Business documents in Egypt

The General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) is the main gateway for incorporating businesses. Through its investor service centres and the e-services portal, founders can establish sole proprietorships, general and limited partnerships and limited liability companies under Investment Law No. 72 of 2017 entirely online. The Articles and Memorandum of Association and the notarisation record are signed electronically, and GAFI completes the remaining steps and delivers the final documents. Joint stock companies and single-person companies also go through GAFI, which remains the usual route for foreign-owned businesses.

After incorporation a company holds a set of core papers that it will copy into almost every tender, bank and supplier file: the commercial register extract (sijil tijari), the tax card (bitaqa daribiya) showing the tax registration number and the competent tax office, the VAT registration certificate where applicable, and the articles of association. Egyptian buyers often ask for these to be “recently dated”, so keep a fresh commercial register extract on hand.

Corporate decisions such as appointing managers, opening bank accounts or changing capital are recorded in partners’ or shareholders’ resolutions and then registered, and the managers named in the commercial register are the people banks will accept as signatories.

Article 3 of VAT Law No. 67 of 2016 sets the standard rate at 14%, which has applied since the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Some goods and services are exempt, and others listed in the law’s schedule (the “table tax” items) are taxed under their own rules. Under Article 16, a business must apply to register within 30 days once its taxable and exempt sales over the previous 12 months reach EGP 500,000. Importers buying for trade, exporters and distribution agents must register regardless of sales volume.

Invoicing procedures now sit mainly in the Unified Tax Procedures Law No. 206 of 2020 and in ministerial decisions on the electronic systems. In practice a valid tax invoice identifies the issuer by tax registration number and registered branch, identifies the buyer (a business by its tax number, an individual by national ID once the value reaches the system threshold, or a foreign buyer), carries a unique serial and date, describes each item with a quantity, unit price and approved item code, and shows the VAT and total.

Small enterprises can opt into the simplified tax regime introduced by Law No. 6 of 2025, which offers turnover-based income tax and lighter procedures to businesses below a turnover ceiling set in the law. Check eligibility with the ETA before switching, because VAT obligations continue to apply once you are registered.

Ministerial Decision No. 188 of 2020 requires registered taxpayers to use the ETA’s central e-invoicing system, which was rolled out to taxpayers in phases. Each business registers a digital profile, appoints a taxpayer administrator, connects its ERP or uses the ETA portal, and signs every document with an electronic seal or signature certificate before submission. The ETA validates the document and gives it a unique identifier, and the buyer can see it in their own portal. An invoice that exists only as a PDF is not a valid tax invoice for these purposes.

The e-receipt system applies the same idea to business-to-consumer sales from point-of-sale devices. Each receipt carries a UUID generated from its content, the seller’s registration number, branch code and POS serial number, and item codes. Buyer details are needed for business buyers, and for individuals once the value reaches the threshold configured by ETA. Retailers, restaurants and service providers selling to the public have been brought onto e-receipts in stages announced by the ETA.

Before go-live, the biggest job is usually coding your catalogue. Goods with barcodes use GS1 codes, and everything else needs EGS codes registered on the ETA portal. A quotation or proforma prepared outside the system should use the same item names and codes, so the final e-invoice matches what the customer approved.

Commercial buyers in Egypt expect a written price offer (ard as’ar) before they raise a purchase order (amr shiraa). Offers are usually issued on company letterhead, show the tax registration number and commercial register number, state whether prices include 14% VAT, and give a validity period, delivery time and payment terms. With past currency moves, many suppliers also state the exchange-rate basis or quote in US dollars with settlement in EGP at the bank rate on the payment date.

Proforma invoices are used heavily for imports, where the Egyptian buyer’s bank needs one to open a letter of credit or process a documentary collection, and in local deals that require an advance payment. Because a proforma is not a tax document, it should not carry an ETA identifier or be recorded as a sale.

Delivery notes (izn taslim) and goods receipt notes are signed and stamped on receipt. Company stamps remain culturally important in Egypt even where the law does not require them, so most businesses still stamp quotations, delivery notes and letters.

Labour Law No. 14 of 2025 replaced Labour Law No. 12 of 2003 and took effect on 1 September 2025. Employment contracts must be in writing and in Arabic, in four copies: one each for the employer and the employee, one for the social insurance office and one for the competent labour authority. A non-Arabic-speaking foreign employee may have the contract in Arabic and their own language. The law also introduced a minimum annual raise linked to the insured wage, longer resignation notice and revised leave entitlements, so contracts written under the 2003 law should be reviewed.

Employees must be registered with the National Organization for Social Insurance (NOSI) under Social Insurance and Pensions Law No. 148 of 2019. Contributions are 18.75% from the employer and 11% from the employee, calculated on an insurable wage between a minimum and a maximum that rise every January. Registration and termination are reported on the standard NOSI forms (commonly known as Form 1 and Form 6), and employees often ask for proof of insurance when applying for loans or visas.

Typical HR letters include the offer letter, the contract, a salary certificate (shahadat murattab) for banks and embassies, an experience certificate (shahadat khibra) on leaving, and warning letters under the internal work regulations. For foreign staff, a work permit from the Ministry of Labour is needed before employment starts.

Distribution, agency, service and supply agreements are governed mainly by the Civil Code and the Commercial Code (Law No. 17 of 1999). Commercial agency in Egypt has its own registration requirements, so foreign principals appointing an Egyptian agent should check registration before signing. Bilingual Arabic and English contracts are common. State which version prevails, because Egyptian courts and authorities work in Arabic.

Electronic signatures are recognised under the E-Signature Law No. 15 of 2004, with certification services licensed by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). The same infrastructure supplies the e-seal certificates businesses use to sign ETA e-invoices. Some documents, such as powers of attorney and real-estate contracts, still need notarisation at the Real Estate Publicity Department or a notary office.

The Egyptian Customs Authority clears goods through Nafeza, the national single window for foreign trade, where customs, inspection and port transactions are submitted once. Since 1 October 2021, advance cargo information (ACI) is mandatory for sea shipments. The Egyptian importer registers the shipment on Nafeza using an electronic token and receives an ACID number, which the foreign exporter must have before the goods ship. The exporter registers on an approved document-exchange platform and uploads the electronic commercial invoice and other shipping documents. Shipments arriving without valid ACI data can be refused entry.

Because the ACID and the commercial invoice must match, foreign suppliers should show the ACID, the importer’s tax registration number and the exporter’s registration identifier on the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading. HS codes, origin, Incoterms and currency need to be consistent across all documents, since a mismatch between the uploaded invoice and the customs declaration is a common cause of delay.

Exporters from Egypt obtain certificates of origin for preferential markets, such as the EU, Agadir, COMESA and the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, through the General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC), while chambers of commerce issue non-preferential certificates. Importers for trade must also be entered in the Importers Register maintained under the Ministry of Trade.

VAT registrants must keep books, records and documents for at least five years under Egypt’s tax procedure and VAT rules, and a deregistered business must keep them for five years after deregistration. E-invoices and e-receipts are stored by the ETA, but you still need the supporting contracts, delivery notes and payment records to defend input tax claims in an audit.

Arabic is the official language for dealings with authorities. Commercial books, contracts filed with authorities and employment contracts must be in Arabic, although English translations are widely used alongside them. Invoices to local customers are normally in EGP. Foreign-currency invoices are allowed for exports and some services, but the VAT is reported in Egyptian pounds at the applicable exchange rate.