Egypt’s exporters will not be able to benefit from export subsidies as of 1 July 2021 until they register on the e-bill system, said Reda Abdel-Kader, head of Egypt’s Tax Authority (ETA).

 Export subsidies are provided via the Export Development Fund, affiliated to the trade and industry ministry,

If they don't register, exporters will be denied reconciling the value of subsidies owed to them and their due taxes, including the value-added tax (VAT) and the income tax, said Abdel-Kader.

He added in a statement on Monday that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly had instructed the trade and industry ministry, Egypt’s Customs Authority and the ETA, among other entities, to halt transactions with exporters who don't subscribe to the e-bill system until 1 July 2021.

Egypt’s finance ministry launched the e-bill system at the end of June, applying it in six companies. The system’s first phase was carried out in 134 companies by mid-November.

Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said in previous statements that the e-bill system is a critical step towards developing Egypt’s tax system that helps in attaining the state’s fiscal and economic targets and achieving integration between the tax system and the commercial community for the sake of merging the informal economy into the formal one.

He added that Egypt is the first country in the Arab world to apply the e-bill system as part of the state’s plan that targets digital transformation, which is one of the important sustainable development goals that is included in Egypt’s Vision 2030.

Maait asserted that the move reinforces Egypt’s digital transformation tendency, especially for commercial transactions.