From tax period 2028, every business in Egypt must keep regular books, and income tax settled on an estimate comes to an end. Two laws from July 2026 make up Egypt's bookkeeping requirement for 2028. Law 151/2026 repealed Article 18 of the Income Tax Law, so the estimated-assessment instructions apply only to tax periods up to 2027. Law 150/2026 extends the duty to keep regular books to every business by abolishing the EGP 500,000 threshold.
If your shop, café or workshop in Sharm El Sheikh has always been taxed on an estimate, 2028 can look a long way off. In accounting terms it is close. Books for 2028 have to open on the first day of the period with figures you can support, and the habits that feed them (e-receipts, supplier e-invoices, a bank account that matches the till) take months to settle. Below we work back from 1 January 2028 to what you should do this year and next. Everything is stated as of October 2026.
What changed in 2026: Article 18 repealed, books for every business
Both laws belong to the second tax facilitation package, Laws 148 to 153 of 2026. They were published in the Official Gazette on 28 July 2026 and have been in force since 29 July 2026, with a correction published on 8 August 2026. The Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) set out the 2028 timing again in a news item on 17 September 2026.
| Tax periods up to 2027 | From tax period 2028 | |
|---|---|---|
| Basis of assessment | Estimated-assessment instructions still apply, although Article 18 is already repealed | Books |
| Who must keep regular books | The EGP 500,000 threshold still applies | Every business, no threshold |
For most small businesses, tax period 2028 is simply the calendar year 2028. A company with a different financial year should check which period is its first under the new rule.
What is estimated tax assessment, and who relies on it?
Estimated assessment (المحاسبة التقديرية) means the tax office sets your taxable profit by estimate instead of computing it from accounts. For many small businesses it has been the usual way of settling income tax: shops, cafés, small workshops and sole traders who never kept a full set of books. The discussion with the tax office is about a number, not about documents.
The arrangement is cheap to run: no bookkeeper, no system, no year-end closing. The price is that you have nothing to argue with. If the estimate is high, there are no accounts showing your real margin, and a bad season leaves no loss on paper.
From tax period 2028 that option ends. For owners who have relied on an estimate, the question shifts from "how much will they estimate?" to "are my books ready, and will they hold up?"
What does Egypt's 2028 bookkeeping requirement mean for my business?
It depends mostly on how you trade today.
| Your situation today | What changes from tax period 2028 | Your first question |
|---|---|---|
| Individual business (shop, café, workshop, sole trader) settled on an estimate | Estimated-assessment instructions no longer apply; assessment is based on books | Can I prove my opening position on 1 January 2028? |
| Business under the EGP 500,000 threshold | The threshold is abolished; regular books are compulsory | Who keeps the books, and in which system? |
| LLC, one-person company or JSC | Already needs an auditor under Law 159/1981; assessment is based on books, as for every business | Would my books stand up at inspection on their own? |
| Business in the simplified regime (Law 6/2025) | Tax stays a percentage of turnover; e-invoice and e-receipt compliance remains a condition of the regime | Do my sales records match the turnover I declare? |
| Business opening in 2027 or later | Starts close to, or directly under, the new rule | Are the books set up at registration, not at year-end? |
If you trade through a company, you probably have books already: Law 159/1981 requires an auditor for LLCs, one-person companies and JSCs. For you the question is quality rather than existence. From tax period 2028 assessment is based on books for every business, so the records behind your statements (supplier e-invoices, bank reconciliations, stock counts, payroll that matches social insurance) need to stand up at inspection on their own.
Foreign-owned companies, resorts and dive centres are no exception. The rule covers every business, whoever owns it.
Why "before 2028" means starting in 2026 and 2027
Books are not a document you produce at year-end. They are a record that starts on the first day of the period and runs without gaps. For a business whose tax year is the calendar year, that day is 1 January 2028. On that day you need an opening position you can support: cash, bank balances, stock, equipment, what customers owe you and what you owe suppliers.
Working backwards from that date:
| When | What should happen |
|---|---|
| By the end of 2026 | Decide who keeps the books (your own staff, our office, or both) and choose the system |
| During 2027 | Run the books as a trial year while the estimate still applies; close gaps in e-receipts, supplier e-invoices and bank records |
| 31 December 2027 | Count stock, list equipment, confirm what is owed both ways: this becomes the opening balance |
| 1 January 2028 | First day of the first books-based tax period (calendar-year businesses) |
| 1 January to 31 March 2029 | Individuals file the 2028 annual return |
| By 30 April 2029 | Companies with a December year-end file the 2028 return |
The filing dates are today's deadlines; the ETA extends any deadline that falls on an official holiday.
