(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Syrian regime continues to impose restrictions and put economic pressure on several areas in the Damascus countryside.
The Ministry of Finance has issued a decree imposing taxes on all residents of the city of al-Tal under the threat of prosecution in case they defaulted on their tax payments.
In the same context, the coordination of al-Tal city published pictures of the Financial Directorate’s list of the residents of al-Tal, placed on the walls of the big al-Tal mosque, on its official page on Facebook two days ago. According to the post, the Financial Directorate is demanding those included on the list pay the taxes to the Ministry of Finance.
Ahmed al-Bayanouni, the director of the media office for the al-Tal’s coordination committee, said in an exclusive interview with Zaman al-Wasl that the regime government is demanding dozens of families in al-Tal to pay large sums of money as taxes that have been accumulating since 2011. The regime’s demands come despite the halting and reduction of all local services from sanitation, electricity and water within the city.
He added that the Directorate issued the value of the financial dues in Syrian pounds, along with the equivalent in US Dollars. The highest electricity bill registered for one household was 200,000 Syrian Pounds (SP) other than other bills for water or other services which reached similarly high figures. The sums exceed the economic capabilities of most of the families in the city of al-Tal which struggle to ensure their daily sustenance.
Regarding the reality of the services provided in al-Tal, al-Bayanouni explained that there is a regime municipal council that has returned to work with the staff from the reconciliation. About services, he said they are very poor in terms of electricity and water, especially as the city still suffers from electrical rationing up to 16 hours daily. The regime rations electricity whereby for every four hours of electricity, electricity is cut for an hour and thirty minutes.
He also pointed out that the electricity supply is continuously interrupted due to frequency devices being installed in power points which damages the residents’ electrical appliances. Regarding water, access is dependent on the mood of staff at the water center as according to al-Bayanouni some neighborhoods never suffer from water rationing while other neighborhoods only receive water every three or 15 days.
According to al-Bayanouni, the city's streets, alleyways and lanes are full of potholes and bumps which rapidly turn into small lakes when it rains. The sidewalks are damaged and unorganized, and there are piles of garbage scattered on the roads. He added that residents are raising cattle among residential areas without censorship or accountability.
The decision to collect taxes is part of a series of methods the regime uses to continue its theft of what remains of Syrians’ properties especially in areas which agreed to reconciliation. Residents’ resources have been depleted due to the rise in prices and the regime imposing a siege on these areas for several years.
Issa al-Khatib, a pseudonym for a resident of al-Tal, said that the tax decision represents another aspect of the regime's policy of retaliation against people in areas that rebelled against it. He asked, “What does it mean for the people of al-Tal to pay taxes under their current harsh living conditions? Knowing that his [regime] forces are primarily and directly responsible for the damage to their homes, commercial and industrial facilities?”
He said to Zaman al-Wasl that, “the regime was not satisfied with the military solution that led to the killing of thousands of civilians and the destruction of public and private property, but has now embarked on implementing another project to force Syrians to finance the ‘alleged’ reconstruction movement out of their own pockets.”
Al-Khatib said that the regime uses a portion of the tax funds collected to finance the regime militias because it faces its growing need to fund military expenses recently.
Zaid Zidane, a legal source, pointed out that the regime will not stop claiming these taxes until they are collected, so it seeks to prosecute taxpayers until they pay all the money with the additional interest and fines.
According to Zidane, the tax policy adopted currently in Syrian law does not discriminate between rich and poor, nor does it take into account the principle of equality or social justice between the various sectors of Syrian society. Taxes collected from employees are higher than those collected from workshop owners or engineers other than tax evasion achieved through collusion among finance officials, senior military commanders and pro-regime senior executives.
Al-Tal city is about 14 kilometers north of Damascus. It has a current population of 800,000 people, most of whom are from the Eastern al-Ghouta.
Zaman Al Wasl
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