Profits from Sayrafa
estimated at $3.2 billion

Revenues to Treasury forecasted at $435 million

The volume of operations carried by individuals and companies on the Sayrafa foreign exchange platform from mid-December 2021 to the end of July 2023 reached $24.7 billion and generated arbitrage profits estimated at $3.23 billion, according to a report published by Blominvest Bank.

The taxable profits that will have to pay an income tax of 17 percent are estimated at $2.56 billion, since the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has decided to exempt transactions valued below $15,000.

The nontaxable transactions, estimated at $5.1 billion are assumed to have been conducted by around 340,000 public sector employees who are likely to have earned $666 million on these operations. This brings total taxable earnings to $2.56 billion and total taxes to be collected by the State to $435.2 million.

MoF’s decision to impose the tax on the Sayrafa profits was facing objections from businesses on the ground that it is illegal to issue tax regulations retroactively. The decision was part of the 2024 Budget Law. The Constitutional Council did not suspend the implementation of the related article in the budget.