E-Finance for electronic payment solutions has collected EGP 130bn in taxes in favour of the Ministry of Finance in the last fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015, according to E-Finance CEO Ibrahim Sarhan. The figures for FY 2014/2015 compared to EGP 90bn in the previous FY 2013/2014. Sarhan said 80% of the tax was collected through activating the collection system at the Egyptian Customs Authority. He added that electronic collection of taxes increases GDP and provides public spending as soon as possible. According to the CEO, 2.4 million individuals can get their monthly pensions through smart cards, or a value of EGP 2bn. The government is working on administering monthly salaries to employees through smart cards, added Sarhan. The data reveals that 4.5 million employees are registered in the system, of which 3.4 million employees already have smart cards to receive their monthly salaries. Sarhan expects that the smart card system for employees of public administrative authorities will be finalised within two months. E-Finance is working on providing smart cards for fuel, benzene, diesel, or mazut through cooperation with the Ministries of Petroleum and Finance, according to Sarhan. He added that the government is still working on activating the smart card system, and is also working on the data related to tuk-tuk licences. E-Finance completed the issuing of 5.2m smart cards for fuel distribution on cars, according to Sarhan. He added that 1.8m cards have not yet been delivered, although they are ready for delivery at gas stations. The company has also completed the smart cards for the agricultural sector, according to Sarhan, who explained that the current departments in the Ministry of Agriculture helped issue the sector's smart cards in a short period of time. The smart cards related to construction companies are also ready, but no cards have yet been issued for small construction companies. According to Sarhan, applying the smart card system in all sectors will save fuel and reduce expenses, adding that 2,300 out of 2,600 gas stations are participating in the system. Source: Daily News Egypt
