Egypt Announces New Tax Incentives for Industrial Projects
Egyptian Cabinet issued Decree No. 77 of 2023 (“Decree“) granting new tax incentives (“Tax Incentives”) to the industrial investment projects and their expansions.
The Decree comes without prejudice to the recent incentives granted under the Investment Law No. 72/2017 (the “Investment Law”).
Projects Eligible for the New Tax Incentives
The Industrial Projects which can benefit from the newly decided Tax Incentives are those which work in the following sectors:
- Metal Industries.
- Chemical Industries.
- Engineering Industries.
- Medical and Pharmaceutical Industries.
- Textile Industries.
- Mining Industries.
Eligibility Criteria
A Project can benefit from the Tax Incentives upon satisfying the following conditions:
- The project shall start its operation within the period stipulated under the Investment Law (i.e. by no later than July 2029). This period may be subject to another six (6) year renewal by the Cabinet’s approval.
- The project must be established in an area within Geographical Zone (A) as defined under the Investment Law (covering the Suez Canal Special Economic Zone, the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, the New Administrative Capital Zone, South of Giza governorate, Governorates affiliated to the Suez Canal which are Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, border governorates, including the Red Sea governorate from south Safaga, Upper Egypt’ governorate and other areas that are in most need for development as decided by the Prime Minister) or remote areas determined by the Cabinet, or new urban communities, industrial zones, investment zones or technological zones.
- 50% of the finance of the Project – until the start date of its operation –rely on foreign currency transferred from abroad to a bank in Egypt or through subscriptions in the Project’s capital or in purchasing machinery, equipment, raw materials imported from abroad, or establishing the Project with repatriatable profits.
This incentive shall not be granted to a project if proven that any shareholder has contributed in its establishment by assets of an existing project in Egypt or has liquidated an already existing project to establish a new project for the purpose of benefiting from the Tax Incentive.
Tax Incentive Categories
The Incentives as per the Decree are classified into three categories according to the percentage of the foreign funding/financing of the Project, as follows:
- Projects with foreign funding ranging between 50% and not exceeding 75% will be entitled to a cash incentive equivalent to 35% of the income tax due on the Project.
- Projects with foreign funding ranging between 75% and not exceeding 90% will be entitled to cash incentive equivalent to 45% of the income tax due on the Project.
- Projects with foreign funding equivalent to 90% or more will be entitled to cash incentive equivalent to 55% of the income tax due on the Project.
Competent Authority
The Decree provides for a new committee (the “Committee”) to be established for the purpose of examining investors’ applications to benefit from the Tax Incentives and determining the fulfillment of the eligibility criteria.
The Committee shall be headed by a representative from GAFI and membership of representatives from the following entities:
- Ministry of Trade and Industry.
- Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
- Ministry of Finance.
- Industrial Development Authority (IDA).
- Egyptian Tax Authority.
- Industrial Modernization Authority.
Procedures of the Application
To benefit from the Tax Incentive, the investor shall submit a request to the Committee expressing their interest to obtain the Incentive, while submitting all the required documents, the request shall include the following:
- Description of the project and its location.
- Financial structure of the projects demonstrating the percentage and the type of foreign funding.
- Project’s start of operation date.
Timeframe
The Committee shall examine the applications within forty-five (45) days from the date of submission and notify the investor within seven (7) working days whether by acceptance or rejection and in the event of the latter case the Committee shall specify the reasons of such rejection.
Issuance of Incentives Certificate
Upon the Committee’s approval, a certificate for incentive eligibility shall be issued for the project. The incentive will be due starting from the tax year preceding the submission of the eligibility application if the application has been submitted within thirty (30) days from the end of the tax year. As for applications that have been submitted after the expiry of the deadline, they will be eligible starting from the current tax year.
Incentive Disbursement
The incentive will be eligible for seven consecutive years.
The project shall submit to the Committee a request to disburse the incentive for each year of entitlement before submitting the tax return on the realized income.
The Ministry of Finance shall disburse the due incentive amount within forty-five (45) days from the deadline of submitting the tax return; otherwise, it will be subject to a delay fee.
Preliminary Approval
The Investor may submit to the Committee in the preliminary stages before establishing the Project a request to review the financial and technical requirements, obtain the necessary clarification regarding the eligibility for the Tax Incentive, and obtain an initial approval that the project fulfils the conditions for the Incentive.
This initial approval shall be approved by the chairman of GAFI, and it will be valid and binding for a period of three years from the date of its issuance.
