Finance Minister: New rules to combat tax evasion

Minister of Finance Hany Dimian said introducing amendments to some provisions of the tax law on individual’s annual income allow inserting articles to combat tax evasion.

The Minister added that this comes within the reform package adopted by his ministry to address the new budget deficit.

These amendments, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi approved, impose a new 10 percent tax on capital gains and stock dividends, as the country seeks to revive an economy battered by more than three years of political turmoil.

The tax applies to dividends and capital gains made from trading stocks on the Egyptian stock market as well as unlisted companies.

Dimian has estimated that the tax would add between EGP 3.5 and EGP 4.5 billion to the budget, asserting the tax will not affect minor investors.

Profits from stock market transactions in Egypt were previously tax-free. It was not immediately clear when the new measures would be applied.