CAIRO — Passant Fahmy, a member of Egypt's parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs, submitted a briefing request Oct. 3 to parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal in order for him to submit it to Finance Minister Mohamed Maait.

The request seeks to inquire about the statements made by Emad Sami, the head of the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA), regarding the intention to amend the Income Tax Act allowing the Ministry of Finance access to some bank accounts.

Sami had told Reuters Aug. 26, “The ETA has proposed amending Article 99 of the Income Tax Act, allowing the Ministry of Finance to access people’s bank accounts in a way that does not violate the law governing the Central Bank of Egypt [CBE].”

He noted that the goal behind this amendment is to reduce tax evasion. "We will not ask to have access to each and every account there is. We will only ask for access to the accounts of those providing unrealistic data in order to compare such data with their bank accounts," Sami said. He said that the amendment would commit all parties to allow tax officers access to such bank accounts provided they have the approval of the minister of finance.