The trial year matters because a first year of books tends to show the same problems: purchases with no e-invoice, cash sales that do not match the bank, stock nobody counted, a personal card used for business costs. Fixing those in 2027 is far easier than discovering them in the first year that counts.
Costs need the most attention. As of October 2026, a cost without an e-invoice or e-receipt is not recognised, so in a books-based assessment every such purchase is money you spent but cannot deduct. The supplier habits you build during 2027 decide how much of your 2028 spending counts.
The books will not only be read in 2029 either. The ETA can examine a tax year for 5 years, or 6 in cases of evasion, so the 2028 records must stay complete and retrievable well beyond the first return.
What do proper books look like for a small business?
This is a working list, not the legal definition of regular books:
| Area | What the books should hold |
|---|---|
| Sales | Every sale backed by an e-receipt (consumers) or an e-invoice (businesses), totalled daily and matched to cash and card takings |
| Purchases and expenses | Supplier e-invoices filed by month, with anything missing flagged early |
| Bank and cash | A business account kept apart from personal money and reconciled every month |
| Stock | A count at least at year-end, if you sell goods |
| Equipment and fit-out | An asset register with dates and invoices |
| Payroll | Salaries, social insurance (employee 11%, employer 18.75%, on an insurable wage of EGP 2,700 to 16,700 a month in 2026) and, in South Sinai, Universal Health Insurance (employer 4%, employee 1%) |
| VAT, if registered | 14% standard rate; registration compulsory at EGP 500,000 turnover; monthly returns, or quarterly under Law 6/2025 |
Some websites still give EGP 250,000 as the VAT registration threshold. The ETA's own FAQ says EGP 500,000.
For most small businesses this is less work than it sounds. If you already issue e-receipts, the sales side largely exists; the effort goes into purchases, bank and stock. That is the core of our monthly accounting and bookkeeping service. If your e-receipts or e-invoices are not yet running properly, start with e-invoice and e-receipt set-up, because the books depend on them.
Where does the simplified regime (Law 6/2025) fit?
Some owners will look at the simplified regime as a way around books. It changes how tax is computed, not the need for records.
Under Law 6/2025, in force since 1 March 2025, companies and freelance professionals with turnover up to EGP 20m can pay tax as a percentage of turnover: 0.4% below EGP 500,000, rising in bands to 1.5% between EGP 10m and 20m. The regime brings a 5-year lock-in and no inspection for 5 years, and it requires e-invoice and e-receipt compliance, so your turnover has to be provable. Consultancies earning 90% or more from one or two clients are excluded.
Joining the regime or staying outside it with full books is a choice that depends on your turnover, margin and plans. The bands, exclusions and lock-in are set out in our guide to the simplified tax regime in numbers.
What about the years already taxed on an estimate?
For tax periods up to 2027, the estimated-assessment instructions still apply. Two dated points are worth checking for older years.
- Retroactive simplified assessment: Law 151/2026 (Art. 4) offers simplified assessment for businesses with turnover up to EGP 10m for non-final tax periods from 2022 to February 2025. Whether it helps depends on your file, so we look at it case by case.
- Open disputes: as of October 2026, settlement requests under Law 79/2016, renewed by Law 152/2026, can be filed until 31 December 2026. The settlement covers corporate and individual profits tax, salaries tax, stamp tax and development fee, VAT and GST, built-property tax and entertainment tax. See tax inspection and disputes.
The general penalties are also worth knowing before your first books-based return:
| Penalty (as of October 2026) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Late filing, up to 60 days | EGP 3,000 to 50,000 |
| Late filing, beyond 60 days | EGP 50,000 to 2 million |
| Additional tax | 20% or 40%, halved by agreement before the appeal committee |
| Late-payment interest | CBE rate + 2%, capped at 100% of the tax (Law 7/2025) |
When the first books-based return comes due, the annual tax return is prepared from the books, not from a negotiation over an estimate.
Moving to books is a one-time project followed by a monthly routine. Done during 2027, it costs you a trial year. Left to 2028, the first year that counts is also the year you learn how. If you would rather go through your figures in person, our office in Sharm El Sheikh is in Al Azizia Mall.
