• Egypt unveils its second tax facilitation package, aiming to simplify procedures and strengthen trust with investors and taxpayers.
• New incentives include a White List, Excellence Card, and faster VAT refunds, with compliant taxpayers receiving refunds within one week.
• Reforms expand support for SMEs, healthcare, and strategic projects, while advancing digital tools to reduce compliance costs and boost economic activity.

Tax Facilitations 

During the weekly press conference chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly at the New Administrative Capital, Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk unveiled the second package of tax facilitations. This step aims to ease tax procedures and strengthen a trust-based relationship with taxpayers, investors, and the business community.

The Minister of Finance emphasizes that these facilitations are designed to address investor requests and reinforce partnerships with taxpayers. They also seek to create a more enabling environment for economic activity. 

Minister Kouchouk emphasizes that the full details of the second tax facilitation package will be open for public consultation. This enables stakeholders to contribute their views and suggestions to refine and enhance the package.

Minister Kouchouk also announced coordination with the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency to encourage the first 100 thousand taxpayers to enter the simplified tax system. Additionally, the Minister announced cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to incentivize entrepreneurs to enter the tax base and support their growth and expansion.

Incentives

The second tax facilitation package introduces a comprehensive incentive framework to reward compliant taxpayers, including:

• A White List for high-compliance profiles.
• An Excellence Card to grant priority access to specialized tax services.
• Additional benefits tied to sustained compliance

The Minister also announced a full restructuring of VAT refund departments to simplify procedures and accelerate processing times. Under this news system, White List members will receive VAT refunds within one week. Additionally, the number of processed refund cases and the total refunded amounts will double under the new system.

Minister Kouchouk stated that the second tax facilitations package also includes measures to promote fairness and integrate the informal economy. This includes measures such as facilitating audits, refunds, and expense approvals for compliant taxpayers.

The Minister also explains that companies engaged in strategic projects will be allowed to deduct foreign loan interest from their taxable base. They will also be exempted from the maximum limit on deductible interest, removing financial obstacles that could hinder project financing.

The Minister announced several VAT measures designed to support investment and the healthcare sector, including: 

• Removing VAT from transit goods and associated services
• Reducing VAT on medical devices from 14% to 5%
• Exempting components and supplies of dialysis machines and kidney filters from VAT
• Extending the VAT suspension period on machinery, equipment, and medical devices to four years

The Minister emphasizes that the second tax facilitations package represents a new phase of partnership between the state and the tax community. This is supported by digital transformation and a commitment to reducing the cost of compliance for businesses.