A letter from your tax office about a year you thought was long closed raises one question before any other: whether the office can still assess it. That is what the Egypt tax statute of limitations decides. As of October 2026, the period for assessing tax is 5 years, or 6 years in cases of tax evasion (PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, reviewed 17 August 2026). Once that period has run out for a tax period, the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) can no longer assess it.
The headline is the easy part. Whether a particular year has run out depends on dates in your own file: when the count started for that tax and that period, and whether anything interrupted it. Below is the rule as published, the other five-year rules people mistake for it, and the first steps to take when an old year comes back. If a letter is already on your desk, our tax inspection and disputes service starts by checking exactly this.
Egypt tax statute of limitations: 5 years, or 6 for evasion
A statute of limitations is a time limit on the tax office. It sets how far back an inspection can reach to assess tax for a period. For Egypt, as summarised by PwC in its review of 17 August 2026:
| Situation | Limitation period (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Standard case | 5 years |
| Tax evasion | 6 years |
The rule works tax by tax and period by period, so a business does not have one limitation date. Each tax has its own filing calendar. VAT returns are monthly (quarterly for businesses in the Law 6/2025 simplified regime), payroll returns are quarterly with an annual settlement in January, individuals file their annual return between 1 January and 31 March, and companies with a December year-end file by 30 April. One calendar year can therefore leave you with several different dates to check.
The longer period applies in cases of evasion, and whether a file involves evasion is decided on its own facts. A year that would be closed after five years may still be open if evasion is alleged.
The count can also be interrupted by certain steps on a file. Which steps count, and with what effect, turns on the dates in each case, so we do not publish a general list.
Which of your tax years can still be assessed?
No general table can answer that. Two businesses that filed the same return on different dates, or that received different letters, can be in different positions for the same year. What we can show is the information that decides it. When an old year is in question, these are the facts we collect first:
| What we look at | Why we ask |
|---|---|
| Each tax and period concerned: income tax for a year, VAT months, payroll quarters | Each one is checked on its own |
| The date each return was filed, with proof of filing | The filing record is the first document in any timing argument |
| Every letter from the tax office about that period, with the date it reached you | Steps taken on the file are where interruption questions arise |
| Anything you signed at an inspection: minutes, forms, agreements | What was agreed, and when, can change the position |
| Any dispute already pending at the internal committee, the appeal committee, in court or in a settlement request | An open dispute follows its own procedure |
| Whether evasion could be alleged for that period | It decides whether 5 or 6 years is the reference |
A period comfortably inside the five years is open, and there is little to argue. The years near the limit are different: they are decided by exact dates, sometimes by a few weeks either way.
Not every "five years" in Egyptian tax is the limitation period
Several rules in Egyptian tax and company law run for five years, and they are easily mixed up. Only the first row below is the statute of limitations.
| Rule | What the period means (as of October 2026) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Statute of limitations | Period for assessing tax: 5 years, or 6 in cases of evasion | PwC |
| Simplified regime | No inspection for 5 years for businesses in the regime, which comes with a 5-year lock-in | Law 6/2025 |
| Tax losses | Carried forward for 5 years | PwC |
| Tax card | Standard activities receive the normal 5-year card; the new temporary card lasts 8 months and cannot issue e-invoices | Laws 148–153/2026 |
| Commercial Register | Renewal every 5 years; a late application within 90 days costs double the fee | Law 34/1976 |
The one most often confused with the limitation period is the simplified regime. Law 6/2025, in force since 1 March 2025, covers companies and freelance professionals with turnover up to EGP 20 million and taxes their turnover at rates from 0.4% to 1.5%. Businesses in the regime are not inspected for 5 years. That is a feature of the regime, with its own conditions and its own lock-in, not a limitation period.
What if the tax office reopens an old year?
If a notice arrives for a year you believed was closed, check the timing first, then answer the substance. Do not hold back the objection while the timing is being checked: the objection to the internal committee has its own statutory deadline, and the date the notice reached you is the first thing to record. Our guide to appealing a tax assessment in Egypt covers the objection itself.
For a year that is still open, the normal assessment rules apply, including the ones that reduce what you pay:
| Point | Rule (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Appeal path | Inspection, internal committee, appeal committee, then court within 30 days |
| Additional tax | 20% or 40%, halved by agreement with the tax office before the appeal committee |
| Late interest | Central Bank of Egypt rate + 2%, capped at 100% of the tax (Law 7/2025, a permanent rule) |
| Pending dispute over a listed tax | Settlement requests until 31 December 2026 (Law 152/2026; forms in MoF Decision 450/2026) |
| Turnover up to EGP 10 million, non-final periods from 2022 to February 2025 | Retroactive simplified assessment under Law 151/2026; whether it fits a particular file is decided case by case |
Old years often sit inside old disputes, so the settlement window matters now. It covers corporate and individual profits tax, salaries tax, stamp tax and the development fee, sales tax and VAT, built-property tax and entertainment tax. Two other offers ended on 2 October 2026, with no extension found: the built-property late-interest waiver and the 70% dispute settlement. Settlement requests under Law 152/2026 remain open until 31 December 2026. If a dispute over one of the listed taxes is already pending, our tax dispute settlement checker shows in a few questions whether a request may be open to you. We re-check this window in January 2027.
Which records should you keep for open tax years?
Every year that can still be assessed is a year in which an inspector may ask you to prove your figures. Two rules make the paperwork decisive:
- E-invoicing is mandatory for all ETA taxpayers, and costs that are not documented by an e-invoice or an e-receipt are not recognised.
- Estimated assessment is ending. Law 151/2026 repealed Article 18 of the Income Tax Law. The estimated-assessment instructions still apply to tax periods up to 2027; from 2028, assessment is based on books, and every business must keep regular books under Law 150/2026. Our guide to Egypt's 2028 bookkeeping requirement explains the change.
The working rule we give clients: keep returns, books, e-invoices and e-receipts, bank statements, contracts and every letter from the tax office for each period that is not safely closed, and treat a period as open until someone has checked its dates. If you carry tax losses forward, keep the records of the loss years for as long as you are using them. Give advisers copies, keep the originals, and note what you handed over and when.
Who can check your years and answer the tax office?
We check the dates for each tax and period and tell you which years are still open. Where the tax office has reopened a year, we prepare the objection and represent you through the committee stages. Where agreement before the appeal committee or a settlement request is the better route, we say so early, while the additional tax can still be halved and before the 31 December 2026 settlement deadline. We work with businesses and property owners across Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab and the rest of South Sinai. Consultations are available in Arabic, English, Italian and Russian, and we reply the same day during office hours.
