Egypt's Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has announced that taxpayers registered at the Large Taxpayer Center have until 15 May to join the electronic invoice (e-invoice) system. In a statement on Wednesday, Maait urged the companies registered with the Center to join the system, and to quickly take the necessary measures to join if they have not done so already. The actual first phase operation of the e-invoice system began on 15 November 2020, whilst the second phase began on 15 February 2021. According to the minister, a total of 400 companies have now completed the integration processes with the system during the first and second phases. He pointed out that the number of electronic documents that were processed through the system, including invoices, credit notes, and debtor notices, amounted to about 1,250 million. Maait explained that there are 37 companies that voluntarily joined the electronic invoice system, and extended his thanks to them. He said that the Ministry of Finance and the Egyptian Tax Authority provide all facilities and support to companies for mandatory joining of the electronic invoice system. This is through the technical support office at the Large Taxpayers Center, or field visits, as well as through the Integrated Communication Center on the number 16395 or through [email protected] .eg. The minister added that the e-invoice system aims to establish a central system enabling the Egyptian Tax Authority to follow up all commercial transactions among companies, by exchanging data for all invoices instantly in a digital form. He stressed that this system will help in the digital transformation of commercial transactions, dealing with the latest technical methods, and formally verifying the data of the invoice issuer, recipient and contents. Maait said that the implementation of the system aims to eliminate the parallel market and the informal economy, whilst providing equal opportunities. It also aims to ensure justice among companies operating in the Egyptian market, and facilitate and accelerate tax procedures. Maait noted that Egypt is putting in significant effort to implement the national project modernising and automating the tax administration system. It aims to facilitate procedures for taxpayers and enable the state to obtain its funds from them to enhance spending on improving citizens' lives and the quality of services provided to them. He explained that one of the most important projects is the system of automated tax procedures and electronic invoice system. It is expected to better control the tax community more precisely, achieve tax justice, and reduce tax evasion. At the same time, it is set to integrate the informal economy in the formal economy, which would help lay the foundations for an advanced tax system similarly to developed countries.
