Finance Minister Emphasizes Need for Financial Resources, Warns Against Tax Amnesty in 2026
The Minister of Finance, Michket Salama Khaldi, highlighted the state's need for financial resources and the necessity of not resorting to tax amnesty in 2026, as it has led some taxpayers to evade taxes and contradicts the concept of tax justice.
During a plenary session of the ARP dedicated to discussing deputies' proposals within the framework of the 2026 finance bill, she added: "There is a difference between proceeding with regularization to strengthen revenue – or because there are people whose situation does not allow them to pay, or who have delayed registration, or who have not made a declaration for years, whether they reside in Tunisia or abroad – and the fact that the state needs all its resources."
The Minister continued: "When we say that we have granted successive tax amnesties in 2019, 2022, 2024, and 2025, it concretely means that the state has waived public resources, knowing that this is not consistent with the tax justice we seek to establish." She emphasized that the concept of tax justice revolves around the principle of treating everyone equally, and given that there is a declarative and spontaneous system, it is assumed that everyone submits their declarations regularly, in a framework of equality.
She added: "We cannot force people or companies to pay the initial amount of income tax, while the rest benefits from the amnesty. This is a situation that will lead to non-payment of taxes, which is a national duty and responsibility." She noted that some people are waiting for the promulgation of the new tax amnesty in December, which keeps the state under pressure to regularize the tax situation while waiting for an amnesty.
She explained that amnesty procedures will directly affect public resources and the recovery of overdue debts. The Minister of Finance emphasized that the issue is related to recovery, especially since there are overdue debts for the years 2024 and 2025.
She concluded that the approval of successive tax amnesties would affect the state's resources and the schedules for recovering tax amnesties from 2022 to 2024 and 2025.
The Minister of Finance specified that these deadlines will be affected by the new measures, as once a tax amnesty measure is announced, those who have adhered to a previous amnesty will refrain from paying the due installments in December 2025, and the expected results are not guaranteed due to the succession of tax amnesty measures.
It is recalled that the ARP adopted a new article on Tuesday morning aimed at facilitating the situation of taxpayers regarding tax debts, despite the opposition of the Minister of Finance.
