Egypt's Ministry of Finance launched on Monday the second stage of the e-invoice system that will be applied on 347 companies. Other companies will join the system in succession through the end of June. Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said the e-invoice system is a critical step towards digital transformation, part of Egypt's Vision 2030. The first stage that kicked off on 15 November was accomplished successfully, he added. The e-invoice system is also meant to upgrade Egypt's taxing system and improve the efficiency of tax examination, which will help attain the government's economic and financial targets, said Maait. “The finance ministry is providing all facilities and support to the companies that need to join the system, especially that the subscription is obligatory. The ministry started to take the legal actions against companies that have not subscribed in the system yet,” Maait explained. Reda Abdel-Kader, head of the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) said that joining the e-invoice system enhances the companies' tax positions by classifying them in the low-tax risk companies group. In addition, the system facilitates VAT settlements among companies, upgrades invoice exchange between them, reduces transactions cost, allows the remote tax examination for companies, and eases the process of preparing and submitting tax returns, according to Abdel-Kader. He added that subscribing in the e-invoice system is mandatory to deal with ministries, economic authorities, public sector companies, the public business sector and all state bodies, as decreed by the prime minister. Egypt's public e-invoice revenues jumped to EGP 4 billion per month in 2020, up from EGP 1 billion, growing by 250 percent owing to the coronavirus, Maait said in December. The hike is the result of a number of new government services that have become available online to encourage the public to use e-payment.
