VAT EXECUTIVE REGS DUE THIS WEEK: The executive regulations for the value-added tax have been drafted, Tax Authority chief Abdel Moneim Mattar says, and will be presented to Finance Minister Amr El Garhy for final approval. The regs are due to be released this week and will declare private medical practices — with the exception of cosmetic and dietary treatments — to be exempt from the VAT, Mattar tells Al Masry Al Youm. This contradicts previous statements by Finance Ministry officials that these would be part of the tax. The exemption was made to help reduce the price burden on citizens, said Mattar. Lawyers will apparently get a break, for reasons we’re utterly unable to comprehend: Legal services will be subject to a 10% tax, not to the 13% baseline rate, which is set to rise to 14% next year. Lawyers will also not be subject to the mandatory minimum income of EGP 500k to register for the VAT. Unemployed lawyers will not be required to pay a tax but must register. Lawyers, like everyone else, continue to protest being included in the VAT regime, Mattar notes.

So let us get this straight: Lawyers are getting a break and accountants are making more money? Where’s the justice?