Deputy Finance Minister for Tax Policies, Amr Ibrahim El-Monayer, stressed the falsity of the rumours spread across the internet about a tax bill under the value-added tax (VAT) that taxes personal accounts on websites such as Facebook, Yahoo, and Instagram. “These accounts are free services offered by these sites for people,” he said.

However, the government is considering imposing a tax on social media advertisements from companies that are based outside of Egypt but sell their products in the Egyptian market.

He added that the Finance Ministry can benefit from tax agreements signed between Egypt and other countries that give Egypt the right to exchange tax information with them.