Finance Ministry looking to settle 160K tax cases could delay VAT regs: You may be waiting a while for the executive regulations for the value-added tax: The Finance Ministry wants to settle 160k tax disputes before issuing the regs, said Deputy Finance Minister Amr El Monayer, according to state-owned Egynews. Many of these cases are related to sales tax disputes, which now fall under the purview of the VAT, and should be resolved before the executive regulations are written, said El Monayer. Tax settlement committees have been formed and given three months to present a report to the ministry, he added.

Beyond this possible delay, important features of the regs have yet to be decided on, the most prominent of which is whether private medical practices will be subject to a VAT, an advisor to the ministry said last week. The report comes despite Tax Authority chief Abdel Moneim Mattar saying earlier this month that private medical practices would be VAT-exempt as they fall under the healthcare services. Pharmacists will be subject to the VAT, however, after the Tax Authority ruled against a request by the Pharmacist Syndicate to be counted as a healthcare service, said El Monayer on Thursday, according to Al Borsa. Pharmacists will be taxed the 13% baseline rate and not the 10% afforded to lawyers and accountants. Pharmacies making revenues of less than EGP 500K will be exempt from the VAT, unlike lawyers and accountants who do not have a minimum revenue threshold to register, he added.

Loans from parent companies to subsidiaries will also be subject to the tax, despite having been exempted from the sales tax previously, said Saddik, Al Mal reports.