Arab Finance: The Egyptian Customs Authority is currently working on reducing the customs clearance period via the pre-clearance system, the authority’s Deputy Head Ahmed Abou El Hassan said on the sidelines of the “Challenges and Opportunities Facing Investors” seminar organized by the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA).
He added that the authority seeks to shorten the customs release duration from 24 to 13 days in accordance with the World Bank standards and globally recognized norms.
Abou El Hassan also noted that the authority had made significant progress in the field of e-commerce to promote exports, given that Egypt's e-commerce trade volume is still quite modest.
Integration of Informal Economy into Tax System
During the event, Deputy Head of the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) Sayed Saqr stated that the authority is eager to assist taxpayers in addressing any issue.
He added that the ETA is working on incorporating the informal economy into the tax system, pointing out that inventorying and analyzing the informal economy requires technical staff, as the authority is currently facing a shortage of staff needed for tax examination.
The executive regulation of Law No. 30 of 2023 on income tax is currently going thorough examination to be issued soon without any future issues, with talks and regular meetings being conducted with representatives from the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and the Capital Market Authority (CMA) until the regulations are published in an integrated form.