No VAT raise soon

MoF proposes amending procedures only

The Value Added Tax (VAT) will not be increased in 2013. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) recently submitted a proposal to reform the VAT system. “The proposal involves amendments to a few procedures in tax administration and does not address the tax increase,” a statement issued by the MoF said.

Amending the law to raise the VAT to 12 percent had been on the Cabinet's agenda several times in 2012. Minister of Finance Mohamad Safadi had repeatedly defended the VAT increase, saying it would affect the cost of living by less than one percent.

As part of the reform package presented at the Paris III conference, Lebanon had pledged to gradually increase the VAT to 12 percent, and later to 15 percent.