Efforts to integrate informal economy, expand tax base: Finance Minister

Finance Minister Mohamed Maait has highlighted the Tax Authority’s strategies to broaden the tax base and boost revenues, emphasizing the avoidance of additional burdens on taxpayers. The focus is on precise identification within the tax community.

The government is actively pursuing the integration of the informal economy by leveraging digital transformation, automation, and the broader application of electronic tax systems. This includes ongoing field campaigns and surveys in Cairo and other governorates to deter tax evasion and ensure equitable tax collection.

Minister Maait has issued firm instructions to swiftly address tax evasion and the improper withholding of taxes by businesses. Recent field campaigns, encompassing 50,000 entities, have shown a 66% compliance rate for income tax and 49% for VAT, resulting in the immediate collection of EGP 1.6 billion in tax dues.

The implementation of electronic tax systems has provided precise data on commercial transactions through over one billion electronic invoices. This, along with electronic receipts and declarations, has improved tax governance and facilitated the integration of a segment of the informal economy, contributing to a tax revenue increase of over 38% since the start of the fiscal year.