The Ministry of Finance Issues Instructions for Tax Exemptions for Affected Establishments

The Ministry of Finance has issued the Executive Instructions for Decree No. 69 of 2026 on tax exemptions for affected commercial, industrial and tourism establishments.

The decision, which was published by the ministry on its Facebook page on Monday, May 4, included tax exemptions for taxpayers who own damaged facilities, as a result of the military operations of the former regime during the years of the revolution between March 15, 2011 and December 8, 2024.

The executive instructions stipulated the formation  of committees to count and estimate the value of damages at the directorates of finance in the governorates, consisting of representatives of the directorates, the ministries of local administration, environment, economy and industry, the Engineers Syndicate, and real estate evaluators.

Establishments Covered by Exemptions

In its executive instructions, the Ministry clarified that the damage that qualifies for exemption, according to the instructions, refers to the direct total or partial destruction of the fixed assets of the facility, and includes: total or partial destruction of buildings and structures, destruction or destruction of machinery, equipment and equipment in a documented manner, and damages that have had a documented impact on the operational capacity of the facility, even if it is not visible in its physical structure, such as the failure of electrical systems or production networks.

The Ministry said that  the damaged facility means any commercial, industrial, tourism or service facility whose fixed assets have been damaged, including those that took the initiative to repair their damages before the exemption decree came into effect.

The Ministry stipulated that the documents required to grant the exemption must be submitted to provide documents supporting the occurrence of the damage, such as police control, photos of the damages, reports of the inventory of organized damages from the Industrial Cities Administration, insurance policies if any, restoration contracts, and invoices of licensed establishments, if any, for the year of the tax assignment in which the damage occurred.

The Ministry gives the affected people 120 days

The Executive Instructions gave   the Minister of Finance the authority  to extend this period of 60 days for justified reasons.

The instructions stipulated that the tax exemption granted is  considered to be  linked to the affected taxpayer personally, and does not transfer to others, with the exception of three  cases, namely: inheritance, where the exemption is transferred to the heirs, provided that they continue to practice the same activity of the enterprise, and the merger, the exemption is transferred to the new entity resulting from the merger, in proportion to the share of the affected entity in it only, in addition to Legal transformation If the legal form of the establishment changes, the exemption is transferred on the condition that the actual ownership of the original owner remains.

 In  order to benefit from the tax exemption, the percentage of damage approved by the committee must not be less than 25% and the owner of the establishment must be a tax taxpayer with the General Authority for Taxes and Fees.

Tax Exemption Rates

The Executive Instructions specified the  exemption rate from income taxes and fees related to the affected establishment according to the approved damage percentage as follows:

For commercial and service establishments:

The damage rate is from 25 to 50%, the facility is granted an exemption for one year, and the exemption rate is 50% of the net profits.

The damage rate is from 51 to 75%, the establishment is granted an exemption for one year, with an exemption rate of 75% of the net profits.

Damage Rate from 76 to 100% The facility is granted an exemption for one year with a 100% exemption rate from net profits.

For industrial and tourism establishments:

The damage rate is from 25 to 50%, granting the facility an exemption for two years, with 50% of the net profits.

Damage Ratio from 51 to 75% The facility is granted an exemption for three years, with 75% of net profits.

Damage rate from 76 to 100%, granting the facility an exemption for four years, with 100% of the net profits.

30,000 establishments benefit from exemptions

 The Ministry of Finance indicated in a post on its Facebook page that the exemption decree aims to help the owners of the affected establishments to restart their facilities and create new job opportunities, according to the approved damage percentages estimated by the competent committees in the directorates of finance.

More than 30,000 establishments could benefit from the decree, according to the ministry, especially in Aleppo, rural Damascus and the rest of the governorates.

Decree 69 was issued as part of a package of legislative decrees issued by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on March 19, 2026, including Decree 67, which increased the salaries of state employees by 50%.