COP27 participants to be exempted from taxes: Egypt

PHOTO

Delegations participating in the 27th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate change (COP27) will be exempted from taxes, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance on October 19th.

The ministry's announcement came as part of a presentation of the facilities that will be provided to participants in the conference, which will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh from 6 to 18 November.

Head of the Egyptian Customs Authority (ECA) Shahat Ghaturi said that Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait also approved the acceptance of the pledges submitted by companies for the provisional release of imported goods for COP27, provided that the company responsible for shipping and customs clearance guarantee the pledges.

This move will ensure the re-exporting of these goods abroad, instead of providing bank letters of guarantee or cash insurance to facilitate customs procedures, Ghaturi noted.

Maait also approved the establishment of a customs yard at the Sharm El Sheikh International Airport to facilitate the completion of customs procedures on goods, Ghaturi added.

It is worth noting that Maait previously issued a ministerial decree calling for the formation of a committee comprised leaders from Ministry of Finance, the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA), and ECA to ease the procedures of customs release and value-added tax (VAT) refund for foreigners.

In the same vein, ETA has signed a cooperation protocol with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), National Bank of Egypt (NBE), and Banque Misr to facilitate the procedures of refunding VAT to foreigners leaving the country.

A number of meetings have been held between ETA and the representatives of the three banks to discuss the proposals on easing the procedures of refunding VAT to foreign departing passengers, and all parties signed the protocol to cooperate in this matter, Head of the ETA Mokhtar Tawfik said.

Foreigners who leave Egypt for a period not exceeding three months have the right to refund the VAT previously paid to the seller for registered taxable purchases worth not less than EGP 1,500 per invoice, Tawfik noted.