[High-Res]

One way to close down the debt and bring more revenues to the government is by increasing the taxes on the illegal sea resorts. Here’s a cool guide to Lebanon’s public debt also posted by Executive.

Since its introduction in February 2002, Lebanon’s value added tax (VAT) has been a major source of cash for the government, regularly providing approximately a quarter of its income. Customs duties, on the other hand, have not been nearly so consistent — fluctuating significantly since their peak share of nearly 30 percent in 2002 to a low of 13.4 percent in 2008. Miscellaneous other taxes (including stamp duties and property and income taxes among others) have grown from a quarter to a third of revenue. Meanwhile, non-tax income — mostly from state-owned enterprises — provides approximately a quarter of revenue. For 2011 through March 2013, this category is broken down into profits from telecoms operators and other non-tax revenue. These telecoms operators fund about 16 percent of government coffers. [Link]