Coffee With Ramy Youssef on what Egypt’s tax strategy will say, and what it won’t

Egypt’s problem with investors was never the tax rate on its own. Amendments arriving faster than anyone could plan for and not knowing where policy would go next are the real challenges. Ramy Youssef (LinkedIn), the deputy finance minister for tax policy, describes the ministry’s goal as establishing a stable regulatory and procedural framework that gives investors total certainty over their costs and obligations years out, “not merely adjusting numbers or handing out passing exemptions.”

Youssef has run the ministry’s tax-policy file since November 2021. He now also chairs the UN committee drafting a framework convention on international tax cooperation (the table where the digital-tax questions later in this conversation get settled) and has headed the Real Estate Tax Authority since June.

We sat down with Youssef to talk about the strategy he is drafting, which issues on his desk are settled and which are still under study (like income tax, VAT, freezones, the global minimum tax, carbon, and the digital economy), as well as the property tax overhaul, now accessible by phone.

EnterpriseAM: In August, the ministry shelved plans for a new income tax act in favor of a third package of facilitations. Your strategy now takes in the same ground. Where does it stand, and does it mean a new law after all?

Ramy Youssef: We are putting the final touches on it now, and it goes out for community dialogue before the end of the year. It takes in the whole income tax policy track (companies and individuals), including the brackets and the exemption threshold. It also has to settle the question underneath all of it: a new income tax law or amendments to the existing one. Nothing in it is final until the consultation is done.

EnterpriseAM: The tax you were preparing was a flat levy of up to 4% on goods sold into the domestic market from freezones, and the IMF’s eighth review due this month has been waiting on it. Where is it now?

RY: It won’t be imposed before the eighth review closes. The policy track still needs discussion between the Investment Ministry, the General Authority for Investment and Freezones, the Finance Ministry, and other government bodies. It’s under study, not settled. The Fund asked us to study the market, and in the conditions we are in, this is not the moment to put new burdens on; the idea is on the table, and once we have a vision, it goes to the Cabinet. Any change of this kind would need legislation, which means it hasn’t reached implementation.

EnterpriseAM: Egypt signed on to the OECD’s two-pillar plan in 2021, and in March 2025, we were told meeting the Pillar Two framework wasn’t among the government’s priorities. The OECD and the big accounting firms want a timetable for the 15% minimum. Is it happening?

RY: We ran a study on it, and applying it isn’t a priority for Egypt now. The preliminary feasibility work hasn’t shown returns so far that justify the legislative and administrative cost. It requires amendments to domestic law and extensive executive regulations. The test has to be a tangible benefit to the Egyptian economy, not adopting an international standard for the sake of keeping up. The revenue would be limited: our freezones already pay an annual fee on total revenue that runs close to that rate, without the added burden. The rules only reach multinational groups with global revenue of at least EUR 750 mn, which is a narrow slice of companies. This isn’t a rejection in principle. We judge the issue on its economics.

EnterpriseAM: We were told in March 2025 and again in October 2025 that the ministry would leave the EGP 500k VAT registration threshold untouched despite the lobbying. It’s still EGP 500k. Why hold there?

RY: We took those requests seriously, and we left it. Raising it creates a large distortion: a business that isn’t registered can sell the same goods for less because it collects no VAT, while its registered competitor carries the tax. Take the threshold to EGP 3 mn or EGP 10 mn and you may give businesses a reason to keep declared revenue just under the line. The original purpose was to spare small activity the administrative burden, and e-invoicing and electronic filing have removed most of that burden, which weakens the administrative case for raising it. Some countries apply no threshold at all. The current level suits conditions now, and we can revisit it if they change.

EnterpriseAM: CBAM is in its definitive phase, though Egyptian exporters have a preliminary reprieve through 2027. Where does a domestic carbon tax stand?

RY: We are working out the best way to handle the European requirements. CBAM puts a carbon cost on covered goods when they enter the European market. If a company bears a recognized carbon cost at origin, that counts in the European treatment; if the tax isn’t collected here, the company pays the cost in Europe instead of paying it in Egypt. The aim is an arrangement that supports the competitiveness of investment and Egyptian exports, rather than a system imposed before its effects are assessed. A domestic carbon tax is not on the table now, despite the studies, and conditions may delay it.

