Investors call for an end to real estate tax on factories: The Investors Union has petitioned the government to abolish the real estate tax on the factories, less than a week after the cabinet decided to introduce new tax exemptions, the local press reports. Samir Aref, head of the Tenth of Ramadan Investors Association, said he submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly this week calling for the permanent abolition of the tax to assist factories in paying off “accumulated debt from the high cost of production.”

This comes on the heels of the Madbouly Cabinet approving draft amendments to the Real Estate Tax Act last week that exempt unused land and strategic sectors from the tax.

Investors Union to demand taxes are reimbursed: The Investor Union’s secretary-general Mohamed Khamis Shaaban said that these changes will have little impact on factories and investors. The union will hold a meeting with the Finance Ministry in early February to demand the government refund taxes paid under the old version of the law, Shaaban said.