President of the Egyptian Writers' Union Mohamed Salmawy has sent a letter to the Culture Minister calling on him to demand that the Finance Ministry allow a tax exemption on papers and books within the new 'tax on added value' bill. This move would ensure that hikes in prices would not be an additional burden on readers.
Salmawy added that table ‘C’, which is attached to Law 2 in the 1997 bill on goods, exempted newspapers, printing, writing, books and magazines from the general sales tax, while the new draft law does not include papers and books.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
