The Challenges of Preparing the Budget!

In this video, lawyer Karim Daher discusses the fundamental role of an MP, as a representative of the people, in ensuring the efficient, effective, and honest use of public funds. This can only be achieved through the “final accounts,” which show the results of the previous fiscal year.Daher discusses the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the system for the exchange of tax information with foreign countries. He notes that Lebanon’s tax system imposes a 10% tax on movable capital income such as shares, bonds, bank accounts, and interest for individuals residing in Lebanon.

Daher points out that this tax targets individuals with the means to transfer money abroad or invest in shares of foreign companies. He argues that collecting these taxes could generate revenues for the Treasury equivalent to the entire income tax on profits stipulated in the current budget law.

Daher calls for a change in the way the budget is prepared, moving away from the traditional “line-item budget,” which runs to around 1,200 pages and is often not read by MPs, toward a “program and performance-based budget” that would more effectively encourage the evaluation and accountability of ministers.