The decision stipulated the acceptance of donations and in-kind and cash assistance provided by internal or external parties for the benefit of public administrations and institutions, municipalities and their unions, and other public law persons, as well as associations, bodies, organizations, sects, other private law persons, and affected persons, in accordance with legal procedures.
The decision required that donations and aid be documented in letters issued by the Army Command upon the request of the donor or beneficiary, provided that they are referred to the Higher Relief Commission, which in turn issues letters proving that these donations benefit from exemptions, accompanied by a detailed statement of their value and nature.
It is also obligatory for the entities that apply the exemptions, especially the customs administration and taxpayers subject to value-added tax, to submit periodic statements to the tax administration that include details of the exempted transactions, their value, and the beneficiaries, with the obligation to mark the materials and goods provided as gifts in clear terms indicating their nature, and obligating the beneficiary entities to provide the Ministry of Finance with a statement of the exempted transactions within a month of the last transaction from which they benefited.
The decision stated that requests to benefit from exemptions must include data on the donor and beneficiary entities, a description of the goods or services, their value, the mechanism of distribution, the beneficiary categories, and storage locations.
He stressed that donations and aid that meet the conditions benefit from exemptions that include customs duties, port fees, the fiscal stamp duty, and the internal consumption fee, in addition to exemption from the value-added tax on import operations and operations related to the implementation of these donations. The operations of delivering funds and providing services subject to value-added tax also benefit from exemption with the right to deduction, in accordance with the law.
The decision required taxpayers subject to value-added tax to include invoices and documents related to exempted operations with the required legal data, including the name of the beneficiary party, the financing party, and the number and date of the letter of the Higher Relief Commission proving to benefit from the exemption, in addition to the signature or stamp of the beneficiary party.
Within the framework of oversight, the decision obligated the entities responsible for distributing donations and aid to keep records and documents proving the delivery operations, including the identities of the beneficiaries, receipt records, photos of the damages, and other documents necessary for auditing, provided that the Higher Relief Authority refers these documents to the army command to verify that they are not being misused, on pain of collecting fees and taxes and taking legal measures against violators.
The decision also assigned the Supreme Council of Customs to issue the decision related to exempting donations and aid operations from additional work fees and service fees, and specified the mechanism for requesting a refund of fees and taxes previously paid on the operations covered by the exemption, in accordance with the specified conditions and documents.
The decision requires it to be published in the Official Gazette and on the Ministry of Finance’s website, and to be effective immediately upon its publication.
