Leases on retail space at malls may be subject to value-added tax

Leases on retail space at malls may be subject to value-added tax: Reports have begun swirling that the Finance Ministry will declare that retail space at malls is to be subject to the value-added tax (VAT) a move that Al Borsa says is upsetting real estate developers, who have in recent years been looking at retail space as a source of recurring revenue. The Tax Authority has “suggested” that it will impose VAT on commercial space rental, which Tarek Shoukry, head of the real estate developers division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, claims would violate the act that created the VAT. A source from the Tax Authority tells the newspaper that the law does not exempt stores in malls from a 14% VAT. The source reportedly confirmed that the authority had sent notices to real estate firms that stores at malls will be taxed.