Freelancer and content creator tax in Egypt: registration and rates

Executive summary

• Registration for income tax is required as soon as the activity begins, whether it is carried on traditionally or online, according to the content creators' guide of the Egyptian Tax Authority (the ETA); the application is made within 30 days of starting the activity (article 25 of Law No. 206 of 2020).
• The income of someone who works independently, where work is the essential element, is income from a non-commercial profession, taxable even when earned abroad if Egypt is the centre of the professional activity (article 32 of the Income Tax Law).
• Under the ordinary regime tax is charged on net income after documented costs, at the individual rates in force in 2026, from nil to 27.5%. Without regular books, only 10% of income is deducted for all costs (article 35).
• A business with annual turnover not exceeding EGP 20 million, professional activities included, may apply for the simplified tax regime of Law No. 6 of 2025, whose rates are reduced and differ from the ordinary ones.
• VAT registration has a general threshold of EGP 500,000 of sales a year, which does not apply to exporters or to providers of professional and consultancy services: both register whatever the volume of their transactions.

When registration is required

The ETA's guide to the tax treatment of content creators, issued in March 2022, states that registration for income tax with the ETA "is required as soon as a commercial or professional activity begins, whether it is carried on traditionally or electronically". The guide applies this expressly to those who earn advertising revenue from their videos on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

The law sets the deadline: every taxpayer must apply to the competent tax office for registration "within thirty days from the date of starting the activity" (article 25 of the Unified Tax Procedures Law, No. 206 of 2020).

Registration for income tax therefore does not wait for any level of income; VAT has its own rules, set out below.

The guide predates Law No. 7 of 2024 and Law No. 6 of 2025, so the rates and the simplified regime it describes are no longer in force; what applies today is set out below.

Which activity

Article 32 of Law No. 91 of 2005, as replaced by Law No. 53 of 2014, imposes the tax on:

1- The net income of the free professions and other non-commercial professions practised by the taxpayer independently, where work is the essential element, if it arises from practising the profession or activity in Egypt, and the income of the free professions and other non-commercial professions earned abroad if Egypt is the centre of the taxpayer's professional activity. 2- The income received by holders of intellectual property rights from selling or exploiting their rights in Egypt or abroad. 3- Any income arising from any profession or activity not provided for in article (6) of this law, whether earned in Egypt or abroad if Egypt is the centre of the profession or activity.

Someone who works for themselves in programming, design or translation, independently and with their own work as the essential element, therefore earns income from a non-commercial profession. If the clients are abroad and the work is done from Egypt, the income is taxable in Egypt under the first item. The income statement in the ETA guide's worked examples shows a content creator's platform income as "income from practising the profession", and the third item brings into tax the income of any profession or activity that article 6 does not list.

Article 36, item 2, exempts from tax "income from writing and translating religious, scientific, cultural and literary books and articles, except what results from selling the work or the translation for production in visual or audio form". The exemption covers books and articles in those fields and their translation; it does not extend to video or audio content.

Selling goods online is a commercial activity, with profits determined under article 17 of the same law, and it has its own rules.

How tax is computed under the ordinary regime

The base is annual net income. Income is determined "after deducting all costs and expenses necessary for carrying on the profession, including depreciation of assets" (article 33). What is supported by regular, documented accounts is deducted from gross income, and "the deduction is 10% where regular books are not kept" (article 35). A content creator who spends on equipment, editing software and hosting but keeps no books loses the deduction for those costs and is allowed 10% of income instead.

Keeping regular books is required of every taxpayer carrying on a professional activity, whatever the turnover, since 29 July 2026, when Law No. 150 of 2026 came into force (article 38 of Law No. 206 of 2020), as set out in Egypt's mandatory commercial books and electronic bookkeeping. This is without prejudice to Law No. 6 of 2025: a business registered under the simplified tax regime is exempt from those books (article 13 of that law) and keeps instead what Minister of Finance Decision No. 420 of 2025 prescribes: two registers (fixed assets and raw materials inventory), three books (sales journal, purchases journal and tax summary), and the e-invoice or e-receipt as the case may be, on paper or electronically.

The individual rate table then applies: article 8 as replaced by Law No. 7 of 2024, the table in force for 2026, with rates from nil to 27.5%, set out in detail in Egypt's personal income tax brackets. The personal allowance of EGP 20,000 applies to salary income only and is not deducted from professional income.

An illustration: a designer working for themselves earns EGP 500,000 in a year and has documented costs of EGP 200,000. Net income is EGP 300,000, and tax on it under the article 8 bands in force for 2026 is EGP 52,250.

That is the computation under the ordinary regime. The simplified tax regime of Law No. 6 of 2025 may be requested by a business whose annual turnover does not exceed EGP 20 million, professional activities included (article 1), except professional consultancy activities where at least 90% of annual turnover comes from providing consultancy to one or two persons; the Minister of Finance may, by decision, exempt some activities from that exclusion (article 4). Businesses registered under the simplified tax regime pay different, reduced rates — see the rates and conditions under the simplified tax regime.

VAT and electronic invoicing

VAT registration is generally required once taxable and exempt sales reach EGP 500,000 in any financial year or part of one, with the application made within 30 days of reaching that figure (article 16 of Law No. 67 of 2016). The threshold does not apply to an exporter, nor to a provider of a service listed in the Schedule annexed to the law, which includes "professional and consultancy services": both register whatever the volume of their transactions (articles 1 and 16). An exported service is taxed at zero under the conditions set by the executive regulations (article 3), and the ETA guide treats what a content creator provides to a platform not resident in Egypt as an exported service, so VAT registration is required from the start of the activity. The detail is in VAT registration in Egypt.

A registered taxpayer must issue electronic invoices: Decision No. 323 of 2022 of the Head of the ETA brought in, from 15 December 2022, all registered taxpayers not covered by an earlier mandate, as set out in E-invoicing in Egypt.

What this requires

• Apply for income tax registration within 30 days of starting the activity, not when income reaches a given level.
• Keep regular books, or the simplified records if registered under the simplified regime, and the documents for every cost; without books the deduction is 10% of income and no more.
• Compare the ordinary regime with the simplified regime on your own figures before applying, and check the 90% exclusion first if most of your work is consultancy for one or two persons, because the simplified regime cannot be abandoned for five years.
• Register for VAT from the start if you export your services or provide professional and consultancy services; otherwise track sales against the EGP 500,000 threshold.
• File the annual return on time, as set out in Egypt's tax and insurance compliance calendar.

The firm's Tax Department registers those who work for themselves, compares the two regimes on their figures, and prepares their returns.

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.