LEGISLATION WATCH- House Speaker submits Income Tax Act, Public Enterprises Act, others, for committee discussion: House Speaker Ali Abdel Aal submitted six draft laws and two protocols to their relevant committees during parliament’s plenary session on Sunday, the local press reports.

Income tax amendments sent to the Planning and Budgeting Committee: Fresh off raising the income tax exemption threshold in amendments passed last month, the planning committee will discuss a fresh set of changes to the legislation — possibly involving the proposal to cut capital gains tax for state-owned companies we caught wind of last week.

Stamp tax amendments head back to the planning committee: The committee last week decided to temper the government’s proposed cuts to stamp tax on EGX transactions, reducing the tax from 0.15% to 0.075% instead of 0.05%.

The Public Enterprises Act amendments were submitted to the Economics Committee. The legislation would reclassify listed companies in which the government holds up to a 75% stake and a cap on board compensation. Members of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, and well as the planning and labor committees will participate in the discussions.

Other bills submitted to relevant committees:

• The suspension of tax on agricultural land for two years will be discussed by the agriculture and planning committees.
• A draft law to set up a fund to support tourism and archeological sites was submitted to the tourism, culture, civil aviation, and constitutional committees.
• The civil disputes resolution bill, the protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products and a presidential decision regarding IMF funding were submitted to the Constitutional Affairs Committee.
• Legislation on waste management was submitted to the Energy and Environment Committee, with participation of members of the constitutional affairs, planning and industry committees.