Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's House of Representatives approved adopting the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, Ashraf El-Araby, a member of the Economic Committee, told Mubasher on Monday.
"The parliamentarians gave the green light to the law after discussing 74 clauses over two days", El-Araby said.
On Sunday, the parliament passed the VAT rate at 13% rather than the 14% rate recommended by the government, but it will rise to 14% in the upcoming fiscal year.
El-Araby added the number of VAT-free commodities increased to 57 from 52, assuring the evaders will be convicted of felony rather than misdemeanor.
The government is likely to raise EGP 32 billion from the VAT law which will enter into force next October, according to Deputy Finance Minister Amr Al-Mounir.
