Minister of Finance: 5 % sales tax with exemption of basic commodities
Minister of Finance Mohamed Yousr Barnieh announced during a dialogue seminar at the Damascus Chamber of Commerce that the executive instructions for the qualitative increase in salaries will be issued during the day, stressing that they will include 80% of state employees.
The Minister of Finance was referring to Decree No. 68 issued more than two months ago, specifically on March 19, which stipulated the payment of a qualitative increase in the salaries of employees of the Ministries of Health, Higher Education, Endowments and Education, the Central Bank of Syria, the Central Supervisory Authority, the Central Inspection Authority, the Central Organization for Financial Control, and the Atomic Energy Commission.
Despite the momentum that accompanied the announcement, the minister preferred not to disclose the percentages of the increase, saying that it would be left to be a "pleasant surprise" when receiving salaries, which raised a wide wave of questions on the street about the size of the actual increase and its ability to cope with inflation.
Bernia: The maximum income tax will not exceed 15%
During the dialogue seminar, the Minister of Finance reviewed the features of the tax system that was supposed to be implemented at the beginning of this year, indicating that the maximum income tax will not exceed 15%, with a full exemption for those whose annual income is less than 640 thousand new pounds.
Minister Barnia explained that the tax rate on the segment of Syrians whose annual income ranges between 640,000 pounds and 840,000 new pounds ranges between 2.5% and 3% only, stressing that the highest income tax for the upper segments will not exceed 5%.
Minister Barnia pointed out that under the new tax system , sales tax will be imposed at only 5%, with a full exemption for basic commodities such as medicine and food.
Incentives for Industrial Enterprises
With regard to the industrial sector, Barnia revealed a package of incentives that includes a two-tier tax deduction for industrial establishments within industrial zones and an additional discount of up to 4 degrees depending on the number of workers.
Barnia explained that these incentives would reduce the tax on some establishments to only 9%, in the context of the government's keenness to support production and encourage employment.
The minister announced that 15% of the tax proceeds will be allocated to service projects in the vicinity of merchants and industrialists, "to strengthen the relationship between them and their community", according to him.
The Minister of Finance said in his remarks on April 18 that the new tax system will not be implemented all at once, but will be implemented according to a gradual plan that takes into account economic conditions and the ability of institutions to absorb change.
He explained that the government has adopted a time division of phases, so that part of the system will start during the current year 2026, while the other part will be completed from 2027 in a step aimed at ensuring a smooth and disciplined transition towards the new system.
Past promises of the Minister of Finance
On Thursday, August 14, 2025, the Minister of Finance wrote on his personal account on the "LinkedIn" platform that the new tax system will come into effect at the beginning of 2026, describing it as "simplified, clarified and competitive, and based on partnership and trust with the private sector.
The Minister of Finance also told the official SANA news agency on July 20, 2025, that the minimum tax-exempt salary has been raised from 279,000 Syrian pounds to 837,000 Syrian pounds, stressing that this applies to salaries that will be paid until the end of this year, because in 2026, the new tax law will come into effect, which will carry larger and broader exemptions, as he put it at the time.
Preliminary Draft of the Income Tax Bill
Last July, the Ministry of Finance announced the completion of the preparation of a preliminary draft of the income tax law and the sales tax law in preparation for public discussion and receiving comments on them to remedy them before they are approved by the final one.
The draft, which was seen by "Syrian News", included 14 chapters on the issues of this tax, namely taxpayers, tax entitlement, tax rates, tax exemptions, exempt limits, expenses in commissioning, taxpayers' obligations, cases of taxpayers' compliance with declarations , auditing taxpayers' data, objecting to assignment decisions, paying tax, dealing with losses, and tax litigation.
The new tax law in Syria included points and axes, most notably the reliance on a unified tax that does not discriminate between entities (companies or individuals), imposes a minimum income subject to assignment on those whose annual net income exceeds $12,000, grants a tax exemption on salaries not exceeding $12,000 per year, and abolishes the classification of taxpayers according to the nature of the business activity or profession.
Various Tax Cancellations
The Minister of Finance issued a decision last May, to cancel the real estate sales tax according to the prevailing value, in the event of a reversal of the sale, and failure to complete it with the consent of the seller and the buyer, in the context of applying the provisions of Law No. 15 of 2021, and at the end of last July, he issued a circular to re-issue financial licenses for the purposes of transferring real estate properties starting from August 3, and according to the same circular, the security approval for real estate sales was dispensed with and replaced with a No Objection document and canceled. Bank deposit requirement for sales.