Egypt Daily News – The Information and Decision Support Center of the Egyptian Cabinet published comments of a meeting with Sherif Al-Kilani, Deputy Minister of Finance for Tax Policies, to clarify the truth about the rumors about imposing additional taxes on mobile phones.
During the meeting, Al-Kilani denied the existence of any decision to add any new taxes to mobile phone imports, and that the customs duties legally prescribed for many years in this regard are still in effect without any change or increases.
He added that everything the ministry is working on during the current period with regard to mobile phone imports is to combat the phenomenon of widespread smuggling operations, by developing an integrated system that regulates the process of mobile phone imports entering Egypt, and even their exit from customs ports to markets.
He continued: “95% of mobile imports into Egypt are smuggled from abroad, and only 5% of them pay the prescribed customs duties, which indicates that this phenomenon has exceeded all limits, and the state had to intervene to confront this matter, without imposing any duties and customs.”
Additional,” stressing that the phenomenon of mobile phone smuggling has greatly harmed the state’s public treasury.
The Deputy Minister of Finance explained that the Ministry has designed an application on mobile phones that allows those arriving from abroad, whether at ports or airports, to register their personal phones on that application as soon as they enter the country without any customs or additional fees.
A text message will be sent to the smuggled phones that are not registered on that application stipulating the requirement to pay the prescribed customs duties within 90 days, after which the operation of smuggled phones that do not pay the duties will be stopped.
