Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has confirmed the government's commitment to maintaining a stable tax policy that would encourage local and foreign investment, create more jobs, and improve the living standards of citizens. He said that the government wants to enable the private sector to make the best use of the available resources and the promising investment opportunities, with the support of a strong political will and a modern infrastructure. Maait added, during his meeting with a delegation from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce headed by Ahmed El-Wakil, that the state is making tangible efforts to create a favourable business environment that takes into account the simplification of procedures, including the golden license, and that the government's initiatives offer wide prospects for greater participation of private investments in the Egyptian economy, especially in light of the challenges posed by the global exceptional variables, such as the sharp rise in the prices of commodities and services due to the disruption of supply chains and logistics, and the increase in the costs of financing. The Minister of Finance pointed out that the cancellation of tax and fee exemptions for public sector companies stimulates investment by ensuring fair competition in the Egyptian market, and that the systems implemented have contributed to expanding the tax base and increasing revenues without imposing additional burdens on investors, as well as maximizing efforts to integrate the informal economy, aiming for tax justice and competitiveness, and speeding up the tax examination procedures, to complete them annually. Maait explained that a new law has been issued to enhance the efforts to settle the accumulated tax files and that the law stipulates dealing with any establishments and companies whose annual business figure does not exceed EGP 10m according to the simplified lump-sum tax system, similar to the one applied in the Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises Law, and that the law determines the tax due as one thousand pounds annually for projects whose annual business figure is less than EGP 250,000, EGP 2,500 annually for projects whose annual business figure ranges from EGP 250,000 to EGP 500,000, EGP 5,000 annually for projects whose annual business figure ranges from EGP 500,000 to EGP 1m, 0.5% of the business figure for projects ranging from EGP 1m to EGP 2m, 0.75% for the business figure ranging from EGP 2m to EGP 3m, and 1% for the business figure ranging from EGP 3m to EGP 10m. Maait stressed that the draft of the new income tax law will be presented for public dialogue in the next period, to reach a consensus before taking the necessary steps to refer it to the Cabinet and then the House of Representatives, and he confirmed the government's keenness to facilitate the customs release procedures for the benefit of investors and citizens, and to adopt any proposals that contribute to removing any obstacles and facilitating the trade movement. Ahmed El-Wakil, the President of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, expressed his appreciation for the Minister of Finance's continuous keenness to listen to the business community in its various sectors, which leads to strengthening the relationship between the government and the private sector and contributes to achieving the national goals and strategic objectives. He noted that the stability of the tax policy contributes to stimulating local and foreign investment and creating a more conducive environment for growth, which helps in planning for future projects. The meeting was attended by Ehab Abu Aish, the Deputy Minister of Finance for General Treasury; Mona Nasser, the Assistant Minister of Finance for Follow-up and Management of Customs Development Projects; Rami Youssef, the Assistant Minister of Finance for Tax Policies and Development; Al-Shahat Ghaturi, the Head of Customs Authority; Fayez El-Debaany, the Head of Tax Authority; Sayed Saqr, the Deputy Head of Tax Authority; Nisreen Lashin, the General Manager of the General Investor Services Administration; and Alaa Ezz, the Secretary-General of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce.
