A female member of the Egyptian Parliament submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister of Finance and the head of the Tax Authority regarding the commitment of artist Mohamed Ramadan to pay his annual taxes. The explanatory memorandum for the inquiry states, "Recently, artist Mohamed Ramadan appeared in a series of photos returning from America on his private jet, next to bundles of dollars, worth a million dollars, seemingly indifferent to them."
The parliamentarian pointed out that "any artist who earns profits and gains from participating in artistic works is a normal and legitimate matter as a profession, similar to all other professions. However, the question arises that we address to the Minister of Finance and the head of the Egyptian Tax Authority regarding the extent of Mohamed Ramadan's compliance with his annual tax obligations on time and his adherence to submitting tax declarations. Are they in line with his actual earnings, and do they match the data obtained from various sources?"
She revealed that "Mohamed Ramadan, who refers to himself as 'Number One' in Egypt due to being the highest-paid in the artistic field, according to unofficial figures, earned approximately 65 million Egyptian pounds for his participation in his latest work, 'Jaafar al-Omda,' exceeding his fee for the 'Mishwar' series during Ramadan 2022, where he received 45 million pounds. This is the same fee he received for the series 'Mousa' during Ramadan 2021, meaning that the total he earned over three years for three drama projects amounts to about 155 million Egyptian pounds, not including his earnings from advertising and musical performances within and outside Egypt."
She highlighted that "Ramadan has faced accusations of tax evasion following claims that he submitted a tax declaration containing inaccurate information about his profits and gains, concealing his official income figures and recording numbers that do not reflect his actual earnings."
The parliamentarian concluded, "Throughout his artistic career, we have not seen any contributions or community participation from Mohamed Ramadan. In all countries, we see artistic stars playing a community role towards their country in terms of their social responsibility."
