License To Import Used Cars… And Monthly Grant For Those Affected By Corona Virus!

The recommendations of the report on the management and equipment budgets for the year 2021 drafted by the finance and budget commission of the national people’s assembly include the immediate implementation of legal measures related to the import of cars of less than 3 years without any freezing, the release of the automobile industry’s conditions book and the initiation of its implementation, and the allocation of a monthly grant to needy families affected by the Covid 19 pandemic, in addition to continuing the evacuation of those Algerians stranded abroad since last March.

To this effect, the Finance and Budget Commission of the National People’s Assembly (APN) met on Sunday to consider amendments meeting the legal requirements proposed under the Finance Bill (PLF 2021), a statement said.

The meeting chaired by Ahmed Zeghdar, chairman of the commission, was attended by Finance Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane and Minister of Relations with Parliament Besma Azouar.
Last Thursday, the APN Bureau submitted to the Finance Commission 17 amendments out of 22 proposed for PLF 2021.

Speakers described as “a positive step in the modernization of the sector” the provisions proposed in the area of digitization of tax documents, through the extension of the use of remote declaration (e-reporting), requiring, however, more awareness raising operations among taxpayers.

In this context, they called for the revision of the provision proposed in this FDP, imposing on legal entities that do not send their annual summary statements electronically before 20 May each year, a fine of 1 million Da, considering that this amount was “very high” and beyond the capacity of companies.

They also criticized the application of this sanction automatically after the delay without notification of the legal entity concerned.

The members of this session chaired by Ahmed Zeghdar, chairman of the commission, discussed other points relating to tax regimes, including fringes subject to the single flat tax (IFU). They stressed the importance of tax exemption for activities of an intellectual nature and the need for the gradual and studied implementation of tax reforms.

Presenting the tax provisions proposed in PLF 2021, Mr. Ghanemi said that these provisions are the result of the national assizes on tax reform held last July, the majority of which are the result of discussions with experts and professional associations and their proposals.

The provisions are generally aimed at digitizing the tax administration, encouraging and promoting national production, broadening the tax base, simplifying procedures and offering guarantees to taxpayers.

On another track, the Minister of Industry and Mines revealed that the Algerian government has still not taken a decision on the import of second-hand cars less than 3 years old.

Indeed, Mr. Ferhat Aït Ali Brahim, Minister of Industry and Mines spoke about two very important points during a session of the Finance and Budget Committee of the National People’s Assembly to debate the proposed budget for the draft finance law for the year 2021.

According to Echorouk’s sources, an imminent conversation took place on the blocking of the regulatory and legislative texts of Article 110 figuring in the complementary finance law of the year 2020. The first official of the Ministry of Industry and Mines in Algeria also added that the freezing of these articles comes down to the fact that it includes in the first part of the import of second-hand cars.

However, the second part talks about the fact that the citizen must obtain foreign currency to import his vehicle, which is considered inadmissible in all countries of the world because it opens the door to money laundering. It is therefore obvious that the text concerning the import of second-hand cars less than 3 years old is still frozen.

According to our sources, Industry Minister Aït Ali Ferhat spoke again on Tuesday 03 November 2020 to the sector’s Finance and Budget Committee on the problem of vehicles less than three years old.
According to him, the price of these second-hand cars will be higher than that of new vehicles because of the price of the euro which is constantly increasing on the informal market.

The Minister also reminded dealers who use their passports when dealing with parties abroad that they are likely to encounter quite a few legal problems with customs controls when importing non-compliant cars. He also stipulated that “vehicles less than 3 years old will not be within the reach of the ordinary citizen; given their high financial value abroad and the costs of importing them”.

The Finance and Budget Commission of the APN has also reviewed the draft of the new criteria for obtaining social housing.

Intended in principle for disadvantaged social categories, without housing or living in precarious conditions, public rental housing, better known as social housing, is a type of housing provided by the State through the OPGI on public funds.

However, the government intends to revise the criteria for access to this type of housing based mainly on the results of the field survey on the social situation.

Indeed, the Ministry of Housing, Urban Planning and the City is working on revising the criteria, Kamel Nasri said during a session organized by the APN’s Finance and Budget Commission, as part of the debate on the Finance Bill (PLF2021), that his department has prepared a “first draft of the text amending Decree 142-08 (setting the rules for access to public rental housing) revising the criteria by giving great importance to the social situation instead of the monthly salary”, according to him the text in question is currently being examined by the Ministry of the Interior and should be published in early 2021.

Decree 142-08 sets a series of criteria that the daïras committees will have to refer to in order to determine the beneficiaries. The files will have to be noted according to monthly income, housing conditions, the individual and family situation of the housing applicant and the length of time the application has been pending.

The new text also suggests increasing the points relating to the social situation according to monthly income, which will make it possible to “strengthen the social field surveys carried out by the committees”, the minister continued. The publication of this text will coincide with the launch of a social survey on the demand for social housing.