The Libyan Tax Authority, under the directives of its Head, organized a scientific symposium last Tuesday (15 July) entitled “Tax on Electronic Commerce”, in cooperation with Al-Quds Al-Ahliyya University.
The symposium included the participation of several specialists in tax and technical affairs, faculty members from several Libyan universities, in addition to the presence of a group of members of the House of Representatives and the High State Council, at a leading hotel in Tripoli.
The seminar was managed and supervised by the Deputy Head of the Tax Authority, who stressed in his opening speech the importance of developing the legislative and regulatory framework to keep pace with the rapid economic developments at the global and local levels, especially the increasing expansion of e-commerce. He also pointed out that the Authority attaches great importance to establishing fair and effective tax rules, in line with the requirements of Libya’s current economic stage.
The themes of the seminar were:
• Challenges facing the tax system in Libya in light of the growth of e-commerce.
• The role of competent State institutions in regulating this type of economic activity.
• Ways to enhance tax awareness among e-commerce practitioners.
• Review successful international experiences in this field.
E-commerce taxation without suppressing sector growth
The Tax Authority reported that there was in-depth discussions during the scientific sessions between experts and academics on mechanisms for integrating e-commerce into the national tax system, in a way that ensures tax justice and contributes to enhancing public revenues, without negatively affecting the growth of this vital sector.
Symposium Objectives:
This seminar comes as part of the efforts of the Libyan Tax Authority to:
• Strengthening cooperation with academic institutions.
• Exchange of scientific and technical expertise.
• Modernization of the tax system.
• Raising the efficiency of institutional performance.
Symposium Recommendations:
The most prominent recommendations that emerged from the symposium were:
• The need to communicate with the competent authorities for granting e-commerce licenses within the Libyan state, including:
• Ministry of Economy
• Commercial Registration
• Chamber of Commerce
• Ministry of Communications
• And the official authorities authorized to do so
