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Egypt's electronic tax collection aims to streamline process, up revenues Just days before the deadline for tax returns, a new system that lets Egyptians pay at 1,450 bank branches across the country might prove a lifesaver
Egyptian taxpayers will be able to file their returns at the country's major banks rather than queue at government offices thanks to an electronic payment process introduced this year. Using the new system, Egyptians can file their taxes at any branch of the 24 banks that have signed an agreement with the Ministry of Finance. The service is provide by e-finance, a private firm contracted by the ministry, and will handle any tax payments in excess of LE1,000. Payments can be made via bank account transfer or with hard cash. Ibrahim Sarhan, Chairman and Managing Director of e-finance, describes the process as simple. "Taxpayers need only to present their tax registration number or tax file number for the bank employees who will complete the procedures," he said in a statement. A total of 1,450 bank branches across Egypt will offer the service. Egypt's biggest three public commercial banks, National Bank of Egypt, Bank Misr and Banque du Caire, are participating. So, too, are private banks HSBC, Citibank and Piraeus, among many others. Companies still have till the end of April to present their fiscal declarations; individuals, though, have only until the end of March. The payment service is an expansion of a project started in the final years of the Mubarak era by Youssef Boutrous Ghali, his penulitmate minister of finance. Introduced in 2009, it was only offered by the National Bank of Egypt. Electronic tax collection is meant to streamline tax collection and increase revenues. Tax revenue target for fiscal year 2011/2012 is LE232 billion (around $38 billion). Corporate taxes are supposed to reach LE83.292 billion, two-thirds of which will be paid by the state-owned Suez Canal Authority and petroleum firms. Egypt has missed tax collection targets in the past. In the budget for the country's 2010/11 financial year, the revenue target was LE200 billion. Only LE192 billion was collected. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/37934.aspx
