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I'm curious, what made you ask that question?
@MiddleEuroAsia
I lived in Egypt for many years during the Mubarak era. Liked it very much. I am eyeing a return to Egypt and am evaluating my options.

It is still possible to live in Egypt on an extended tourism visa (visa run). However, that is sub-par and definitely not my style which let me look into a "residence-by-investment" program. Like most things in Egypt you do need to dig deep... .
There are two "competing" laws: Law 190 of 14-MAR-2020 (citizenship by investment) and law 173 of 2018 (residency-by-investment with the option of naturalization after 5 years).
I am interested in law 173. It opens the possibility to deposit EGP 7'000'000 with either Banque Misr or National Bank of Egypt for 5 years in return for a 5-year residence permit. After these 5 years the amount can either be withdrawn by foregoing the naturalization process or it will be transferred to state coffers in order to get naturalized. The latter is pretty uninteresting. However, the former option of just depositing this money for 5 years gives a "free" and non-binding residence permit. The money can be placed in interest-bearing TD or CD which is why I used the term "free".
Further details see here -> Egypt: President Ratifies Law Amending Residency and Citizenship Laws : Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative and here -> Egypt’s citizenship for sale to foreigners at $400,000 : Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative

Consider this thread Question - Egypt - taxation of foreign sourced income in connection with the above-mentioned residence permit and you have a value destination which is on nobodies radar.
There are still conflicting interpretations of "commercial, industrial and professional activity". However, the vast majority of lawyers I contacted seem to agree with this definition -> Taxation In Egypt - Tax - Egypt which in turn would mean that for a certain group of people certain foreign passive and foreign semi-passive income is not covered by personal income tax law.

Do you have any current practical experience with Egyptian tax authorities?
Feedback is highly appreciated.
 
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I lived in Egypt for many years during the Mubarak era. Liked it very much. I am eyeing a return to Egypt and am evaluating my options.
Yep, as I said before, Mubarak times were the best for us, minimal questions, territorial tax system plus a lot of other things that made Egypt the perfect heaven in africa.

nowadays, it's still great, but you need to know the ins and outs of what you're getting into, otherwise don't blame anyone but yourself.
It is still possible to live in Egypt on an extended tourism visa (visa run). However, that is sub-par and definitely not my style which let me look into a "residence-by-investment" program. Like most things in Egypt you do need to dig deep... .
There are two "competing" laws: Law 190 of 14-MAR-2020 (citizenship by investment) and law 173 of 2018 (residency-by-investment with the option of naturalization after 5 years).
I am interested in law 173. It opens the possibility to deposit EGP 7'000'000 with either Banque Misr or National Bank of Egypt for 5 years in return for a 5-year residence permit. After these 5 years the amount can either be withdrawn by foregoing the naturalization process or it will be transferred to state coffers in order to get naturalized. The latter is pretty uninteresting. However, the former option of just depositing this money for 5 years gives a "free" and non-binding residence permit. The money can be placed in interest-bearing TD or CD which is why I used the term "free".
Further details see here -> Egypt: President Ratifies Law Amending Residency and Citizenship Laws : Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative and here -> Egypt’s citizenship for sale to foreigners at $400,000 : Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative
Yeah, I see where are you coming from, but FYI, extending tourists visas and visa runs are the norm for a lot of expats in a lot of areas in Egypt like sharm elsheikh for example, the authorities knows, the land lords knows, the local bank knows, but they don't bother these "expats", there is some kind of unspoken rule/mutual understanding, that as long as you keep it to yourself and don't cause too much trouble, then you will pretty much be left alone.