EnterpriseAM: India and Canada tried taxing digital services on their own. Will Egypt do the same?

RY: We want a fair share of tax on these practices: a service delivered from Egypt to a company in another country through global platforms, which is an income tax question. But we are not taking unilateral measures on digital services now. We are following the negotiations at the OECD and the UN on rules for the digital economy, and those talks also cover the global minimum tax and the international movement of investors. India and Canada moved ahead on their own and ran into complications and pressure that led them to suspend or stop some of the measures. Waiting for consensus may be more effective than unilateral moves that create disputes without revenue to match the cost.

EnterpriseAM: The framework we heard of in July — the business zones bill — meant to draw companies that serve markets outside Egypt into financial and business districts with tax and customs incentives attached. Where does it stand, and what’s in it for large firms?

RY: It’s aimed at the large companies, and the incentives could take different forms, like exemptions for a set period or reductions in rates. The bill still needs Cabinet approval before it is put forward and referred to parliament.

EnterpriseAM: You now also run the Real Estate Tax Authority, and its app drew complaints through September before the filing deadline was pushed back. What has changed?

RY: We have about 2.2 mn accounts registered and close to 3.3 mn units put through the app. The contract with the previous company was canceled after problems in handling it, and we gave taxpayers a full three months to make up for the delay. The work has gone to eFinance, and the new app is due in the first week of November alongside Cairo ICT. It’ll come with a better interface, more stable options, and new features, while retaining all previously submitted declaration data.

EnterpriseAM: And the price map. How does anyone know what their flat is worth before they are taxed on it?

RY: We are building a digital price map on geographic information systems, setting average prices by zone instead of estimating every unit separately. It draws on sale and purchase transactions, contracts, earlier valuations, and market data, and committees from the governorate, the authority, and local experts review it and set the bands. Each zone gets an average price per meter, which then feeds the regulatory formula. The map is published and opened to the public 90 days before any tax link, so people can see the basis. It won’t be fixed: appeals and new data will move it, and if objections cluster on one street or one area, we will analyze whether the valuation there needs revisiting.

EnterpriseAM: What about the parts people feel directly, like deadlines, factories sitting on a property tax break, and ATMs?

RY: We are not focused on maximizing the property tax take at this stage. We are focused on the quality of the service and rebuilding confidence in it, and we will judge ourselves on declarations filed, how much of the stock we actually counted, and the service itself, not on revenue alone. So we extended filings by three months to 31 December 2026, and the settlement and penalty-waiver window by six more to 2 April 2027. Filing inside the window earns the incentives; filing after it is still possible under the rules, without the discount. Payment runs across the year, in one go or in installments, with no delay penalty for simply spreading payment within the year the tax falls due (the penalty rules apply once the legal deadline has passed) and through e-payment operators, banks, InstaPay, and Apple Pay.

On factories, the state is carrying the tax rather than exempting them, and we are in talks with the Federation of Industries on whether that continues, including whether the tax applies to buildings only, with the surrounding open land left out, and how storage areas are treated. Nothing there is settled. On ATMs, we decided they aren’t subject to the tax: they can be moved without being destroyed, so they are movables, not property.

EnterpriseAM: You say Egypt already has a wide set of incentives, like the investment law, green hydrogen, SMEs, and freezones. If incentives aren’t the answer, what is?

RY: Customs clearance. If inputs sit at the border, the investor carries ground rent and loses production days, and the exemption is worth very little to someone who cannot run his plant efficiently. Beyond that: clear administrative procedures, stable contracts, land allocation and ownership, the ability to import and export, and foreign currency and liquidity to operate. Tax administration efficiency and clear audit procedures are among the most important things that give confidence to investors. Competitiveness is ease of compliance, clarity of obligations, and less friction between the taxpayer and the tax officer.

EnterpriseAM: Tax revenue is up sharply. Does that hold, and does any of this add to the bill?

RY: Tax revenue rose around 35% in FY 2025/26, and we are moving in line with the targets set for the year despite conditions. The strategy is to widen the base and improve compliance rather than load more onto taxpayers who already pay, and the authority’s role is to secure correct collection, not the largest possible haul at any price. Our focus now is supporting investment and industry while avoiding decisions that add new burdens on investors.