The Egyptian government allocated EGP 130bn as part of social protection measures to cushion the impacts of the current global economic challenges. In a statement released on Monday, the government said that EGP 2.7bn will be allocated to include 450,000 new families as beneficiaries of the Takaful wi Karama ('Solidarity and Dignity') Initiative, as per the directives of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Another EGP 190.5bn will be directed to the National Authority for Social Insurance to disburse the annual 13% pension increase, starting April, and increase the tax exemption limit by 25% from EGP 24,000 to EGP 30,000. Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait revealed that starting April, the 8% bonus will be applied to employees who are addressed by the provisions of the Civil Service Law. Meanwhile, public sector employees who do not fall under the jurisdiction of the law will receive a special bonus of 15% of the basic wage. As the Egyptian pound depreciated against the US dollar to EGP 18.22 per one dollar, Egypt will reinstate the customs dollar at EGP 16 for basic commodities and production requirements starting at the end of April. Furthermore, the state's public treasury will bear the real estate tax due on industrial sectors for three years, estimated at EGP 3.75bn, according to Maait. The government has also exempted funds investing in the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) or debt instruments from taxes, along with venture capital funds. The minister added that the amendments include simplified accounting for individual and institutional investors to ensure that profits achieved during the period of tax suspension are not subject to taxation.
The government will also exempt a percentage of the realised profit for shareholders equivalent to the credit and discount rate issued by the Central Bank of Egypt, and will deduct 50% of the value of the capital gains achieved at the initial offering on the EGX for two years from the date of the issuance of the law.
Moreover, for companies that will increase their capital through IPOs, the sale will not be considered as a tax-generating event on capital gains, and the exchange of shares between listed companies and non-listed companies will not be considered as a tax-generating event.
