Tax revenues for FY2016-17 exceed targets for the first time ever by around a third: Egypt exceeded its targeted tax revenues for the first time ever in FY2016-17 by as much as 33%, Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said on Wednesday, confirming what Vice Minister of Finance Amr El Monayer had suggested last month. El Garhy did not disclose the actual figure, saying the official announcement is only a few days away. The amount, though, is likely to surpass the EGP 473.2 bn target set by the IMF for the USD 12 bn loan agreement Egypt signed last year and the EGP 450 bn El Garhy had estimated in July. Al Mal’s calculations place the figure around EGP 575 bn, based on forecasted tax revenues of EGP 433 bn in the FY2016-17 state budget. Egypt had implemented the value-added tax for the first time in the last fiscal year at a baseline rate of 13% that rose to 14% at the start of FY2017-18 in July, which is expected to help the Finance Ministry collect a projected EGP 604 bn in taxes during the year. Other fiscal policy and structural amendments, such as the new stamp tax on capital market transactions and the Tax Dispute Resolution Act are also seen driving an increase in tax collections for the fiscal year.

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