Promoting Industrial Growth and Encouraging Foreign Direct Investment in Egypt
History
Taxation
Taxation
Taxation
Taxation
- Taxes place a significant burden on industrial activities as they result in higher prices, thereby making products less competitive.
- The ambiguity of the law and its executive regulations opened the door to unduly discretion in interpreting the law and its regulations, which resulted in varying interpretations within the same agency. A good case in point is the tax treatment of specialized industrial processes related to a number of industries, including food, detergents pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and paper pulp (e.g., pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material).
Taxation
- Eliminate ambiguity in all tax-relevant laws, regulations and guidelines, and simplify them in order to limit the discretionary power of tax administrators.
- Form a small committee consisting of the directors of the Tax Authority and the Customs Authority, a deputy of the Minister of Finance, the chairman of the FEI (or who he may delegate), and representatives of the chambers of industry. The committee should be tasked with studying the tax- and customs-related procedural and legal obstacles facing industrial investors, coming up with practical solutions, and taking decisions that can have a quick impact on the ground.
- The Ministry of Finance should sign a protocol with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to develop tax treatment systems, which are aligned with global best practices in tax administration and enhance investor confidence in tax reforms.