The Ministry of Finance is preparing a draft law on tax regularization for taxpayers who have accumulated obligations and arrears during the crises in Lebanon. Yassine Jaber indicated during an exchange at Cairo ICT 2026, in statements aired on Monday 9 November. The Minister also announced a modernization of customs controls, with the proposed use of international price data and artificial intelligence.
The discussion brought together Yassine Jaber and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Kouchouk on financial reforms and economic development in the AI era. The official program of the fair places this meeting on Saturday 7 November, from 4.15 p.m. to 5 p.m., Cairo time. The report detailing the tax announcements was released on 9 November, following the visit of the Lebanese Minister.
Tax regularisation still to be defined
Yassine Jaber justifies the preparation of the text by the exceptional circumstances experienced by individuals and businesses. It wishes to allow taxpayers to settle their situation with the department, taking into account the accumulation of commitments and delays in payment.
The Minister distinguishes between actions that the administration can take directly and those that require legislation. According to him, this difference explains the ongoing legislative work. The announcement concerns the preparation of a project, not the entry into force of a new scheme.
The declarations circulated do not yet specify the tax categories concerned, the periods covered, the settlement procedures or any reductions in penalties. They also do not provide a timetable for submission or adoption. At this stage, therefore, they do not make it possible to announce any tax write-off or new deadlines for taxpayers.
Compare reported values to international prices
The second project concerns customs. Yassine Jaber states that system modernization has begun, after several years of delay in the renewal of software and equipment. The stated objective is to strengthen the detection of anomalies in declarations of imported goods.
In particular, the Ministry seeks to cooperate with an international company with data on world prices. These references would allow for the comparison of declared import values with external information and the use of artificial intelligence to facilitate verification.
The Minister does not appoint this company and does not announce a signed contract. It also acknowledges that these tools do not guarantee complete accuracy. Their interest in its presentation is to help the administration identify irregularities and make better use of available information.
In the tax field, he referred to the collection and analysis of data contained in the returns. These functions are within the same control objective, but the report does not describe an already generalized system that automatically makes decisions about taxpayers.
Extending remote approaches and payments
Yassine Jaber links these investments to the quality of services. It aims to increase the number of procedures and payments without travel to the department, reduce paper procedures and reduce the burden on officers such as users.
He indicated that electronic services had already been launched and should be extended. He also mentioned budgets devoted to the digital transformation of the State, without giving the amounts in this intervention. The digital identity project is one of the foundations for the development of services in the various ministries and administrations.
An exchange of experience with Egypt
In Cairo, the minister stressed the value of gradual implementation, building on the Egyptian experience. He believes that the crises of the past six or seven years have delayed Lebanon’s digital transition, despite the steps taken before the financial crisis.
He wished to extend the visits between the two countries through technical exchanges, training and sharing of experience in tax administration. However, the regularization project and the modernization of controls remain two distinct approaches: the first must define settlement procedures, while the second aims to improve the verification of declarations and the functioning of services.
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