The industry development sovereign fund gives incentives to the local product before sale and export in order to see a return on the taxes they paid, said Egyptian Tax Authority head Abdel Moneim Matar. The Tax Authority used to collect 30% of the value of a used car, but in the automotive industry strategy it will collect the difference between the buying and selling prices.
Salah Youssef, head of the Tax Authority’s research department, said the research department is responsible for conducting market studies and comparisons. According to their studies, the VAT has a lower value for the automotive sector, since the tax value for cars up to 1600 cc was at 15%, and is currently at 14% in the new Value-Added Tax (VAT) Law.
“We have also identified the different items the law included and allowed the payment in instalments for different industries. The automotive industry strategy also discusses tax and customs evasion; it was provided to the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Egyptian Industries,” said Matar.
The ministries of industry and finance had been studying the strategy for a year and a half; it is currently being discussed by the parliament’s Industry Committee.
Mohamed Al-Ashry, head of central management in the Customs Authority, said the Suez Canal officials are currently setting a value for all customs at the canal. They expect this to be completed within a month.
When asked about the problems with Mercedes Benz and BMW in regards to the pricing of their products, he responded that the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) agreement stipulates that starting November 2014, it is prohibited to use the price of the product in the export market, denying that they have done so.
Osama Abou Al-Magd, head of the Egyptian Automotive Dealers Association, said the government is currently trying to cross the GATT agreement by applying a 30% tax to replace the customs that were already lifted.
