Finance officials have processed more than 1,050,000 tax returns submitted under the tax amnesty, Finance Minister Sihem Nemsia said at a hearing by the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP’s) parliamentary finance and budget committee.
In addition to the tax amnesty, the debate during the hearing focused on the implementing legislation for the 2024 Finance Act and the draft law on combating financial exclusion, according to an ARP statement.
With regard to the Bill to Amend Act 13 of 2023 in relation to the 2024 Finance Act, the Minister indicated that her department had taken the necessary steps to update the platform dedicated to the tax amnesty so that it would be ready by 1 January 2024.
She added that declarations had been processed without taking into account late payment penalties, pointing out that April 30 was the deadline for benefiting from the tax amnesty.
Asked by MPs about the possibility of extending the deadlines in this area, the Minister pointed out that these deadlines were reasonable and had been the subject of a consensus between Parliament and the Government during a plenary session. “Extending the deadlines could undermine the principle of fairness,” she pointed out.
In response to MPs’ questions about the delay in the publication of certain implementing regulations for the 2024 Finance Act, Nemsia said that her department was not preparing all the implementing regulations for this Act, adding that some regulations were subject to consultation with other departments.
She added that all texts and agreements falling under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance had already been published and that the decree law on the import of vehicles by Tunisians living abroad would soon be submitted to the Cabinet meeting.
With regard to the law to combat financial exclusion, the Minister stated that the number of beneficiaries of micro-credits granted by associations financed by the Tunisian Solidarity Bank (BTS) reached around 41411 in 2023, while the financing granted since the implementation of this mechanism has reached TND 1,396 million.
In addition, the micro-credit structures benefited around 62,149 people in 2023, among those excluded from bank financing, and 12,717 people in the first quarter of 2024.
