Back to the complete issue
Wednesday, 22 April 2020

House approves EGP 10 bn additional provision for FY2019-2020 budget

LEGISLATION WATCH- House approves EGP 10 bn additional provision for FY2019-2020 budget: The House of Representatives’ general assembly has approved the government’s request to allocate an additional EGP 10 bn in the FY2019-2020 budget to help the state fight the covid-19 pandemic, according to Al Mal. The proposal was approved by the cabinet and the House Planning and Budgeting Committee earlier this week.

Cabinet and the House appear to have reached a middle ground on the tax exemption threshold under the Income Tax Act, setting it at EGP 8k, up from EGP 7k proposed by the government and EGP 9k suggested by the committee, according to Al Shorouk. The tax bands have also been changed from the last draft we saw to be as follows:

  • Those earning between EGP 8-30k would be taxed 10%;
  • Those earning between EGP 30-45k would be taxed 15%;
  • Those earning between EGP 45-200k would be taxed 20%;
  • Those earning more than EGP 200k would be taxed at 22.5%.

Parliament’s general assembly will take a final vote on the bill today.

Also approved in principle yesterday:

  • An amendment to the Real Estate Tax Act to exempt unused land from being taxed and give cabinet the power to issue exemptions for some buildings;
  • Amendments to the Emergency Law to give the presidency increased powers. The amendments earned committee-level approval earlier this week;
  • A bill allowing the government to move ahead with its tax relief package to help companies cope with covid-19 repercussions if they commit to keeping all employees
  • An amendment to the Pensions Act to include special bonuses as part of a variable salary, effectively raising the value of pensions.
  • The new SMEs Act, which will include tax and non-tax incentives to support SMEs to go legit. The details of the final bill have not yet been made available but last we heard, there were debates on exempting all SMEs from all taxes for five years.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.