The Finance Ministry is taking on board feedback from the business community with an additional eight reforms in its second tax reform package, three government officials tell EnterpriseAM.

Why this matters: Driving the ministry’s now 30-reform strong package is the aim of increasing annual tax revenues to EGP 3 tn — up from EGP 2.0 tn in the last fiscal year — within two fiscal years by broadening the net and streamlining compliance, not hiking tax brackets.

Among the key measures is the introduction of a mobile-based electronic receipt system. The new system will allow taxpayers to issue electronic tax receipts through Android mobile phones. Tax payers mobiles will effectively function as a point-of-sale device to enable the issuance of electronic receipts with minimal data entry — only requiring the customer’s ID and detailed information once a sale crosses EGP 150k threshold — we’re told.

The Egyptian Tax Authority is also preparing to launch an AI-powered international WhatsApp service to tax planning guidance right on our phones, available to both local and foreign investors.

Transferring price audits won’t be as much of a drag on our resources as it once was, especially for those of us running a multinational, free-zone entity, or special economic zone firm. The new draft provisions now officially separate commercial tax audits from transfer price audits. The package also introduces a new stage for reviewing taxpayers’ appeals, which would help ease tax pressures on companies with local operations that submit transfer pricing files, thereby improving their liquidity.

The double taxation on dividend distributions between holding companies and subsidiaries is now gone. Also, quarry and departure fees that usually intensified tax disputes are now unified. And for those of us holding real estate individually and not trading professionally, we will benefit from a flat 2.5% tax on property disposals — even across repeated sales.

The provisions are also expanding sample-based audits to free up your capital faster and extending the VAT suspension on machinery and medical devices for four years instead of three. If your firm lands on the white list, the time taken to process your VAT refunds will be just one week.

And if you ever need to pivot or wind down your entity, a new electronic system will drastically accelerate company liquidation, ensuring your capital doesn’t get locked up in red tape. The upcoming legislative amendments will also make it easier to clean up your balance sheet, as they set a minimum threshold for bad debts. If your uncollectible accounts fall under this mark, you are completely exempt from dragging those write-offs through exhausting legal procedures, freeing you to clear your books and keep your operations moving.

The MSME Development Agency will also double down on its push to formalize the informal economy, with the first 100k taxpayers to join a simplified and integrated tax system to be offered low-cost financing.

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