Egypt: Advertising Campaign Motivating Citizens to Pay Property Taxes

Egypt: Advertising Campaign Motivating Citizens to Pay Property Taxes
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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



Egypt Targets 10 mln Ton Wheat Harvest

A farmer shows wheat plants at a field in Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
A farmer shows wheat plants at a field in Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
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Egypt Targets 10 mln Ton Wheat Harvest

A farmer shows wheat plants at a field in Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
A farmer shows wheat plants at a field in Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo

Egypt expects to harvest 10 million tonnes of wheat this year, up from 9 million in 2023, driven by improved crop yields and ambitious land reclamation efforts, Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk told Reuters late on Wednesday.

He said 3.1175 million feddans (about 1.30 million hectares) have been cultivated this season — slightly lower than the 3.5 million feddans announced earlier by the planning ministry and 3.2 million feddans in 2024 (1.34 million hectares), suggesting a possible decline in total wheat area.

Farmers have told Reuters that wheat has become less profitable compared to crops like beet, whose area increased from 500,000 feddans (210,000 hectares) to 700,000 feddans (294,000 hectares) this year.

The government plans to buy 4-5 million tonnes of local wheat and import about 6 million tonnes to provide heavily subsidised bread for over 69 million Egyptians.

Farouk said newer high-yield wheat strains developed by the Agricultural Research Center have raised productivity by 7-8.5%.

"This is vertical expansion, and horizontal expansion is coming," he said.

That horizontal expansion is led by the Mostakbal Misr for Sustainable Development, which plans to reclaim 4 million feddans across the country.

Farouk said some of that land is ready for production and the rest will follow in the next two years, offering major opportunities for agricultural investment.

Mostakbal Misr, recently tasked with wheat imports, is also developing infrastructure and growing crops tailored to local consumption, exports and agri-processing, Farouk said..

Farouk added the government is studying a potential rise in local fertilizer prices. Urea and nitrate fertilizers cost around 9,500 Egyptian pounds ($185) per tonne to produce but are sold at a subsidized 4,500 ($87.63). Export prices reach up to 20,000 pounds ($389.48), Farouk said.