Laws and Taxes
Lebanon’s Fees and Taxes-1992: LBP 644 billion 2012: LBP 11.6 thousand billion
Since 1992, the taxation strain has been growing in a manner that exhausted the resources of the Lebanese and transformed Lebanon into a taxation inferno. The need to address the deficit in the public budget has dictated an increase in old tax rates and the introduction of new taxes, yet without a...
Tax-Ridden Citizens vs.Tax-Exempt Religious Authorities
While the Lebanese continue to shoulder the burden of ever higher and more diversified annual taxation, new laws are being approved to grant religious sects tax-exempt status. Voices are even being raised to enact new laws aimed at expanding the circle of exemptions.
Rent of Government Premises-LBP 113 Billion Annually
The state pays exorbitant rental amounts soaring to roughly LBP 113 billion annually for the use of the offices and headquarters of the ministries, public administrations and institutions, the Lebanese University, public schools and municipalities. Every year, the cost increases due to the...
Precedents in Term-Extension of Parliament : 16 years and 6 months
The term of the current Parliament that was elected in 2009 expires on June 20, 2013. As the end of its mandate approaches and amid the multitude of the proposed electoral formulas, yet the failure to agree on one, talks have emerged about the possibility of postponing the elections, which in turn...
New Traffic Law : Fines, Driving Schools and Subtraction of Points
After having been debated for years in dozens of Parliament sessions, the long-awaited new Traffic Law has finally came to light pursuant to law No. 243, dated October 22, 2012 and consists of 420 articles. The law features modernity and inclusiveness with respect to all traffic matters including...
Extension of Parliament’s Term Weighed by the Constitutional Council
Lebanon’s Parliament held on Friday the 31st of May, 2013, the day marking the end of its regular mandate, a 10-minute session that approved the draft law laid forth by MP Nicolas Fattoush and suggesting the extension of the legislature’s mandate by 17 months to expire on November 20, 2014....
When Laws Conflict with Constitution
The approval of laws that contradict the constitution is one of the numerous flaws plaguing the Lebanese system. In a bid to rectify this flaw, the Constitutional Council was established as a body aimed to “oversee the constitutionality of laws and all other texts that have the force of law and...
Medical Malpractice Existing yet Hard to Prove
Every now and then, stories of appalling deaths from medical errors circulate among the Lebanese, bringing to the attention of the media the rampant malpractice in hospitals. Some of the patients admitted for routine check-ups or regular operations can end up dying or permanently disabled resulting...
Higher Pay = Higher Taxes
The dilemma of the public pay increase in Lebanon has been dragging on approximately two years and shows little if any signs of being resolved in the near future. The Cabinet approved the pay scale but deferred its referral to Parliament in its final formula in search of the necessary funding...
