‎The Libyan Tax Authority, under the directives of its Head, organized a scientific symposium last Tuesday (15 July) entitled "Tax on Electronic Commerce", in cooperation with Al-Quds Al-Ahliyya University.

The symposium included the participation of several specialists in tax and technical affairs, faculty members from several Libyan universities, in addition to the presence of a group of members of the House of Representatives and the High State Council, at a leading hotel in Tripoli.‎

‎The seminar was managed and supervised by the Deputy Head of the Tax Authority, who stressed in his opening speech the importance of developing the legislative ‎‎and regulatory framework to keep pace with the rapid economic developments at the global and local levels, especially the increasing expansion of e-commerce. He also pointed out that the Authority attaches great importance to establishing fair and effective tax rules, in line with the requirements of Libya’s current economic stage.‎

‎The themes of the seminar were:‎

‎ • Challenges facing the tax system in Libya in light of the growth of e-commerce.‎

‎ • The role of competent State institutions in regulating this type of economic activity.‎

‎ • Ways to enhance tax awareness among e-commerce practitioners.‎

‎ • Review successful international experiences in this field.‎

‎E-commerce taxation without suppressing sector growth
The Tax Authority reported that there was  in-depth discussions during the scientific sessions between experts and academics on mechanisms for integrating e-commerce into the national tax system, in a way that ensures tax justice and contributes to enhancing public revenues, without negatively affecting the growth of this vital sector.‎

‎Symposium Objectives:‎

‎This seminar comes as part of the efforts of the Libyan Tax Authority to:‎

‎ • Strengthening cooperation with academic institutions.‎

‎ • Exchange of scientific and technical expertise.‎

‎ • Modernization of the tax system.‎

‎ • Raising the efficiency of institutional performance.‎

‎Symposium Recommendations:‎

‎The most prominent recommendations that emerged from the symposium were:‎

‎ • The need to communicate with the competent authorities for granting e-commerce licenses within the Libyan state, including:‎

‎ • Ministry of Economy‎

‎ • Commercial Registration‎

‎ • Chamber of Commerce‎

‎ • Ministry of Communications‎

‎ • And the official authorities authorized to do so‎