regarding the residency investment route, unfortunately, your numbers are not accurate, that was the proposal, but the end result is different, you need to deposit 750k (around 11 million EGP) into an Egyptian bank for five years in local currency and with no interests. so that option is less attractive, when you know that you can just incorporate an LLC with no capital and get yourself a residence permit all in just 1 week.
Consider this thread Question - Egypt - taxation of foreign sourced income in connection with the above-mentioned residence permit and you have a value destination which is on nobodies radar.
There are still conflicting interpretations of "commercial, industrial and professional activity". However, the vast majority of lawyers I contacted seem to agree with this definition -> Taxation In Egypt - Tax - Egypt which in turn would mean that for a certain group of people certain foreign passive and foreign semi-passive income is not covered by personal income tax law.
the Centre of commercial or industrial activities is just a fancy word for "effective place of management" and where your vital interests are located, however the enforcement of this law is pretty lax, nominee directors for your foreign companies solve this issue, again, this not the EU, and they won't run after your companies trying to count every employee that you hire in your foreign companies to see whether your company have substance abroad or not, they simply don't give a s**t lol. but yeah, having a nominee director is usually more than enough
Do you have any current practical experience with Egyptian tax authorities?
Yeah, but not directly, all the tax related stuff are run through my accountants.
why? do you have any other questions in mind? if so, I'm happy to answer them :)

Cheers!
 
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regarding the residency investment route, unfortunately, your numbers are not accurate, that was the proposal, but the end result is different, you need to deposit 750k (around 11 million EGP) into an Egyptian bank for five years in local currency and with no interests.
Thanks for this. Well, I was attracted by the idea of leaving it in the bank and cashing in on the relatively high interest rates. Without the latter this residence permit is not for me.
The LLC is a better option but it is somehow counterproductive to the idea of being a simple retiree :rolleyes: .
the Centre of commercial or industrial activities is just a fancy word for "effective place of management" and where your vital interests are located, however the enforcement of this law is pretty lax, nominee directors for your foreign companies solve this issue,
Interesting, nobody told me about this interpretation.
How do you see "commercial, industrial and professional activity" under the condition of being a retired private individual (no business activity) who keeps his money/bonds/equities in a foreign bank account while being a tax-resident of Egypt?
 
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Thanks for this. Well, I was attracted by the idea of leaving it in the bank and cashing in on the relatively high interest rates. Without the latter this residence permit is not for me.
The LLC is a better option but it is somehow counterproductive to the idea of being a simple retiree :rolleyes: .
Yeah, I believe that Egypt real interest rate is the highest in the world. So, it's a shame that they changed their original proposal that much.

Anyway, You can go with the property route, and that will require no less than 200k, and it will give you three years multi entry renewable visa, or you invest 400k into properties and you will get 5 years multi entry renewable visa.
How do you see "commercial, industrial and professional activity" under the condition of being a retired private individual (no business activity) who keeps his money/bonds/equities in a foreign bank account while being a tax-resident of Egypt?
on paper: if Egypt is the Centre of commercial industrial or professional activity of you, then this should be subject to your personal income tax brackets, but because you don't have "commercial industrial or professional activity" in Egypt, then your taxes should be 0%.

on practice: 0%. and you can remit some of this money into an Egyptian bank account if you wanted to, and nobody will bother you.

on a side note: If you don't like the idea of properties, you can forget the property route and instead opt for having a holding company in Egypt but you will need a local accountant that will help you with that
 
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on paper: if Egypt is the Centre of commercial industrial or professional activity of you, then this should be subject to your personal income tax brackets, but because you don't have "commercial industrial or professional activity" in Egypt, then your taxes should be 0%.
Thank you. That was very helpful.
I will fly to Egypt in about two weeks time. Aside from wanting to make sure that I still like my target region I do have an appointment with a local accountant/lawyer. After that I will make my decision.
 
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I don't understand why anybody with money or a Western nationality would ever want to live in Egypt, even if they can save on taxes a bit... It's absolutely filthy and everybody is trying to scam you at every possible opportunity

Plus there are no solid property rights, govt seizes properties for whatever purpose regularly without compensation.
 
I don't understand why anybody with money or a Western nationality would ever want to live in Egypt, even if they can save on taxes a bit... It's absolutely filthy and everybody is trying to scam you at every possible opportunity
Why would anybody want to live in Rome? Everybody is trying to scam you at every possible opportunity
Why would anybody want to live in Paris? Everybody is trying to scam you at every possible opportunity
Why would anybody want to live in NYC? Everybody is trying to scam you at every possible opportunity
Why would anybody want to live in London? Everybody is trying to scam you at every possible opportunity
Why would anybody want to live in Prague? Everybody is trying to scam you at every possible opportunity
Why would anybody want to live in Thailand? Everybody is trying to scam you at every possible opportunity

the answer is simple: Every place has it's good and bad, and it doesn't mean that it's all s**t. What are you describing mainly exists in tourist areas, and I don't know if you have been living under a rock or something, but that happens in every big city around the world.

