NO DATE FOR THE VALUE-ADDED TAX REGS? It would be hard to confirm when exactly the executive regulations for the value-added tax (VAT) will be ready as the document is very extensive, said Salah Youssef, head of the Tax Authority’s research department. This comes despite Tax Authority boss Abdel Moneim Mattar saying on Sunday that the regulations will be out this week. Youssef did confirm that they have been drafted and are currently being reviewed by senior officials in the Finance Ministry, Al Mal reports. By law, the government has 30 days from the day a bill is signed into law to issue the executive regulations, which puts the deadline at 9 October.

Lawyers Syndicate believes definition of their profession as “free and independent” means “free and independent of taxes”: Among the surprises that Mattar announced was that lawyers will be getting a break, for no stated reason. And how are lawyers showing their gratitude for the pandering? The Lawyer’s Syndicate has filed suit in the Administrative Court, according to Ahram Online, demanding the VAT legislation be struck down. The suit, filed on Sunday, alleges that lawyers are exempt from paying taxes under Article 198 of the constitution, which defines the profession as “Free” or “independent.” The lawyer among us toils on the day shift at Inktank, so we have no recourse as at dispatch time, but our reading of Article 198 has us questioning the grounds of the claim. Pay your taxes, counsel. If we have to, you have to. The Finance Ministry has already agreed that legal services will be subject to 10% VAT, not the 13% (rising to 14% next year) that other professions will be forced to charge. Check it out for yourself in the Egyptian Constitution of 2014, page 49 (pdf).

Are private medical practices really VAT-exempt? Legal Affairs Minister Magdy El Agaty tells Al Mal that parliament has not amended clauses of the VAT concerning exempting private medical practices from tax. Mattar had announced on Sunday that all non-cosmetic healthcare services and pharma products are VAT-exempt, including private medical practices, so presumably, these will be part of the regs. In the meantime, the Medical and Pharmacist Syndicates have been locked in emergency meetings to figure out how the VAT will affect them and awaiting the regs to be released to get a better idea, Al Borsa reports.