Egypt's tax and social insurance compliance calendar: what falls when
The VAT return is filed monthly, Forms 41 and 4 quarterly, and the juridical persons' return by 30 April or within four months of the financial year end.
By Tax Department · 27 September 2026 · 7 min read
In Egypt the VAT return is filed every month, the payroll tax return and Form 41 every quarter, and the income tax return once a year. The return deadlines are in article 31 of the Unified Tax Procedures Law issued by Law No. 206 of 2020 (Official Gazette, issue 42 bis (C), 19 October 2020), and the forms in its executive regulations issued by Minister of Finance Decree No. 286 of 2021 (Al-Waqa'i al-Misriyya, issue 123 continued (C), 3 June 2021). The deadline for remitting withholding on account of tax (commonly called withholding tax) on Form 41 is in the executive regulations of the Income Tax Law issued by Law No. 91 of 2005.
These deadlines bind the person registered for VAT, the taxpayer, and the employer who withholds and remits payroll tax and pays social insurance contributions every month. January is the heaviest month: it carries the payroll return for the last quarter, the annual settlement and one of the Form 41 dates, and the contribution wage limits and the late payment charge rate change in it. Businesses within Law No. 6 of 2025 on certain tax incentives and facilities for enterprises whose annual turnover does not exceed EGP 20 million follow a lighter cycle.
Monthly and quarterly deadlines
| Obligation | Deadline |
|---|---|
| VAT and schedule tax return (Form 10) | within the month following the end of the tax period, even where there were no sales, with payment of the tax (article 31(a) of Law 206 and article 30 of its executive regulations) |
| Remittance of withheld payroll tax | within the first fifteen days of each month, for the amounts withheld in the previous month (article 14 of Law 91) |
| Social insurance contributions | at the start of the month following the month they relate to, with no additional amount if payment is made within fifteen days of the due date (article 121 of the Social Insurance and Pensions Law issued by Law No. 148 of 2019) |
| Quarterly payroll tax return (Form 4) | in January, April, July and October, for the preceding three months (article 31(b) of Law 206 and article 31 of its executive regulations) |
| Form 41 for withholding and collection on account of tax, with remittance of the amounts withheld | by the end of April, July, October and January at the latest (article 82, first paragraph, and article 89 of the executive regulations of Law 91, as substituted by Minister of Finance Decree No. 172 of 2015) |
In all cases the taxpayer pays the tax due under a return on the day it is filed (article 32, second paragraph, of Law 206).
Businesses with annual turnover of up to EGP 20 million that apply to benefit from Law No. 6 of 2025, other than the cases excluded by its article 4, file the VAT return for each three-month period within the month after it ends, with payment, and their payroll tax obligation is limited to the annual settlement return, with payment (article 12). They are "not subject ... to the withholding or advance payment system on account of tax" (article 11; unofficial translation), and they may not withdraw their application to benefit before five years have passed from the day after it was submitted (article 5). The detail is in Egypt's Simplified Tax Regime for Small Enterprises.
Annual deadlines
| Obligation | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Annual payroll tax settlement return | during January, with any tax difference paid (article 31(b) of Law 206) |
| Natural persons' return | 31 March of the following year (article 31(c) of Law 206) |
| Juridical persons' return | 30 April, or within the four months following the financial year end (article 31(c) of Law 206) |
| Ordinary general assembly of a joint stock company | within the three months following the financial year end (article 61 of Companies Law No. 159 of 1981, as amended by Law No. 4 of 2018) |
| Partners' meeting of a limited liability company | no later than six months after the financial year end (article 284 of the executive regulations of the Companies Law) |
The ordinary general assembly approves the financial statements (article 63 of the Companies Law), and the auditor attends it, reads the auditor's report to it and gives an opinion on the approval of the statements (article 106). A joint stock company publishes the statements and the full text of the auditor's report before the meeting (article 65), and a limited liability company files them with the commercial registry office once fifteen days have passed from their preparation (article 128).
A juridical person's deadline runs from the end of its own financial year, not from 30 April alone. A company whose year ends on 30 June has a filing deadline of 31 October.
Dates on which limits and rates change
On these dates values underlying the computation change, and contributions not paid on time because a change was missed attract a monthly additional amount (article 121 of Law 148).
| Date | What changes |
|---|---|
| 1 January | The social insurance contribution wage limits, which for 2026, after their annual increase under article 53 of the executive regulations of Law 148, are EGP 2,700 minimum and EGP 16,700 maximum. A private-sector worker's contributions for the whole year are based on the January wage (article 70 of the regulations), and private-sector businesses file in January the notice of changes to insured persons' data and wages (Form 2, issued by Prime Minister Decree No. 487 of 2022) |
| 1 January | The Central Bank of Egypt credit and discount rate; the income tax late payment charge for delays beginning that year is that rate plus 2% (article 110 of Law 91), and the Egyptian Tax Authority announced the 2026 rate in Circular No. 1 of 2026 in January. Late VAT attracts additional tax of 1.5% for each month or part of a month (article 1 of the Value Added Tax Law issued by Law No. 67 of 2016). Neither may exceed 100% of the principal tax (article 45 bis of Law 206, added by Law No. 7 of 2025) |
| 1 January | Review of the effect of the new limits on payroll tax, because social insurance contributions deducted from the worker are exempt from the tax (article 13, item 2, of Law 91) |
| At least every six months | The National Council for Wages meets; it sets the minimum wage at national level (articles 102 and 103 of the Labour Law issued by Law No. 14 of 2025) |
Among the changes most often missed is the January change in the contribution wage limits, because its effect does not show in a single payroll run; it accumulates on the insurance account across the year.
Deadlines outside the regular calendar
The last date for submitting applications to settle tax disputes is 31 December 2026. Law No. 152 of 2026 renewed the provisions of Law No. 79 of 2016 on the settlement of tax disputes until that date, and provides that the committees "shall decide new applications submitted to them until 31 December 2026" (article 1 of Law 152; unofficial translation). We have found no provision in Law 152 or Law 79 that keeps the committees in place after that date to decide an application still pending, so it is better to apply well before it. It is a temporary deadline, not a recurring one, and it lapses with the end of 2026 unless a further renewal is issued.
Some deadlines arise from a particular event. A taxpayer who ceases activity entirely files a return within sixty days of the cessation, and one who disposes of all or part of the business files a separate return within sixty days of the disposal (article 31(d) of Law 206). Appeal deadlines and deadlines to respond to audit requests run from the event, service or notification, so they are recorded as they arise rather than in an annual calendar.
Others are tied to the business itself, such as its financial year end and the expiry of its electronic signature certificate (token), since an e-invoice requires a valid electronic signature of its issuer (article 35, item 1, of the executive regulations of Law 206). These go into each business's own calendar.
Building the business's calendar
- Build each business's calendar on its own financial year end, not on the general calendar alone.
- Treat January as both a filing and a review month: the fourth-quarter forms, the annual settlement, the contribution wage limits and the late payment charge rate.
- Establish whether the business is within Law No. 6 of 2025 before setting the cycle, since it changes the rhythm of both VAT and payroll.
- Treat the expiry date of the electronic signature certificate as a critical date, and renew the certificate before it.
- Review live disputes before the end of 2026 in the light of the temporary deadline.
The firm's Tax Department builds and maintains the compliance calendar for each client and prepares the returns and forms on their dates.
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.