

Moreover, $50 were imposed for each cow, $30 for each sheep or goat, and $30 for each of any other livestock.

(Palestine Economy Portal)