Egypt to adopt international taxation policy to avoid double taxation

Minister of Finance Hany Kadry Dimian has announced plans for Egypt to take on a policy of tax sharing internationally in an effort to protect the Egyptian taxpayer from double taxation. This is within the framework of government procedures to increase revenue and reform an exhausted economy.

In a statement to Daily News Egypt on Saturday, Dimian stated that sharing tax means imposing taxes on the taxpayer who has income resulting from financial and professional activities outside of the country, but whose main income is made within Egypt. He gave the example of an Egyptian doctor who works for an Egyptian hospital but has gone abroad to perform a surgery in Germany; the taxes imposed on him would be shared with Germany.

“We are conducting a comprehensive review of all tax legislation regarding business practices in all states to determine the rates and average for tax sharing,” stated Dimian, though an outcome of the review has yet to be reached.

In a move to reform the tax system, the Egyptian government has imposed income taxes on both resident and non-resident Egyptians on their commercial, industrial and professional activities abroad, to encourage them to make Egypt “the centre of their activities”.