Company Incorporation Guide

Egypt company registration for owners abroad

Applicable country/region: EG - Egypt

Published: October 7, 2026Updated: October 7, 2026

Written by our advisory team
Egypt rules and requirements
Checked against official sources

Egypt

Most popularEgypt Company Registration

Guide overview

From the incorporation file to a working company

Egypt company registration means incorporating a company with the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), through its e-portal or Investor Service Center (ISC), under Companies Law No. 159 of 1981 or Investment Law No. 72 of 2017. GAFI and the Commercial Registry then enter the company in the commercial register. GAFI alone incorporates companies of any form outside the special economic zones. Most of the process is settled before filing: which vehicle suits the founders, how papers issued abroad become usable in Egypt, why the file reaches the people behind a corporate owner, what the law requires at filing, and what moves the cost. Then come the first tax registration and the duties that follow the register entry.

COMPANY TYPES

Choosing a legal form for Egypt company registration

Partners, Egyptian or foreign, individuals or companies, usually form a limited liability company (LLC, شركة ذات مسئولية محدودة) under Companies Law 159/1981. A founder acting alone uses the one-person company (OPC, شركة الشخص الواحد) that Law 4/2018 added to that law. Under Egyptian law, the LLC is a legal form for several partners. A foreign company extending itself into Egypt opens a branch, whose local manager's contracts bind the parent. A representative office may only study the market and liaise. Investment Law 72/2017 treats foreign investors like Egyptian ones. This allows a wholly foreign structure, with no partner of Egyptian nationality. The exception is a business activity whose own law restricts foreign ownership or needs a competent authority's prior approval, filed with the incorporation.

Reading the company types

Rows cover ownership, shareholder and director rules, capital and notes for each company type.

Egypt LLC Basic Information

Ownership:

Private Ownership

Limited Liability:

Positive

Publicly Participates In Capital Market:

Negative

Egypt LLC Shareholder / Director / Secretary Requirements

Requirements For Shareholders:

At least two, at most fifty.

Requirements For Directors:

At least one.

Legal Representative Not Mandatory:

Negative

Local Directors Not Mandatory:

Positive

Local Secretaries Not Mandatory:

Positive

Egypt LLC Registered Capital Requirement

Minimum Registered Capital Requirement:

No statutory minimum: the partners set the capital in the articles of incorporation. An activity's own law may require a minimum paid-up capital.

Capital Injection Not Required:

See Memo

Capital Injection Requirement:

GAFI's LLC file asks for no bank certificate.

Egypt LLC Memo

Memo:

A single founder cannot form an LLC and uses the one-person company (OPC) instead, which must show its full capital by a bank certificate at incorporation.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Why foreign papers are legalized and owners identified

Foreign documents take longer because Egypt is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. They are legalized by the Egyptian embassy or consulate where they were issued, authenticated by Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and filed with an Arabic translation. The file carries a security inquiry form on each foreign founder. Under Anti-Money Laundering Law 80/2002, lawyers and accountants forming companies trace ownership to the beneficial owner. A corporate owner's file therefore reaches the people who ultimately own it. Founders who do not sign in Egypt usually act through an agent. The power of attorney must expressly cover founding the company and signing its contract before the Real Estate Publicity and Notarization Department, or the filing stalls.

Reading the documents

Rows are document types grouped by who provides them; each entry ends with its process and format.

Natural Person Shareholders & Directors's Required Documents

Passport:

The scanned copies of the passport information page of shareholders and directors.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

Power of Attorney:

Power of Attorney (document provided by our company) requires English signature notarization + Apostille.

Process: ApostilleFormat: Scan Copy

Legal Entity Shareholders's Required Documents

Proof Of Registration / Business License:

The business license of the holding company needs to be translated into Egyptian and notarized in English, and apostilled.

Process: ApostilleFormat: Scan Copy

Company Bylaw:

Articles of association of the holding company.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

Passport:

The passport first page scans of the legal representative of the holding company and shareholders holding more than 25% of the shares.

Process: Not ApplicableFormat: Scan Copy

Power of Attorney:

Authorization letter (provided by our company) needs to be notarized in English and apostilled.

