The Ministry of Finance announced that it will be activating the online tax declaration submission service on the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA)'s web portal next week. A report prepared by the ETA revealed that all the arrangements related to connecting the authority's website to a database of taxpayers are completed to enable submitting instantaneous declarations, allowing the use of the new service to start this week and throughout the tax season, which ends on 31 March 2018 for individuals and 30 April 2018 for companies. The report added that the ETA is preparing to add a package of important services for taxpayers on the website to make them available online. They include each registered income taxpayers being able to inquire about their tax details, estimated to be eight million taxpayers. Additionally, the service will enable submitting form number 41, which should be submitted every three months and used to be an exhausting process for taxpayers. Because of the associated process, Egypt was placed in a low rank in terms of the tax performance index which measures the frequency of taxpayers' errands. The report pointed out that the ETA would provide another service online, specifically, opening a tax file for new projects, with the option to complete the paperwork later. According to the report, the provision of these services electronically to the tax community will contribute to reducing the frequency of taxpayers' errands to less than the global average, allowing taxpayers to focus more on their work rather than wasting time on bureaucratic procedures. "This will provide an opportunity for taxpayers to focus on carrying out their basic duties in examining tax files, especially high-value files to reduce tax evasion, which is in the best interest of the national economy," the report said. On the facilitations provided by the ETA, the report pointed out the success of the information sector at the authority in terms of issuing computerised tax forms as a substitute for the paper tax form for a large number of taxpayers, especially for those who deal with the ETA in the field of exports and imports. The report explained that these computerised forms include all the basic data of taxpayers, such as their full name, their file number, their activity, and the address of the activity. Therefore, taxpayers do not need to provide letters from the ETA or a copy of the customs tax form as all tax outlets and tax offices are provided with a special scanning device that recognises those electronic forms. According to the report, taxpayers will be able to follow up on their tax files and know the status of the examination first hand, either through their tax forms, or through the ETA's website, without having to visit the tax office they are affiliated with.
