Tax on tourist facilities to apply from July

Legal advisor of the real estate division at the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) Anwar Farag confirmed that the they will apply a real estate tax on tourist facilities starting from next July.

The tax has been postponed for the last five years.

Farag also added that the ETA has not specified the evaluation criteria for taxable real estate assets in the tourism sector. It is not clear whether the tax will be applied based on property use, size, or location.

These criteria, he said, will be determined after an open discussion with Minister of Tourism Hesham Za’azou, members of tourism chambers, and owners of hotels and other tourist facilities.

These evaluations will take into consideration the tourism sector’s “current situation”, he said, and will only be applied to the buildings and not to any related components or assets.

“This is definitely not the right time to apply such a tax,” said Vice Chairman of the tourist hotels division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Nagy Erian. “We don’t have guests, and the tourism sector has come to a virtual standstill since the revolution.”