Algerians Rescued Tourism In Tunisia, International Cooperation Minister Says

There is a possibility of abolishing the tax on Algerians who leave the Tunisian territory, which is estimated at 30 ZDZ (2100 ZDZ), after the request that will be submitted by the Minister of Tourism to the Minister of Finance, Tunisia Development, Investment and International Cooperation Minister, Yassine Ibrahim, told Echorouk in this interview.

He showed good understanding for the protest movement, which is carried out by a number of Algerians through the borders against this procedure.

“Duty of the Tunisian government is providing all the care and facilities for the Algerians who contribute to saving the tourist season in Tunisia.”

What is the justification which Tunisia relied upon to impose the tax of leaving the Tunisian soil and the possibility to abolish it?

– A decision was taken in the context of the Finance Act 2014, and then the tax was imposed on people and vehicles, and the government, which took over the management at the beginning of March 2015, abolished the tax that is imposed on people who are carrying the Moroccan nationality and touched our brothers in Algerian, Libyans and Mauritanians, but it kept the tax on vehicles and cars, in order to cover the cost of services at the border crossings, and in the past year, the tax was applicable, without any problem, but what was noticed in the recent period, caused some concern among our brothers in Algerian, but the Ministry of Finance is working to consider the possibility of cancelling the procedure.

You talked about the demand that will be lifted in this context. Will this taxation be cancelled already?

-The problem is that any legal action that is adopted or cancelled, should be subject to the Finance Act, and the procedure of imposing a tax of 30 dinars on vehicles and cars to leave the Tunisian soil, was taken in the Finance Act 2014, which means that it can not be abolished without a complementary financial law. Now Mrs. Minister of Tourism is the one who can ask the Ministry of Finance for the exemption for the benefit of tourists, but I assert the need to pass any action on the Finance Act, and this can be possible in the Complementary Finance Act 2016, and it may take place by the end of this month, and if not, it would be in 2017, I.e within next summer the Algerian tourists will enter and leave without paying any tax.

Can you confirm that the Minister of Tourism will raise this demand to the competent authority?

-Proposal to the government and Ministry of Finance in particular, according to the major financial balances will study the possibility of taking appropriate action.

Algerian MPs filed a proposal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking it to take similar action against Tunisian nationals?

-We Hope things will not reach up to this case, and as a minister of development, investment and international cooperation, I do not know the reasons why the government in 2014 took this action, because the procedure is mostly applied on the flight ticket, or through a tax that is added to the car’s insurance, because the procedure to pay tax is applied by customs when entering or exiting the Tunisia soil, especially in the absence of the local currency, which makes some concern for our Algerian brothers. I think what worries them more is the period of waiting to pay the tax and not the tax, because this complicates the transport procedures, but, Inchallah we’ll find a solution, and I will talk on the subject with the Ministers of Finance and Tourism to find a compatible solution, because the Tunisian Constitution and jurisprudence can not cancel or apply any action without going to the people’s Congress.

Tunisian authorities praise the record number of Algerian tourists and talk about the facilities that are granted to them, but in return they impose the tax on them, isn’t it a bad treatment?

-We thank the Algerians on the big giveaway and their contribution to the recovery of the tourism market, and this is visible when we talk with travel agencies and craftsmen in traditional industries, and they all told help our Algerian brothers. Nearly 1.4 million Algerians visited Tunisia last year, despite the fact that the tourist season was disastrous because of the terrorist attacks that targeted our country, and a large number of Algerians neglected the disaster that befell the Tunisian tourism sector. Our role is to welcome them and facilitate the procedures, so the tax was abolished last year on Maghreb countries’ nationals who left the Tunisian soil and the cancellation’s cost was 85 million Tunisian dinars, and now we have to do another step in this regard.