30 September 2016
The Egyptian government introduced VAT in the country from 8 September 2016. The VAT rates introduced are a standard rate of 13%, which will increase to 14% from 1 October 2017, and a reduced rate of VAT at 5% which will apply to certain types of machinery and equipment.
It is hoped that by switching to VAT from the current sales tax regime it will raise additional revenue to help deal with the country’s growing deficit.
The deficit is the difference between what the government spends and what it gets in income (mainly from taxes).