Egypt Introduces New Capital Gains Tax

On 29 May 2014, the Egyptian government announced the approval of a 10% capital gains tax on annual net gains and cash dividends from companies listed on the Egyptian stock exchange.

After a strong negative reaction from the market, follow-up changes were announced on 2 June. An exemption for annual amounts up to EGP 15,000 was put in place (initially 10,000), and dividends paid as bonus shares, which were originally included, have been exempted from the tax.

The tax is reduced to 5% for c…