Jihad Zumari, the general director of the tax law department of the Palestinian Ministry of Finance discussed the pros and cons of the new income tax law signed in action in the Palestinian Territories in September 2008. This was part of the discussion series Legal Encounter, which is organized by the KAS Ramallah and the Institute of Law (IoL) of the Birzeit University Ramallah.

The new law is under probation since its adoption and therefore leaves room for readjustment. The fact of this modern approach of legislation was emphasized by Zumari as very positive. However, he also highlighted the fact that the law still has several gaps and overlaps with other bills, which impede a good applicability on the ground.

Zumari conducted his analyze with much knowledge and professionalism. The example of the income tax law shows that the legislative drafting of the Palestinian Authority not only functions well but is open to new approaches as well. This is also an achievement of the joint project of the KAS Ramallah and the IoL which included training and the award of the “Diploma in Legislative Drafting”.