Airbnb rules in Egypt come down to two separate questions for an owner in Sharm El Sheikh. May you let the flat to tourists at all, and how is the rent taxed once you do? The first is answered by the Ministry of Tourism's holiday-home licence. The second sits in the Income Tax Law, with the built-property tax running alongside it. The platform you use changes neither answer.
This guide sets out both as of October 2026: the Ministry's conditions and fees, who can apply, how rental income is calculated, what the property tax adds, and the point at which a busy holiday let may start to look like a business to the tax authority.
Do you need a licence to rent out your apartment on Airbnb in Egypt?
Yes, if you let it to tourists as a holiday home. On 6 April 2025 the Ministry of Tourism announced a licensing regime for holiday homes. Its published conditions, which we checked on the Ministry's site on 10 October 2026, are short:
| Condition | What the Ministry asks for |
|---|---|
| Location | The unit is in a tourist area or inside a "distinguished residential compound" |
| Notification | The Ministry of Tourism is notified of the unit |
| Certificate | A Tourism Suitability Certificate for the unit |
| Foreign individual applicant | A valid residence permit |
The fees are published too:
| Ministry of Tourism fee | Amount, October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Inspection | Ministry of Tourism fee |
| First licence | Ministry of Tourism fee |
| Each following year | Yearly renewal fee |
So the Ministry's own charges are an inspection fee and a first-licence fee in the first year, then a yearly renewal fee. They are government fees only. They do not include any tax on the rent, the property tax on the unit, or professional fees.
You will see decree numbers quoted for this regime on other websites. We have not been able to verify them against an official text, so we rely on the Ministry's own published conditions and do not repeat them.
Can a foreigner get the holiday-home licence without residency?
Not as an individual applicant. The Ministry's conditions ask a foreign individual applicant for a valid residence permit, and the word that matters is "valid": an expired permit does not meet it. If you plan to let the flat over several years, the residence renewal and the licence renewal need to stay in step.
For many Sharm owners the residence question is not simple. Under Presidential Decree 128/2022, in force since 1 April 2022, land and buildings in Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab and the Gulf of Aqaba tourism sector may be owned only by Egyptians or wholly Egyptian-owned entities. Most foreign buyers therefore hold a long-term usufruct, not ownership. Whether a usufruct contract can carry a property-based residence permit is a separate question, which we cover in our guide to residency through property in Sharm. Residence can also rest on work, investment or family, and the routes are compared on our residence permit page.
Which buildings in Sharm can be licensed as holiday homes?
The test in the Ministry's conditions is location: a tourist area, or a "distinguished residential compound". It is a test of the address, not of the district name. Two flats a few streets apart in Naama Bay, Hadaba, Nabq or Sharm El Maya can give different answers, and a compound's marketing brochure is not the same thing as the Ministry's classification.
What decides it in practice is the paper behind the unit: where exactly it is, which compound or building it belongs to, and what you hold, whether ownership or a usufruct with its approvals. Collect that before you take bookings, not after.
How is rental income from a holiday apartment taxed in Egypt?
Rent from built property let under the Civil Code and from furnished units is taxed the same way: actual rent, minus 50%, then the personal income-tax brackets. A holiday flat let furnished falls under this rule as long as the income is treated as rent. The next section explains when that can be questioned.
The 50% is a flat deduction. It stands in for your costs, and there is no option to deduct your actual expenses instead: the old Article 40 election was repealed in 2008.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Actual rent | Total rent received for the unit in the calendar year |
| 2. Minus 50% | Half is deducted, whatever your real costs were |
| 3. Brackets | The rest is taxed at the personal income-tax rates of Law 7/2024 |
| 4. Credit | Built-property tax paid on the unit is credited against the income tax on that rent |
| 5. Return | Individuals file by 31 March of the following year |
As an illustration of step 2 only: rent of EGP 240,000 over a year gives a base of EGP 120,000 before the brackets. What you finally pay depends on the rest of your return, the property-tax credit and your own position, which is why we work it out case by case.
The brackets, as of October 2026:
| Annual taxable income (EGP) | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to 40,000 | 0% |
| 40,000 to 55,000 | 10% |
| 55,000 to 70,000 | 15% |
| 70,000 to 200,000 | 20% |
| 200,000 to 400,000 | 22.5% |
| 400,000 to 1.2 million | 25% |
| Above 1.2 million | 27.5% |
Above EGP 600,000 of net income the lower bands are withdrawn, so the 0% band is lost.
If you live abroad, your home country may also tax this rent. For Egyptian tax you are resident if you have a permanent home here or spend more than 183 days in Egypt within 12 months. Egypt's tax treaties with Italy, Russia, the UK, Germany, Ukraine and Poland set which country may tax what, and the answer depends on your own figures.
Do you pay property tax on a holiday home in Sharm?
Yes. Built-property tax under Law 196/2008 applies to every unit, including chalets and units that stand empty, and it is paid by the owner or the usufruct holder. That covers most foreign owners in Sharm.
| Point | Rule, October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Base | 10% of the annual rental value, after a 30% deduction for residential units (32% for non-residential) |
| Who pays | The owner or the usufruct holder |
| When | Due on 1 January, paid in two instalments: end of June and end of December |
| Appeal | Within 60 days of notification |
| Main-home exemption | A main home worth under about EGP 8m (per the Real Estate Tax Authority, 2026); holiday and second homes are not a main residence |
The rental value here is the value assessed for the unit, which is a different figure from the rent your guests pay; on revaluation it can rise by at most 30% for residential units. The discounted window for 2026 built-property tax returns closed on 30 September 2026. Because this tax is credited against the income tax on your rent, paying it on time and keeping the receipts counts twice. The computation and appeals are covered in our guide to property tax for foreign owners.
When could a holiday let be treated as a business?
This is the grey area, and we keep it cautious. The 50% rule is written for rent. Letting that starts to look like a hospitality business, for example several units advertised all year with daily cleaning, meals or transfers sold with the stay, may be viewed differently, and the tax treatment can then be questioned. We know of no number of nights or units that settles it. It depends on the facts.
If your letting were treated as a business, other rules would come into play:
- Books. Law 150/2026 requires every business to keep regular books, applied from tax period 2028.
- VAT. Residential leases are exempt, but VAT registration is compulsory for a business once turnover reaches EGP 500,000.
- E-receipts. Every income-tax and VAT taxpayer in the Sharm El Sheikh area selling to consumers has had to issue e-receipts since 1 November 2022 (ETA Decision 484/2022).
- Property tax. Residential units get the 30% deduction and non-residential units 32%; which applies to a unit used commercially is part of the same question.
The safest course is to decide early how you will let the unit, and keep records that match what you actually do.
What do you file each year as a holiday-home landlord in Sharm?
| Obligation | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday-home licence | Every year | Yearly renewal fee after the first licence |
| Residence permit (foreign individual licence holders) | Keep it valid | The licence condition is a valid permit |
| Built-property tax | End of June and end of December | Due whether or not the unit was let |
| Income tax on the rent | Return by 31 March | Actual rent minus 50%, then the brackets; property tax credited |
Late returns are expensive. A return filed up to 60 days late is fined EGP 3,000 to 50,000, and EGP 50,000 to 2 million beyond that. Late interest runs at the CBE rate plus 2%, capped at 100% of the tax. Our tax return service prepares the annual return so the rent, the 50% and the property-tax credit line up with your records.
We work with owners across Sharm El Sheikh and South Sinai from Office 314, Al Azizia Mall, Ras Kennedy, or remotely on WhatsApp. The full tax picture for owners, from the built-property tax to the 2.5% tax when you sell, is on our tax filing service for property owners.
