Rania Chakhtoura, “Akhbar al-Yawm” agency

Financial source: they transfer money in bags to banks in order to benefit from Sayrafa

The letter of the minister of Finance in the caretaker government, Youssef al-Khalil, to the customs department, in which he requested "starting from this 17th, the collection of taxes and customs duties of all kinds, 50% in cash in Lebanese currency as a minimum and 50% by bank check in Lebanese currency as a maximum", raised a lot of confusion...In addition, there is a fear of further price increases in light of the chaos prevailing on more than one level.

Is this step unfair?

A financial source considered via the "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency that those who have money today are merchants and "gangs", considering that the decision of the minister of Finance is incomplete, because by doing so, half of the tax will be paid in cash, but while it is assumed that in order for this step to achieve its feasibility, the tax should be full of various types, not just VAT and customs duty in cash.

Would such a measure be fair? The same source answered: the incomes of traders directly involved in customs duties come from goods priced on the basis of the dollar exchange rate on the black market, and therefore the state is supposed to deal with them on the same or similar basis.

He pointed out how some people transfer money in bags to banks in order to take advantage of the Sayrafa platform.

The same financial source considered that the distinction between companies and individuals is possible or even easy, explaining: it is true that many traders do not believe in the issue of companies in the sense that they do not register them in Commercial Registers, and they make huge profits, but they can be tracked through a certain ceiling of profits that an individual cannot achieve without doing extensive business, in the sense that differentiation is according to income.