11 hours ago
- Business
- Egypt Independent
Egypt set to increase cigarette and alcohol prices
In its general session on Sunday, the Egyptian House of Representatives approved a government-proposed bill to amend certain provisions of Law #67 of 2016 concerning the Value Added Tax (VAT).
The amendments aim to bolster the state's financial resources and enhance tax and social justice.
The bill, presented to the plenary session, includes a provision to increase the minimum and maximum prices of cigarettes by 12 percent annually for three years, starting from November 2025.
The bill also allows for the possibility of reducing this percentage based on production costs.
Furthermore, the legislation will convert the tax on alcoholic beverages from a percentage-based system to a fixed-rate system, with progressive taxes imposed based on alcohol content.
This will be accompanied by an annual increase of 15 percent for three years.
The proposed law also stipulates subjecting the services of literary agencies and certain media services to VAT, while abolishing previous tax exemptions on these services to boost state revenues.
Additionally, crude oil will be subjected to a 10 percent tax, with the cancellation of its previous tax exemption to further enhance public revenues.
The head of the Tobacco Division, Ibrahim Imbabi, told local media that the minimum price for the first tier of cigarettes has been raised to LE48, up from LE38.8.
This allows tobacco companies to increase prices up to this value. He added that the second tier's maximum price has been raised to LE69, replacing the previous LE48, with the third tier beginning at LE 69 and above.
