Egypt's tax system modernisation successfully progressing: Finance Minister

Project aims to simplify tax procedures, to create healthy investment environment, expand export base, and create more job opportunities

Egypt's Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has confirmed that the country's tax management system modernisation programme is progressing well.
The national project aims to modernise and automate the tax system. It is based on simplifying, mechanising, and standardising tax procedures, to create a healthy investment environment, expand the export base, and create more job opportunities.
In a statement on Sunday, Maait said that projects to develop and mechanise the tax management system contribute to raising the efficiency of tax collection for the state's right.
This is because electronic returns systems, the unified automated tax procedures platform, and the electronic invoice help in listing the tax community more accurately, and laying the foundations for tax justice.
He explained that the technology and operation of the tax solutions company, E-Tax, contributes to the sustainability of the quality performance of electronic tax systems. This leads to the simplification and automation of procedures in a manner that ensures the creation of a tax system comparable to developed countries and encourages investment.
For his part, Ibrahim Sarhan, Chairperson of E-Tax, confirmed that the Egyptian Government has made fruitful efforts in building an integrated digital system to raise the efficiency of the tax system.
This can be seen in SAP LLC Egypt signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with E-Tax, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with e-Finance.
The MoU aims to develop the basic capabilities necessary for digital transformation at the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA).
Sarhan said that under the agreement, SAP and E-Tax will develop cooperation opportunities in the field of digital transformation in Egypt. This is in addition to enabling E-Tax to enhance its role in developing the basic capabilities necessary for the ETA's digital transformation.
He added that E-Tax works to provide specialised technological services, digital transformation projects, and technology consulting, and to provide all human resources with expertise and specialised services to develop the current electronic tax system. It also aims to help improve Egypt's tax administration services, in a way that enhances tax revenue, and facilitates dealing with the ETA.
Hoda Mansour, Managing Director of SAP Egypt, confirmed that digital transformation is no longer an option for comprehensive development. Instead it is a necessity, in which most countries around the world have made great strides, and SAP seeks to adapt its modern technologies to provide the best services to Egypt.
Khaled Abdel Ghani, CEO of E-Tax, said that the company is seeking partnerships with global entities as part of its goal of exploiting the latest technologies of data science and artificial intelligence (AI). These have become an integral part of digital transformation efforts, and a successful tool for owning a modern data strategy capable of providing the best data organisation and linking it efficiently.
He added that SAP technologies will provide Egypt with tremendous advantages in terms of developing the basic capabilities of the country's tax system. It will also mean achieving the goals of preserving the resources of tax authorities, increasing their revenues, and detecting cases of suspected non-compliance.