Taking several measures to educate to conditions and procedures for refunding Value Added Tax (VAT)

Ramy Youssef، Deputy Minister of Finance for Tax Policies and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Follow-up on Value Added Tax Refunds for Foreign Departures، specified that in accordance with the Ministry of Finance and the Egyptian Tax Authority's Framework to facilitate tax refund procedures for non-resident tourists، and in conjunction with holding the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Cop 27) in Egypt، the Ministry of Finance and the Egyptian Tax Authority have taken several measures to educate non-resident tourists about the procedures and conditions for refunding VAT on their purchases by putting up guiding signs in Arabic، English، French، Russian and Spanish pointing out the conditions and required steps for tax refunds for non-resident tourists in various places in Sharm El-Sheikh’s airport، hotels، and markets. In addition to this، VAT Refund Stickers have been placed in various shops in Sharm El-Sheikh، so the tourists can refund the VAT on their purchases from these shops.

Ramy Youssef added that the Egyptian Tax Authority has created a page on its website that includes the procedures and conditions for refunding the Value Added Tax to the non-resident tourists in Arabic and English only at the following link:
https://eta.gov.eg/en/tax-refund

Ramy Youssef also clarified that the non-resident visitor can refund the Value Added Tax on his/her purchases according to several conditions، which are as follows:
- His/her stay period does not exceed three months; 
- The value of purchases included in the invoice or receipt is not less than 1500 Egyptian pounds; and
- His/her purchases are being kept with him/her.
He also stated that this refund can be done through a bank card and indicated that the non-resident tourist must follow several steps when purchasing in order to be able to refund the VAT، explaining that the tourist must ensure that the sellers have the VAT Refund label/ stamp and obtain an electronic receipt containing his/her passport number. He also noted that the goods must be kept in the state of purchase to be used in the tax refund process; thus، the departing tourist must go to the airport’s tax refund office in sufficient time، submit their receipts and passport for review (showing the purchased goods)، and have a bank card available to transfer the refunded tax amount.

The Deputy Minister indicated that the tourist can communicate in both English and French with the call center of the Egyptian Tax Authority and the call center agent will respond to all inquiries and questions regarding VAT refunds for foreign departures on the hotline (16395); he also added that all the information can also be viewed through the official website of the Egyptian Tax Authority and other means of social media.

The website of the Egyptian Tax Authority:
https://www.eta.gov.eg