In an unprecedented incident in Egypt, a verbal war started Sunday between the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt and the head of the Egyptian Tax Authority over the country’s bank accounts. Head of the Tax Authority Emad Sami revealed earlier in the day that an amendment has been drafted to allow the Minister of Finance to access corporate bank accounts to help combat tax evasion. However, Governor of the Central Bank Tariq Amer said that the bank would not, under any circumstances, accept a proposed amendment to the Income Tax Act allowing the Finance Ministry to access bank accounts belonging to corporations or individuals. "We submitted a proposal to amend Article 99 of the Income Law to allow the Minister to disclose the bank accounts in a way that does not contradict the Central Bank Law," Sami told Reuters in a phone call. He stressed that the goal of the proposal is "to reduce tax evasion.” “Secrecy of bank accounts is a guarantee for investors and all dealings with banks and this is the inherent right of the Central Bank,” Sami said. “There are procedures and legal mechanisms to enable the tax authorities to face the evasion of tax and related disclosure of bank accounts.” A Finance Ministry official told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that such a move would require amending an article in the central bank law to allow the finance minister to look at corporate and individual bank accounts. But Sami ruled out this in his comments to Reuters. Egypt seeks to increase its tax revenues by expanding the base of financiers and trying to integrate the informal economy into the formal economy. Egypts tax revenue rose 36 percent to 628 billion pounds ($ 35.18 billion) in fiscal year 2017-2018, which ended on June 30. The Authority’s head said that under the proposed amendment “all parties are obliged to allow the taxpayer to see the bank accounts after the approval of the minister of finance.” In remarks to the Enterprise newsletter, Sami explained that the proposed amendments are “a proactive step for a comprehensive amendment of the tax law in full next year to cope with the current situation,” including the intensification of penalties for tax evasion and seizure of materials for tax exemptions but without increasing income taxes.