Tunisia-Penal reconciliation is not in the 2022 budget

The Ministry of Finance has just issued today Thursday, December 30, 2021, a report on the state budget for the year 2022. According to the report, tax revenue for the year 2022 increased to 35,091 million dinars (MD), as opposed to 30,816 MD updated for 2020, recording a growth of 4275 MD, or 13.9%. Taking into account the regimes, 74.2% of tax revenue arises from the domestic regime and 25.8% from imports.

The tax revenues of the domestic regime will rise by + 2 973 MD, or 12.9% during 2022, against a potential increase of 13.2% for the year 2021, and this is in connection to the fiscal measures taken to consolidate budgetary resources. However, tax revenue from imports will boost by 1302 MD or 16.8% in relation to the predicted trend in imports.

Direct taxes were assessed for 2022 at 14,570 MD, recording an increase of 16.3% compared to the updated results for the year 2021. This increase comes especially from the performance of the new tax measures presented in the finance law. The direct taxes of the year 2022 are distinguished by the increase in the yield of the IRPP of 949 MD or 10% compared to the updated results of 2021 and the gain in the yield of the IS of 407.5 MD or 11 % in comparison with the potential results of 2021.

Indirect taxes were calculated at 20,521 MD, an accumulation of 2,919 MD or 16.6% compared to the results scheduled for the year 2020. In addition, the report of the Ministry of Finance on the 2022 budget does not reveal under any heading of tax revenue or those relating to special funds from the Treasury, the mobilization of products related to the presidential project of “penal reconciliation”. And yet, the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, chaired, on December 13, a council of ministers during which he referred to a bill of “penal reconciliation”. He specified that, in 15 days, the integrated bill will be discussed with a view to meeting the purposes of this penal reconciliation.

In this context, Saïed announced that “every millime robbed or diverted will be returned to the Tunisian people in accordance with the law, and justice must be at the rendezvous with history in order to purify the land”. As a reminder, the President of the Republic had offered during an audience with the President of UTICA, Samir Majoul, on July 28, the conclusion of a penal reconciliation for the return of embezzled funds, professing not having any intention to persecute anyone or attack businessmen.

He announced that legislation will be drafted on concluding a penal reconciliation with those involved in the embezzlement. According to him, the businessmen concerned will be ranked in descending order, from most to least culpable. The returned funds will be assigned as a development project. Regardless, nothing has been planned, in this regard, neither in the chapter on the mobilization of resources for the 2022 budget nor in the headings of budgetary expenditure, as a whole.