Egypt finishes amendments of value-added tax law draft

CAIRO – 15 June 2020: Ministry of Finance completed the draft amendment of the value-added tax law No. 67 of 2016, in preparation for launching it for community dialogue by publishing it on the website of the Ministry of Finance and the Egyptian Tax Authority before referring it to the Cabinet.

Minister of Finance Mohamed Ma’it affirmed in a statement Monday, June 15 that there is no prejudice to the tax rate in the draft amendment of the value added law.

“We are keen to stabilize the tax policies. The proposed project addresses some of the observations that were revealed during the practical application of the value-added tax law,” he noted.

The minister added that the new amendments include legalizing the conditions after the application of electronic declarations, the financial inclusion of electronic payments and communication between the Tax Authority and the registrants electronically, as each registrar will be required to submit a monthly electronic declaration to the authority on value-added tax, the due tax of the table, or one of them, on the form sheduled during the month following the end of the tax period.

Ma’it clarified that the authority will be notified electronically of any changes in the data previously submitted by the registration application, within 14 days.

The minister pointed out that when moving to apply the electronic bill from companies to the consumer, the tax can be collected from the consumer and supplied immediately to the authority, so that the time between the date of collection and the date of supply "the deadline for filing the return" is saved, and the collection of the entire tax is ensured.

Ma’it stated that the proposed project permitted the obligation of some registrants, government agencies, public authorities and other various parties dealing directly with the final consumer to collect under the account and/or schedule taxes that are due for approval and immediate supply to commensurate with the nature of some activities in accordance with the rules and procedures determined by the Executive Regulations.

The minister of finance said that the amendments include the non-loading of goods and services received for projects of economic zones of a special nature for VAT, to encourage investment in these areas. The amendments also include facilitating the refund of the tax on purchases of foreign visitors who leave Egypt within 3 months, so that the value of their purchase invoice in one bill is not less than LE 1,500.

According to Ma'it, this aims to attract tourism and motivate tourists to buy Egyptian products. He referred to the exemption of some services and goods provided as donations to the state's administrative apparatus, local administration units or public bodies.

The minister indicated that the proposed project permitted the head of the Tax Authority to temporarily release, for three months, the letters received for productive operations, or the exercise of activity in accordance with the guarantees that the Customs Authority deems appropriate until the concerned person provides the Tax Authority with the documents necessary to discuss the exemption during the said period or pay the due tax and an additional tax. This contributes to avoiding fines resulting from the delay.


Ma’it said that the proposed amendments stipulate the exemption of the sanitation services charged to the water bill, and the exemption of food additives and concentrates to reduce the cost of poultry and animal production. This is in addition to the exemption of bagasse, pulp, paper and print and writing paper, so that the inputs of the paper industry are not subject to tax and therefore do not increase in price.