Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at IUG organized a symposium titled “Reality of Income Tax in Palestine”.
Dr. Mahmoud Muhani, Director of Income Tax in the Gaza Strip, highlighted that the income tax law in Palestine goes back to the British Mandate era. A version of this law prevailed in the Gaza Strip in 1947, and another in the West Bank in 1964. The two versions of the law continued into effect until new regulations about the prevailed system were issued. All that shaped the first stage of the Palestinian Tax Law.
Dr. Muhani added that “throughout the second stage, the income tax was canceled, and was only subjected to the issuance of military orders. This status of the law continued into effect until 1994, the year of Palestinian National Authority (PNA) arrival, where all military orders were nullified and all types of accrued taxes were exempted. In that year, 1994, laws number 13 and 25 continued to apply until 2004.
Dr. Muhani also clarified that in 2004, law number 14 was issued and went into effect in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since then. It was applicable with no modifications until 2008, where some articles were amended in favor of PNA. After that, law number 14 was again amended in 2015-2016, and since then all amendments have been applicable in the West Bank, while in the Gaza Strip law number 14 for the year 2004 is still applicable.
Dr. Muhani added that income tax in Palestine is considerably valuable for the state, and highly important in Islamic law for being a vital asset of increasing public revenue to countries that thrive to reach comprehensive development.
