Egypt’s tax incentives add 650,000 filings as govt targets informal economy – FinMin

Egypt’s first package of tax incentives has generated a surge in new and amended filings, helping bring previously unregistered economic activity into the formal system, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said Sunday.

About 650,000 tax returns were newly submitted or updated for activities that had not been registered before, covering economic value exceeding 1 trillion Egyptian pounds, with nearly 80 billion pounds paid in taxes, Kouchouk said. The measures were introduced last year as part of a broader effort to widen the tax base and strengthen public revenues.

Kouchouk was speaking during a session titled An Economy of Opportunities… Empowering Future Generations at the Egyptian Women Summit.

The session drew senior government officials, including ministers responsible for planning, labour, finance and agriculture, as well as around 20 ambassadors, the heads of four international institutions and leaders from 28 Egyptian and foreign universities.

The tax incentives form part of the government’s strategy to integrate the informal economy, improve compliance and support a more sustainable and transparent fiscal framework, Kouchouk said.

Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English