Corporate tax returns in Egypt: deadline, penalties and what follows

A company files its annual tax return before 1 May each year, or within four months following the end of its financial year, and pays the tax shown by the return on the day it files. The rule is in articles 31 and 32 of the Unified Tax Procedures Law issued by Law No. 206 of 2020, published in Official Gazette No. 42 bis (C) on 19 October 2020 and in force from the day after its publication.

The rule binds companies and other juridical persons. Missing the deadline attracts a fine, the late payment charge runs alongside it on unpaid tax, and a return whose tax is unpaid is an instrument of execution on which the Egyptian Tax Authority (the ETA) may levy seizure against the taxpayer.

Deadline and payment

Article 31 of Law 206 requires the annual return to be filed "before 1 April of each year following the end of the tax period" (unofficial translation) by natural persons, and "before 1 May of each year or within four months following the end of the financial year" by juridical persons. A company whose financial year ended on 31 December 2025 therefore had until Thursday 30 April 2026 to file.

A company whose financial year ends other than on 31 December is governed by the four months, not by the April date: for a year ending 30 June, the deadline is counted as the four months following that date.

Enterprises subject to Law No. 6 of 2025 on certain tax incentives and facilitations for enterprises whose annual turnover does not exceed twenty million pounds file their annual return on a separate form, within the same deadlines (article 12 of that law). See Egypt's Simplified Tax Regime for Small Enterprises.

Two conditions in article 31 are often missed. A return filed without all the schedules and data required by the form and its annexes within the deadline is not recognised. And the return must be signed by an accountant entered in the register of accountants and auditors for capital companies, cooperatives, natural persons and partnerships whose turnover exceeds EGP 2 million a year. Where an independent accountant prepared the return, the accountant must sign it with the taxpayer, failing which the return is treated as never filed.

The taxpayer must pay the tax shown by the return on the day it is filed (article 32, second paragraph), and failing to do so is punishable by a fine of EGP 3,000 to 50,000 (article 69, item (d)).

Penalties and the late payment charge

On a repeat offence, both the minimum and the maximum of the article 69 fine are tripled. Where failure to file is repeated for more than six monthly or three annual returns, the penalty is the fine and imprisonment of six months to three years, or either. These are criminal penalties: proceedings may be brought only on the written request of the Minister or a delegate (article 74), and settlement is available (articles 75 and 75 bis, the latter added by Law No. 7 of 2025).

The return is filed even when it is nil. Article 31 requires every taxpayer subject to the Income Tax Law issued by Law No. 91 of 2005 to file an annual return, including for periods of exemption, and the penalty for failing to file starts at EGP 50,000 whether or not any tax is due.

The fine is a sanction for the breach. The late payment charge is a direct consequence of late payment under article 110 of Law 91, so the two run together and neither displaces the other. It accrues on unpaid tax above EGP 200 from the day after the filing deadline, even where instalments have been granted, at the Central Bank of Egypt credit and discount rate announced on the 1 January preceding that day, plus 2%, disregarding fractions of a month and of a pound.

The credit and discount rate on 1 January 2026 was 20.50% under ETA Circular No. 1 of 2026, so a charge starting in 2026 runs at 22.50% a year. The charge is not suspended by an objection or a judicial appeal.

Among its limits, the charge may not exceed 100% of the principal tax on which it is due (article 45 bis of Law 206, added by Law No. 7 of 2025). Where the ETA amends the return after the first three years from the end of the period prescribed for filing it, no charge is computed for the period from the end of those three years until the taxpayer is notified of the amendment (article 110, third paragraph, added by Law No. 16 of 2020). And 30% of the charge is waived on unpaid tax that becomes due under an agreement with the ETA reached before the appeal committee decides, provided the taxpayer pays the tax due (article 110, fourth paragraph, added by the same law).

Enforcement on the return

The ETA may levy execution for the amount due as shown by the returns filed where it is not paid on time, without issuing a demand or notice, the return itself being the instrument of execution. The seizure may, however, be levied only after the taxpayer has been warned by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, unless collection of the tax debt is at risk (article 46 of Law 206).

A taxpayer who files a return showing tax and does not pay it has therefore handed the ETA an instrument of execution against itself. This is not an argument for withholding the return, since the failure-to-file penalty is heavier and the late payment charge runs regardless. It means that the decision to file without paying is one taken with its consequence known, and with the payment position arranged alongside it.

Limitation and the amended return

The ETA may assess or amend the tax only within five years of the expiry of the period prescribed by law for filing the return for the tax period (article 44 as replaced by Law No. 211 of 2020), not from the date the return was actually filed. A company that files late therefore does not postpone the start of the five years. Limitation is, however, interrupted by any cause recognised by the Civil Code, by notice of assessment, by a demand to pay, and by referral to the appeal committees.

The income tax and VAT returns of enterprises subject to Law 6 are examined after five years from the date of their application to benefit from it (article 12 of that law). Article 12 does not address how that examination relates to the five-year period above.

A taxpayer who discovers an omission or an error in the return within the year after the deadline must file an amended return correcting it. An amended return filed within thirty days of the deadline counts as the original, and the error it corrects is not treated as evasion. The right to file one is lost once a case of evasion is discovered or the taxpayer is notified that an audit is starting (article 33).

What we recommend

• Set the filing deadline from the company's financial year end rather than from the April date, record it in the compliance calendar, and close the books and prepare the financial statements so that review is possible well before the deadline.
• File the return even when it is nil, with all its schedules and annexes, signed by an accountant entered in the register of accountants and auditors where the law requires it.
• Pay the tax on the day of filing, or arrange the payment position beforehand in the light of articles 32 and 46.
• Correct any omission or error by an amended return within the year after the deadline, and before any audit notice.
• Schedule the periods for which the five years have not yet run when reviewing any historic tax position, checking whether a notice, demand or referral has interrupted the period.

The firm's Tax Department prepares, reviews and files returns, and assesses the position of earlier periods against the limitation period.

Mahmoud Nassef, Founder Partner
Chartered Accountant, Ministry of Finance, Egypt

Member, Egyptian Society of Accountants & Auditors
Member, Egyptian Tax Society
Member, Egyptian Society for Public Finance and Taxation

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Disclaimer: This bulletin is prepared for general information on the legislation in force at the date of its publication. It does not constitute a professional opinion or tax or legal advice on any particular matter, and it should not be relied upon in place of advice based on an examination of the circumstances of each case. Nassef & Partners International accepts no responsibility for any action taken, or refrained from, in reliance on its contents. The positions stated remain subject to subsequent legislation and decisions.