EXCLUSIVE- Healthcare tithe this year will definitely be on the top line: The 0.25% levy businesses will have to pay as part of the Universal Healthcare Act will definitely be on revenues for the current fiscal year, Tax Authority head Abdel Azim Hussein tells us, implying that it is just too late to change course this late into the FY2018 tax season.

What about the years to come? Hussein did tell us that the Finance Ministry was working on an amendment to the Universal Healthcare Act, but declined to say whether the amendments would see the tax shifted to the bottom line. He made sure to note that any changes made in the next fiscal year will not be applied retroactively. This means that if the ministry changes course and decides to tax company profits, no additional tax will be charged on profits from previous years. These amendments have yet to be completed.

He promised that we would see clarity on the accounting for the tax for outliers from an upcoming note that will be published by the ministry.

Still in question, as we see it: Whether the 0.25% levy on revenues would be tax deductible. Our take at present is that it is not.