The new unified electronic tax platform is set to launch in 10 areas within Cairo, enabling taxpayers to use e-tax services using a unified tax registration number
Highlighting the importance of the state’s tax digitization projects, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait announced that Egypt is ready to launch a unified platform for electronic tax collection in September, designed to collect and document the taxes of all entities online.
“The state is stepping up its efforts to merge the informal and formal economies for the sake of achieving tax justice and leveling the playing field among taxpayers in the local market, as well as increasing the state’s public treasury revenues,” said Maait.
The new unified electronic tax platform is set to launch in 10 areas within Cairo, enabling taxpayers to use e-tax services using a unified tax registration number.
The platform is expected to cover all tax types, including income taxes, freelance taxes, deductions and collection returns, value added taxes (VAT), and stamp taxes, with all transactions set to be paid electronically using non-cash payment methods, according to the minister.
Maait highlighted the importance of state projects focused on digitalizing tax collection, which will improve tax collection efficiency, curb tax evasion, and track commercial transactions between companies and consumers, then strengthen the governance of the system of state general revenue.
It will also contribute to strengthening the governance of the tax system, through which the Tax Authority is electronically linked with 74 government agencies, the minister added, enhancing efforts to combat tax evasion and stimulate investment.
The government continues to limit e-commerce outlets to monitor tax evaders, and take the necessary legal measures against them.
Commercial activity, online and offline, are subject to taxes, explained Reda Abdelkader, head of the Egyptian Tax Authority.
Online goods and services companies are required to register with the tax authority, with companies that engage in e-commerce and have reached the registration limit of EGP 500,000 obliged to register for value-added taxes, Abdelkader clarified.
Not submitting monthly returns is considered tax evasion, he added, with a punishment of 3-5 years in prison, he added.
Egypt is currently aiming to increase tax revenues by 18.3%, according to the current FY2021/2022 plan, including an increase of 17.2% in value-added taxes (around EGP 449.6 billion), and EGP 297.1 billion in income tax revenues collected from non-sovereign bodies.
Property tax revenues are expected to go up by 0.08% of Egypt’s GDP in FY2021/22 to record EGP 5.6 billion, while the government aims to raise customs tax revenues by 12.3% to hit EGP 42.4 billion and another EGP 380.6 billion in FY2021/22 from non-tax sources.
