Egypt’s parliament approves new amendments to facilitate tax-free car import for expats

CAIRO – 27 February 2023: The Egyptian House of Representatives (HOR) approved new amendments to law no.161 for 2022 in Monday's session, which concerns the purchase of tax-free car imports for Egyptian expatriates.

 

The new amendments aim to facilitate procedures and eliminate challenges faced by Egyptians residing abroad, when purchasing tax exempt import cars for personal use, by reducing 70 percent of total customs fees imposed on the cars.

 

The only fees expats are required to pay now are: 30 percent of customs fees, total development fee and total value added tax (VAT), paid in foreign currency, which will be recovered after five years from the date of payments.

 

The aforementioned amendments also include increasing the duration of importing cars up to five years, instead of one, and lifting the ban on selling these cars.

 

Moreover, Egyptian expats who previously deposited the full amount of money stated in the law - before the new amendments - will be paid back with the reduced amount of money in six months.

 

In October 2022, Egypt released an initiative allowing each Egyptian expatriate to import one tax free car for personal use, in an attempt to increase the country’s dollar resources.