Egypt Affirms Commitment to Prevent Abuse of Tax Treaties, BEPS

Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance confirmed that Egypt has deposited with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) the instrument of ratification of multilateral convention to implement tax treaty related measures to prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).

Maait said, on Saturday, that the agreement includes the implementation of measures to prevent BEPS in places where taxes are not subject to, or reduced prices that will lose the public treasury tens of billions of pounds.

He emphasized that by doing so, Egypt has completed all the procedures decided for the agreement to enter into force on January 1.

He explained that Egypt's accession to the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) contributes to preserving Egypt's tax rights internationally, filling the gaps in the current double taxation prevention agreements, strengthening governance to protect the tax base, and curbing harmful tax practices, and aggressive tax planning as well as the abuse of agreements.

On his part, Finance Minister’s Adviser for International Taxes, Ramy Youssef said that Egypt signed the multilateral agreement in June 2017, adding that the Egyptian parliament approved a bill to ratify this agreement in August 2020.

"On September 29, Egypt deposited its ratification document online," Youssef pointed out.

He noted that the multilateral agreement includes 54 international tax agreements for Egypt, of which 38 are matching agreements so far. It is expected that the corresponding agreements will increase with the increase in the number of countries signing the multilateral agreement.

He pointed out that the agreement contributes to strengthening governance to protect the tax base and curb harmful tax planning strategies as well prevent abuse of agreements.