https://arab.news/b3ckv
- Tax hikes will help fund spending
- Companies must start electronic invoicing
RIYADH: Egypt is set to increase taxation as it plans to boost public spending, Asharq Business reported, citing Finance Minister Mohamed Maait.
Tax revenues were expected to increase by between 0.5 percent and 0.7 percent of GDP, he said. It was not immediately clear what this would add to existing tax rates in North Africa's largest economy.
He also said that companies would need to start using the electronic invoicing system starting from July 2021, or risk being added to a blacklist.
Being added to such a list would mean a referral to the public prosecutor and prevent businesses from winning government work.
Starting from January 2022, companies with no electronic invoices would not get VAT refunds, the minister confirmed.
Maait said that the industrial and agricultural sectors would benefit from increased government spending in addition to information technology, health and education sectors.
The finance minister said that the country's debt-to-GDP ratio fell to 88 percent in the current fiscal year compared to 108 percent a year earlier.
He added that had it not been for the pandemic, this ratio would have reached 82 percent.
The aim is to reduce it still further to 79 percent during the next fiscal year.