Egypt: Advertising Campaign Motivating Citizens to Pay Property Taxes

Egypt: Advertising Campaign Motivating Citizens to Pay Property Taxes
TT
20

Egypt: Advertising Campaign Motivating Citizens to Pay Property Taxes

Egypt: Advertising Campaign Motivating Citizens to Pay Property Taxes

An advertising campaign for Egypt’s Real Estate Taxation Authority (RTA) has drawn the people's attention calling on citizens to start paying taxes before mid-August.

Although the current law has been in force for nearly a decade now, but it has undergone many amendments that have hindered its work, which means this would be a new experience for many Egyptians.

"I think many citizens will respond to the advertising campaign," said Ashraf al-Arabi, former head of the RTA and current MP.

According to the law issued in 2008, the rental value of the properties is estimated once every five years. The annual tax value, which is calculated at 10 percent of the rental value of the property, is determined based on this procedure, excluding maintenance expenses.

The law has raised controversy among citizens in light of the fact that real estate represents a refuge for the Egyptian families’ investments and it has overcome several amendments. The most recent of these amendments was the 2014 taxable benefit according to the first estimate as of July 2013, provided that this assessment continues until the end of December 2018.

Head of the RTA Samia Hussein said in a statement that property owners who are entitled to tax will be subject to penalties for delay if they don’t inform the RTA of their properties before August 15.

Real estates that are prepared to be leased in summer are one of the most important havens for Egyptian families who invest in their properties during this period of the year. Therefore, the RTA tried to attract this category by announcing the possibility of paying the tax on the northern coast units and remote areas at the Authority’s headquarters in Cairo instead of doing so in a coastal governorate.

According to date by the country’s Ministry of Planning, real estate activities accounted for about 10.5 percent of the country's GDP in the fiscal year 2016-2017.

However, not all real estates in Egypt are taxable. The law exempts private housing units with an annual rental value of more than EGP 24,000 per year (about $1,300), commercial and industrial units with an annual rental value of more than EGP12,000 and other facilities such as educational institutions and non-profit hospitals



Syria’s President Appoints Former EY Partner as Central Bank Governor 

Shoppers walk browsing for items along the alley of Damascus' Hamidiya covered market on March 29, 2025 as Muslims prepare ahead of the holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AFP)
Shoppers walk browsing for items along the alley of Damascus' Hamidiya covered market on March 29, 2025 as Muslims prepare ahead of the holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AFP)
TT
20

Syria’s President Appoints Former EY Partner as Central Bank Governor 

Shoppers walk browsing for items along the alley of Damascus' Hamidiya covered market on March 29, 2025 as Muslims prepare ahead of the holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AFP)
Shoppers walk browsing for items along the alley of Damascus' Hamidiya covered market on March 29, 2025 as Muslims prepare ahead of the holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AFP)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed Abdelkader Husrieh as the country's new central bank governor, according to a statement by the president's office, weeks after his predecessor tendered her resignation to allow for a new appointee.

Husrieh, who was previously a partner with international accounting firm EY in Syria, was sworn in by Sharaa.

Husrieh's appointment comes few weeks after Syrian central bank governor Maysaa Sabreen tendered her resignation less than three months after she was appointed to the post in a caretaker role.

Sabreen told Reuters at the time that she resigned because the country's new rulers would appoint a new governor after the formation of a new government, which was announced in late March.

She had pledged during her short-lived tenure to boost the bank's independence after years of corrupt state control.

Economists view central bank independence as critical to achieving long-term macroeconomic and financial sector stability.

While the Central Bank of Syria has always been, on paper, an independent institution, but under Bashar-al-Assad, whose regime was toppled in a lighting offensive in December, the bank's policy was de facto determined by the government.