Experts doubt ability of Lebanese to pay looming tax increase – The National

Experts doubt ability of Lebanese to pay looming tax increase – The National

Lebanon plans to drastically raise taxes to boost the cash-strapped state’s revenues, but experts fear that the Lebanese will not be able to pay the new rates after three years of economic collapse, which pushed more than three quarters of the population into poverty.

Lebanon’s public revenue fell by half in 2021 as the country grappled with a financial meltdown described as one of the world's worst economic crises.

The government currently generates taxes at the old pegged exchange rate, but Lebanon’s 2022 budget published on Tuesday introduced a new “effective rate" for taxes on salaries earned in dollars.