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Masr Al Youm newspaper

Protests in Egypt's poorer cities over new income taxes and relaxed labor laws

Feb 26, Fayoum - Protesters have taken to the street in Egypt's villages, towns and poor urban communities against the newly reformed tax income laws, which now puts a 10% tax on the lowest bracket of income, unlike the old income tax law which didn't tax the lowest income bracket. Understandably, Egyptians in poorer communities have been outraged over this decision. A study by the Egypt's Information and Decision Support center found that nearly half of all Egyptian households that earn less than 5,000 EGP spend 54% on food per year, while spending on housing was 18%. Since that study inflation has led to an increase in the cost of living.

"I already pay most of my wages in food and rent, I barely have enough left over, the new income tax threatens my livelihood" Says one of the protesters, "We understand that the government needs money, however taxing the poor Egyptians, who can barely afford food, is not the way to go"

However this is not the only reason, alongside the reformed income tax law, labor laws were relaxed giving employers more leeway in hiring and firing employees. The new labor laws attracted outrage from the Egyptian working class who already view themselves in a disadvantage against a corrupt and bureaucratic system.

Further more, the recent change of leadership in Al-Azhar has led to an outrage among conservative Egyptians, who make up most of the poorer communities in Egypt. That is likely due to the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood mostly operate in Egypt's poorer communities, where they provide subsidized healthcare, and education for poorer Egyptians. Which allows them to gain popular support from the poor working class from Egypt.

Overall, the protests don't seem to pose much threat the new government, as they only drew in a couple of thousand protesters, likely due to the fear that previous regimes have instilled against protesting.

Writer: Mohammed Yousef