Also, I'm not sure why some people have a hard time wrapping their head around this sentence "Everyone has a different risk appetite" so what might suit you, might not suit me and vice versa, and if Egypt is not your thing, that's ok, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's not my thing too, it very well could be, and that's why I'm here, I find good opportunities, I make good use of them. Simple as that.
Plus there are no solid property rights, govt seizes properties for whatever purpose regularly without compensation.
I call BS. Sorry, I've been in this market for a long time, and I can't find a new or old news about foreigners getting their properties seized, maybe in 1974? yeah, if you talk about that one, that was deemed illegal by a Cairo court.

However, I found news about Spain seizing properties, so maybe you confused the two? ca#"!

Anyway, go to maadi or Zamalek island and you will find that most of embassies and expats living there and no body is bothering them, and that happens all over Egypt, so, I don't know where are you getting this "info" from.
 
Cool. Make sure to update us here and tell us what they've told you.

Good luck thu&¤#
@MiddleEuroAsia
I have been to Egypt, checked everything and compared it to my early days. Well a lot has changed! Some to the better, some to the worse - but in any case it has become more complicated than it was 15 years ago.

First of all: All these residence programs are better to forget about. With whomever I spoke, they all advised against it. In fact, law 173 of 2018 (residency-by-investment with the option of naturalization after 5 years) is something which only exists on paper and will not be processed.
Only law 190 of 14-MAR-2020 (citizenship by investment) is applicable. It targets Syrian businessmen and other rich refugees - well, there will hardly be any Westerner who wants to acquire an Egyptian passport :rolleyes: .
The property route is still a possibility. It works exactly as you explained here:
You can go with the property route, and that will require no less than 200k, and it will give you three years multi entry renewable visa, or you invest 400k into properties and you will get 5 years multi entry renewable visa.
Since I do not want to invest in property (has nothing to do with Egypt; I simply do not like to have a concrete block tied to my legs) this is no option for me.
However, there are other options that are way cheaper and do not tie up anything. A renewable 1-year-residence permit with multiple entry option is still available if one knows his way. Minimum conditions: notarized rental contract, age >50 years, from a "Western Block" conf/(%country.

The tax situation is quite simple. This
on paper: if Egypt is the Centre of commercial industrial or professional activity of you, then this should be subject to your personal income tax brackets, but because you don't have "commercial industrial or professional activity" in Egypt, then your taxes should be 0%.

on practice: 0%. and you can remit some of this money into an Egyptian bank account if you wanted to, and nobody will bother you.
is 100% accurate and has been confirmed by 2 tax advisors and one lawyer. The same is valid for interest paid from foreign bank accounts which is treated like interest payments from local banks and therefore tax-free.
Crypto has to be kept outside the country and such proceeds should never be transferred to Egypt due to Law 194
of 2020 (Art. 206/CBE). As long as it is kept abroad and proceeds are not transferred to Egypt everything is fine. The logical consequence of the aforementioned law is that gains (capital gains, interest ....) from cryptocurrencies are tax-free.
The tax code of 2005 has been amended in some parts but has never been completely reworked. As long as a tax resident of Egypt does not engage in any "commercial, industrial or professional activity" and he is merely holding his wealth abroad, sort of a territorial tax system is still in place. All this considering that such a tax resident does not act like a day trader.
Tax residency is still automatic: You have to be in Egypt for at least 183 days within 12 months.
Tax ID is a bit of a challenge .... I am working on a solution.

Most disappointing: The internet. About a decade ago mobile internet was on par with the UAE, specifically when using Etisalat-Egypt. Today it lags far behind, the signal very often being weak. Fixed-line home internet is more stable but it is quite a challenge to get it installed due to connections per building being limited in certain areas of the country. The monopolistic structure of the fixed-line telecom sector (i.e. Telecom Egypt) doesn't exactly help.

