After Company Registration in Egypt: Your First 90 Days (Tax Card, VAT, E-Receipts, Insurance, Licences)

After company registration in Egypt, the company exists but is not yet ready to trade. The Commercial Register entry gives it a legal life; it does not let it issue a valid invoice, pay a salary correctly or open a licensed outlet. The next 90 days settle that: the tax card, e-invoices and, in Sharm El Sheikh, e-receipts, VAT where it applies, insurance for the first employee, the activity licence, an auditor and, if any owner is not Egyptian, a report to GAFI within 30 days.

The cost usually comes from the wrong order: a temporary tax card that cannot issue the e-invoice your first client asks for, a café that opens before its licence, a payroll that leaves out health insurance in South Sinai. Below is the order we follow for new companies, with every rule stated as of October 2026.

What to do after company registration in Egypt: the 90-day order

Not every step applies to every company: a one-person consultancy with no staff skips payroll, and a hotel adds the Ministry of Tourism. Two of the dates are legal deadlines; the rest show the usual order.

If the company is not registered yet, start with our guide on how to register a company in Egypt.

Which tax card will the ETA issue, and does it matter?

The Commercial Register says the company exists; the tax card says the Egyptian Tax Authority knows about it. Since 29 July 2026, when the second tax facilitation package (Laws 148–153/2026) came into force, there are two kinds of card. The normal card is valid for 5 years and is what standard activities receive. The temporary card lasts 8 months and cannot issue e-invoices.

That last point is the one that matters. Under Decree 323/2022 the e-invoice is mandatory for every ETA taxpayer, and costs not documented by an e-invoice or e-receipt are not recognised for tax. A company whose first client is another business needs an e-invoice from that first sale. If your activity is standard, expect the normal card. If you end up with the temporary one, plan the move to the normal card before the first business invoice.

When does a new company have to register for VAT?

VAT is 14%, with 5% on machinery and, since 29 July 2026, on medical devices. Registration becomes compulsory when turnover reaches EGP 500,000, but four kinds of business register whatever their turnover: suppliers of table-tax goods, importers for trade, exporters and distribution agents.

Returns are monthly, due by the end of the following month, or quarterly in the simplified regime of Law 6/2025. Residential leases are exempt, and services bought from abroad fall under the reverse charge.

Restaurants and cafés have their own test. Tourist restaurants licensed by the Ministry of Tourism charge 14%. Non-tourist outlets are exempt unless, for example, they sit in a mall, compound, tourist site or airport, belong to a chain or known brand, sell through apps or websites, or charge a service fee. A new café in a Sharm mall is not in the exempt group, so watch the EGP 500,000 threshold from the first month.

E-invoices and e-receipts: set them up before the first sale

E-invoicing applies to every ETA taxpayer, so a company selling to other businesses issues e-invoices from its first sale. E-receipts, for consumer sales, follow the ETA's mandate decisions, and in Sharm El Sheikh the date passed long ago: under ETA Decision 484/2022, every income-tax and VAT taxpayer in the area selling to consumers has had to issue them since 1 November 2022. A new shop, café or dive centre in Sharm has no later start date to wait for.

Purchases matter as much as sales. A cost without an e-invoice or e-receipt is not recognised, so you pay it and cannot deduct it. Ask regular suppliers for e-invoices from the first order. The ETA hotline is 16395, and our guide to e-receipts in Sharm El Sheikh explains who must issue them and how to comply.

Corporate tax or the simplified regime: a choice for the first months

By default, company profits are taxed at 22.5%, and losses carry forward for 5 years. A company with turnover up to EGP 20 million can instead join the simplified regime of Law 6/2025, in force since 1 March 2025, which taxes turnover at 0.4% to 1.5% depending on the band. Joining locks the company in for 5 years. In return there is no inspection for those years, VAT returns become quarterly, payroll is settled once a year and there are no withholding or advance payments. E-invoice and e-receipt compliance is a condition, and consultancies earning 90% or more from one or two clients are excluded.

The regime is not automatically cheaper. At the 1% band, the tax equals 22.5% of a profit margin of about 4.4%, so a thin-margin business can pay more on turnover than on profit. The bands and how to test your own margin are in our guide to the simplified tax regime in numbers. Outside the regime, the company withholds tax on local payments above EGP 300: 1% on contracting and supplies, 3% on services and 5% on commissions.

Hiring your first employee: social insurance, health insurance and work permits

The first employee makes the company an employer, with contributions from the first salary:

Universal Health Insurance also brings a 0.25% contribution on revenue, which is now deductible. Payroll returns (Form 4) are quarterly, in January, April, July and October, with an annual settlement in January; businesses in the simplified regime make only the annual settlement.

A foreign employee adds a separate file. Labour Law 14/2025, in force since 1 September 2025, leaves work-permit fees to ministerial decision, and foreigners who are exempt from a permit must be notified within 7 days of starting and of ending work. Investment Law 72/2017 lets projects employ foreigners up to 10% of the workforce, or 20% where qualified Egyptians are not available. Hotels, tourist restaurants and cafés, tourism companies and diving centres also need the Ministry of Tourism's own approval for foreign staff.

Which licences come after the Commercial Register?

For a trading or consulting company, the register and the tax card may be most of the paperwork. For hospitality, diving, tourism and healthcare, the activity licence decides the opening date.

A shop licensed under Public Shops Law 154/2019 may not call itself "tourist", so the Ministry of Tourism licence comes before the sign. Our commercial register, tax card and licences service files these registrations and keeps the renewal dates.

Company-law and GAFI duties that start on registration day

Three duties come from company law and GAFI rather than the tax office, which is why they get missed.

The auditor. Joint-stock companies, LLCs and one-person companies need one under Law 159/1981, whatever their size.

Capital in a joint-stock company. Issued capital is at least EGP 250,000: 10% paid at incorporation, 25% within 3 months and 100% within 5 years. In Sharm El Sheikh and Dahab this concerns many foreign investors, because Decree 128/2022 requires a non-Egyptian project there to be an Egyptian JSC.

GAFI FDI reports. A company with any non-Egyptian ownership reports within 30 days of incorporation and of any later change, then quarterly within 45 days and annually within 4 months. The penalty is EGP 50,000.

In Sinai, plan any change of shareholders early. GAFI charges an approval fee for a share transfer, a company more than 3 months old also needs a Commercial Register extract showing at least 25% of capital paid, and the security approvals come on top.

After day 90: the routine that keeps a new company compliant

Day 90 is where the set-up turns into a calendar. For a company with a December year-end, as of October 2026:

Behind every line sit the books. Under Law 150/2026 every business must keep regular books, applied from tax period 2028, when assessment on an estimate ends. From then the books are the basis of assessment, and every undocumented cost is a cost you cannot deduct. Opening them properly in the first month costs far less than rebuilding a year of records later. That routine of books, VAT, payroll and year-end statements is the core of our accounting and bookkeeping service.

If you would rather go through your file in person, our office in Sharm El Sheikh is in Al Azizia Mall.