Paper bills not being considered in "value-added" tax refund from January 2022: FinMin.

CAIRO – 10 March 2021: Egypt’s Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, issued a decision to add a new paragraph to Article 38 of the Executive Regulations for the Value Added Tax Law, based on what was presented by Head of the Tax Authority, Reda Abdel Kader.

Maait said in a statement, Wednesday, that the decision includes not considering paper bills in deducting or refunding the value-added tax, and only counting the invoices in the electronic invoices system in the return of the "value-added" tax.

He pointed out that this will start from next January 2022, with the exception of invoices previously issued by companies or institutions, which were issued before they were obligated to apply the electronic invoices system, or issued by companies or institutions that the Tax Authority did not decide to compel them to issue electronic invoices, taking into account the specifications and technical standards of the electronic system included in the executive regulations of the Unified Tax Procedures Law.

He mentioned that the electronic invoice system is one of the pivotal tributaries of the national project to modernize and automate the tax administration system, which aims to facilitate taxpayers, restrict the tax community more precisely, achieve tax justice, and integrate the informal economy into the formal economy, in a way that helps lay foundations of an advanced tax system comparable to developed countries, and contributes to stimulating investment and providing job opportunities.

He noted that the total number of companies that completed the integration processes with the electronic invoice system during the first and second phases exceeded nearly 411 companies.

The number of electronic documents (invoices, credit notes, debit notices) that have been processed through the electronic invoice system exceeds 1.5 million documents, indicating that mid-May, is the last date for all registrants in the Center for Senior Financiers, to  join the electronic bill system.

He added that there are 37 companies that voluntarily joined this system, which is based on establishing a central system that contributes to enabling the tax authority to follow up all commercial dealings between companies with each other, by exchanging invoice data in a digital form.