Bottom line: A reliable and trustworthy advisor with many years of experience is key. Unfortunately, such a person is not easy to find. I am just lucky to still have my old contacts.
However, what works for me does (most likely) not work for others. I would not recommend for an inexperienced person to move to Egypt.

In three weeks I will be back to Egypt. I keep you posted how things proceed.
 
First of all: All these residence programs are better to forget about. With whomever I spoke, they all advised against it. In fact, law 173 of 2018 (residency-by-investment with the option of naturalization after 5 years) is something which only exists on paper and will not be processed.
Only law 190 of 14-MAR-2020 (citizenship by investment) is applicable. It targets Syrian businessmen and other rich refugees - well, there will hardly be any Westerner who wants to acquire an Egyptian passport :rolleyes: .
Yeah, honestly the residency by investment scheme was all over the place, they were changing the requirements every couple of months and it seems like they decided to focus on the CBI program instead, which as you discovered mainly targets Syrians and other Arabs.
there are far better residency schemes but it requires you having a company (which you don't want to do) and very careful planning.
Since I do not want to invest in property (has nothing to do with Egypt; I simply do not like to have a concrete block tied to my legs) this is no option for me.
Yeah, I understand
However, there are other options that are way cheaper and do not tie up anything. A renewable 1-year-residence permit with multiple entry option is still available if one knows his way. Minimum conditions: notarized rental contract, age >50 years, from a "Western Block" conf/(%country.
haha, seems like you found your call :) , is this kind of informal retirement visa? First time I heard about it, I heard of something similar, not for residency, but for the purpose of opening bank accounts.
is 100% accurate and has been confirmed by 2 tax advisors and one lawyer. The same is valid for interest paid from foreign bank accounts which is treated like interest payments from local banks and therefore tax-free.
Crypto has to be kept outside the country and such proceeds should never be transferred to Egypt due to Law 194
of 2020 (Art. 206/CBE). As long as it is kept abroad and proceeds are not transferred to Egypt everything is fine. The logical consequence of the aforementioned law is that gains (capital gains, interest ....) from cryptocurrencies are tax-free.
The tax code of 2005 has been amended in some parts but has never been completely reworked. As long as a tax resident of Egypt does not engage in any "commercial, industrial or professional activity" and he is merely holding his wealth abroad, sort of a territorial tax system is still in place.
Yeah, all your foreign investments shall be tax free, and same goes for crypto, even though unlicensed crypto activities are "banned", I've never receive a single issue when I wanted to transfer some of my crypto earnings to my Egyptian bank accounts (I usually use this money for further investments in the country).
All this considering that such a tax resident does not act like a day trader.
ha, I wounder :) this is just the "official info", they don't really care if you are actively trading or not, and even if they do (they don't) trading with an offshore corporate entity solve this issue.
Tax residency is still automatic: You have to be in Egypt for at least 183 days within 12 months.
That's true.
Tax ID is a bit of a challenge .... I am working on a solution.
Yeah tax ID is usually issued for people who want to do commercial activities (investing in Egyptian stocks, doing business in egypt...etc) and be in the legal side (As there are plethora of business who don't have a tax ID and are still operating to this day), but for other individuals, their ID (national ID, passport) is more than fine for most purposes.

Why do you need this anyway? if for foreign bank accounts and brokers, you simply do a self declaration that Egypt is your tax residence country and you tell them that the Egypt doesn't issue TIN in your case (you usually have to provide other documents like utility bills and such to support your claim).

If you still want a TIN, your only option is to have a reason to justify having one, and this can be done by simply investing some of your money in Egyptian stocks (can be as low as 10000 EGP) and because of that your investments is so low, you will pay 0% taxes. see.

