Egypt

Taxable period

The taxable period is the calendar year starting 1 January and closing on 31 December or any period of 12 months taken as a basis for income tax calculation.

Tax returns

Individuals are required to submit an annual tax return to the tax authorities. The submission deadline for an individual is on or before 31 March following the end of the fiscal year to which the return relates.

Tax on employment income is withheld at source on a monthly basis. Employers are required to file quarterly tax statements in January, April, July, and October of each year.

Employers should submit an annual tax reconciliation to the tax authority on the first of January each year showing the annual salaries and wages of each employee accompanied with the unpaid payroll tax amounts.

Payment of tax

Within the 15 days of the subsequent month following the date of payment.

Tax audit process

The audit cycle proceeds as follows.

Inspection

The tax authority inspects the company based on its documents and records in order to assess the total tax due on the company and determines the difference in tax due as per the company declaration and the tax authority assessment. The authority issues an assessment including the total tax due on the company. If the company objects the inspection result within 30 days of receiving the decision, the dispute is transferred to the Internal Committee.

Internal Committee

The dispute is transferred to the Internal Committee to discuss the dispute points that arose from the inspection further to issue a modified assessment based on its opinion. If the company objects to the Internal Committee result, the dispute is transferred to the Appeal Committee to review the dispute points arising from the Internal Committee.

Appeal Committee

The Appeal Committee’s decision is final and binding on the company and the tax department, unless a case is appealed by either of them at the court within 30 days of receiving the decision. Based on the fact that the total taxes due on the assessment as per the Appeal Committee are considered final, if they are not paid within the appropriate period, there will be penalties for the late payment.

Court

If the decision of the Appeal Committee is not satisfactory for either party, the case will be transferred to the court system, which is considered the final stage of the disputes. Normally, the court will appoint an expert witness to investigate the case and prepare a report. The court process usually takes a long period of time.

Statute of limitations

The statute of limitations is five years.