Egypt: no retroactive taxation on bourse listed firms

The Egyptian government asserted its compliance with contracts and applicable laws regarding companies listed in the Egyptian Bourse. The Egyptian cabinet issued a statment quoted by the management of the Egyptian Bourse today (Monday October 8) in which it asserted that any actions taken by the government won't have a retroactive effect as long as such actions are appropriate and lawful when committed in such a manner as to preserve legal statuses of such actions and protect the interest and rights of shareholders in various companies. Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy hinted in a presidential speech marking the celebrations of 6th October anniversary that some companies circumvented the law and evaded taxation by registering their shares in the Egyptian Bourse and later writing them off thus incurring the government gross loss of around LE 14 billion as a result of tax evasiveness by one of the companies in 2008.