On Wednesday, the Minister of Finance in the caretaker government, Youssef Khalil, issued a memo concerning the extension of the deadline for the non-collection of the financial stamp duty applicable to payment notifications (Form P14), which serve as an alternative to affixing the required stamps.
The memo states: "Whereas the transactions that citizens submit for completion at public administrations, institutions, and municipalities, which do not exceed the due fee of 500,000 L.L., require the payment of the financial stamp duty affixed in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Stamp Law, particularly Article 20 thereof; and whereas Article 3 of decision No. 768/1 dated 22/12/2022 allowed taxpayers to pay the financial stamp duty due for transactions/permissions/licenses... completed at public administrations/institutions using the (P14) notification of payment at any commercial banks or companies contracted with the Ministry of Finance for the collection of taxes and fees; and whereas each receipt/notification for the receipt of an amount of money from the state, public institutions, and municipalities incurs a financial stamp duty of 100,000 L.L., which is added to the value of the receipt/notification; and whereas providing stamps for citizens is the responsibility of the Lebanese state; and whereas, until now, it has been impossible to secure sufficient quantities of financial stamps to meet citizens' needs for completing their transactions due to the economic and financial conditions facing the country; and whereas the Ministry of Finance believes it is inappropriate to impose additional burdens on citizens resulting from the unavailability of the necessary quantities of financial stamps; and whereas the Ministry of Finance previously issued memo No. 590/P1 dated 22/03/2024, which requested the Treasury Directorate and commercial banks and companies contracted with the Ministry of Finance for the collection of taxes and duties, not to collect the financial stamp duty amounting to 100,000 L.L. from citizens for each payment notification (Form P14) whose basic value does not exceed 500,000 L.L. until 30/6/2024, therefore, the deadline stated in memo No. 590/P1 dated 22/03/2024 is extended until 31/12/2024 inclusively."