Process: ApostilleFormat: Scan Copy

REQUIREMENTS AND ESTIMATED COST

What the law requires and what moves the cost

What is required depends on the vehicle. The one-person company files a bank certificate for its full capital and a joint stock company one for a share of its capital. GAFI's LLC file asks for none. Cost follows the owners. Each brings its own identity file, legalization chain and security inquiry form. A corporate owner adds its register extract, resolution, representative's power and the chain to its own owners. GAFI's charges are mostly a share of the capital within a floor and a cap, so they rise with capital. GAFI must decide within one working day of a complete file, as its Investor Service Center Guide states. That is why the elapsed days sit in preparing that file abroad.

Reading the requirements

Base cost is the service and government fees; each requirement shows if it is included and what solving it costs; the estimate adds them up.

Base Cost

Service Fee:

USD 5,500

Requirements

Company Incorporation: Additional natural person shareholder supplement fee required

Additional natural person shareholder supplement fee required

Included: No · Solution availableEstimated Cost: USD 2,050

Company Incorporation: Capital Deposit Required For Single Shareholder Company or It's Registered Capital Exceeds 50,000 EGP

Capital Deposit Required For Single Shareholder Company or It's Registered Capital Exceeds 50,000 EGP

Included: No · Solution available

Additional corporate shareholder supplement fee required

Additional corporate shareholder supplement fee required

Included: No · Solution availableEstimated Cost: USD 2,050

Estimated Cost

Estimated Cost:

USD 5,500 – 9,600

Check Eligibility And Calculate Price

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TAX

Which tax registration comes first

The first duty is tax registration. Within 30 days of starting activity, the company registers with its tax office at the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA). It receives a tax card with one registration number for all its taxes. VAT registration becomes compulsory once taxable and exempt sales together reach EGP 500,000 in a financial year, per the ETA's VAT answers. The company then has 30 days to apply. Importers of taxable goods or services, exporters and distribution agents register with no threshold, and smaller businesses may register voluntarily. A company buying services from an unregistered non-resident supplier self-accounts for VAT by reverse charge. Every ETA-registered taxpayer joins the business-to-business e-invoicing system. Consumer e-receipts apply only when the ETA decides.

Reading the tax data

Rows cover corporate income, withholding, value-added and capital gains tax, plus effective rates, for each jurisdiction.

PwC World Tax Summary OECD Statistics

Corporate Income Tax (CIT)

General CIT Rate:

22.5

CIT Return Due Date:

Within four months after the end of the fiscal year.

CIT Payment Due Date:

Within four months after the end of the fiscal year.

CIT Estimated Payment Due Date:

Egyptian taxpayers have the option to use the prepayment method. This means that they can pay 60% of the previous year's declared tax (or the estimated amount for the current year) to the Egyptian Tax Authority in three installments. If they choose to do so, they do not have to comply with the local income withholding tax rules (their income will not be subjected to local withholding tax).

Withholding Tax (WHT)

Resident Withholding Tax (Dividend/Interest/Royalty):

5-10/0/0

Non-Resident Withholding Tax (Dividend/Interest/Royalty):

5-10/20/20

Value-Added Tax (VAT)

General VAT Rate:

Learn More Value-Added Tax (VAT)

Capital Gain Tax (CGT)

General Capital Gain Tax Rate:

0 or 22.5

Effective Tax Rate (ETR)

Composite Effective Average Tax Rate:

20.81%

Composite Effective Marginal Tax Rate:

14.44%

Conclusion

After the commercial register entry

A corporate bank account is a separate relationship with its own know-your-customer file. It follows the register entry, because the bank checks company documents: a valid register extract, the tax card and an extract from the register of beneficial owners. Annual compliance rests on the company's auditor, the first one named at incorporation, who audits the annual financial statements deposited with the Commercial Registry. It also rests on the annual corporate income tax return, filed electronically with the ETA. An accountant in the Register of Accountants and Auditors signs it. An employer registers with the National Organization for Social Insurance (NOSI) within two weeks of starting activity. The next step is to keep regular books from the first day.

Egypt

Most popularEgypt Company Registration

Jurisdiction Overview

About Egypt

Egypt is North Africa’s largest economy and a gateway to the Middle East, offering a large young workforce, Suez Canal trade access, and expanding special economic zones with tax incentives.

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