It's not hard, but it requires careful planning.
Most disappointing: The internet. About a decade ago mobile internet was on par with the UAE, specifically when using Etisalat-Egypt. Today it lags far behind, the signal very often being weak. Fixed-line home internet is more stable but it is quite a challenge to get it installed due to connections per building being limited in certain areas of the country. The monopolistic structure of the fixed-line telecom sector (i.e. Telecom Egypt) doesn't exactly help.
Can't argue with that, the internet in Egypt is in a terrible state, it's even shitty because there is a quota on the internet and you need to recharge every time you exceed your monthly quota.
Bottom line: A reliable and trustworthy advisor with many years of experience is key. Unfortunately, such a person is not easy to find. I am just lucky to still have my old contacts.
Yeah, that's why I said you need to find a local advisor with knowledge in the international market, you can find such people by searching the legal500 directory and you will find great firms there, some of whom I worked with in the past.
However, what works for me does (most likely) not work for others. I would not recommend for an inexperienced person to move to Egypt.
I agree, egypt is not for everyone nor for the faint of heart, but you know what? that's what I like about it, it's not mainstream and you have to cross your t's and dot your i' before doing anything in egypt, and that's why Egypt manage to fly under the radar for so many years, but once you figure it all out, you will find that nothing beats Egypt in Africa and even in the offshore world.
there are handful of countries that give you the opportunities that Egypt give you, plus the close ties between Egypt and certain countries like the UAE offers Great opportunities for the right minds.
I know that what I talk about here might contain some buzzwords, but I already share a lot about myself in this forum and I don't want to share more than that.
In three weeks I will be back to Egypt. I keep you posted how things proceed.
Great. Looking forward to your update :)
 
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haha, seems like you found your call :) , is this kind of informal retirement visa?
@MiddleEuroAsia
Yes, you can say it is an "informal" retirement visa. It is a plastic card with photo, contains your Egyptian address and personal data. There is nothing shady with it, it is absolutely official. The point is that giving it out for one full year is in the discretion of the relevant head of the district immigration department. In "my" district policy is very restrictive: They only give it to >50 years with a notarized rental contract and you have to be from a "Western Block" country. This "Western Block" is arbitrarily - they distinguish between East and West and cut Europe along the former iron curtain. If you are not from a "Western Block" country it will only be given with a validity of three to six months, despite you being >50 years.

The same thing already existed during the Mubarak era, just that during that time it was two huge stamps in your passport (each of them filled an entire site) of which the residence permit (stamp 1) was also valid for a year (if you were >50 years). Just the multiple entry stamp (stamp 2) was only valid for 6 months - Egyptian logic o_O . So you always had to go twice a year to the immigration department in order to renew the multiple entry stamp (stamp 2) despite the fact that your residence permit (stamp 1) was valid for a year. This procedure was completely bonkers and filled the passport quite fast .... stupi#21

Today both is unified (if you pay the additional multiple entry fee) and the residence permit + multiple entry permission both have always the same validity - which surprises me because it is such a logical procedure :D.

ha, I wounder :) this is just the "official info"
With regards to taxes, banking and crypto this is the "official info". I think it is not a good idea to post other than that in a public forum. People will just get the wrong impression and think we are talking about a new Heaven on Earth (which Egypt is not).

tax ID is usually issued for people who want to do commercial activities
Correct. That was always the case and is still the case.
Best solution is -as you rightly pointed out- to buy Egyptian stocks. A tiny amount may be into CIB just for this specific purpose. I am looking into it. Unfortunately, the branch of EFG Hermes in "my" town has been closed, so that requires some travel.

I always go with this list, no matter which country. Worked great for me and I never got disappointed. The lawyer and one tax advisor in Egypt is from that list, the other tax advisor I still know from the old days. We would probably make a good Bridge-Table in a senior citizens home .

the internet in Egypt is in a terrible state
This is a huge downside and not to be underestimated.
I think it is fair to say that anybody who relies on modern IT should stay away from Egypt. Otherwise he/she will very soon be totally frustrated.
 
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I've never receive a single issue when I wanted to transfer some of my crypto earnings to my Egyptian bank accounts
As you will know there is a distinction between a resident citizen and a resident foreigner, specifically when it comes to banking. A resident foreigner has significant advantages and receives a much more open-minded treatment compared to a resident citizen. Of course, deposit size also plays a role and if you deal with a private bank or one of the two state-owned banks, the latter better to be avoided.
Nevertheless, in light of the new CBE announcement (Law 194 of 2020, Art. 206/CBE) I would avoid any direct transfer from a crypto exchange. It makes life easier for both sides.
 
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