Finance Ministry mulls skipping out 3rd rise of stamp duty tax

CAIRO - 7 May 2019: The Finance Ministry is considering a bill to amend Law No.76 for the Year 2017 pertaining to stamp duty tax on stock market transactions.

The proposed amendment suggest cancelling the third rise of the stamp duty tax and maintaining it at 1.5 Egyptian pounds per 1,000 for both sellers and buyers, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

In 2017, Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi approved a stamp duty on stock exchange transactions for both buyers and sellers, set at 1.25 Egyptian pounds per 1,000 for the first year.

The stamp duty rose to 1.5 pounds in 2018 and was scheduled to up to 1.75 in 2019.

The ministry seeks to fix the stamp duty to alleviate financial burdens on bourse traders, boost stock exchange transactions and magnify bourse gains.