Marsa Alam incorporated into Luxor governorate

[Glyphdoctor]

One's primary residence is exempt, I think, up to 2 million in value.

Other property beyond that is assumed to be rental property, if I understand it correctly, and will be taxed if its annual rental value is greater than 2k a month or thereabouts.

How the rental value is determined (this is different from rental rate) I'm not sure, but considering most places rented to foreigners in Luxor are rented out for more than that, some people may be in for a nasty shock when it comes to the cost of their deadweight property that has no takers at the moment. I do believe though part of this tax is intended to stop people from just sitting on empty property and instead put it back on the rental/sale market because there are millions of units sitting empty in the country right now.

[Dusak]

One's primary residence is exempt, I think, up to 2 million in value.

Other property beyond that is assumed to be rental property, if I understand it correctly, and will be taxed if its annual rental value is greater than 2k a month or thereabouts.

How the rental value is determined (this is different from rental rate) I'm not sure, but considering most places rented to foreigners in Luxor are rented out for more than that, some people may be in for a nasty shock when it comes to the cost of their deadweight property that has no takers at the moment. I do believe though part of this tax is intended to stop people from just sitting on empty property and instead put it back on the rental/sale market because there are millions of units sitting empty in the country right now.

This is the same report as my friend found yesterday, but if A-four says its 500,000Le, then that is what it will be.

[Remus]

' ... but if A-four says its 500,000Le, then that is what it will be'

Why?

[A-Four]

' ... but if A-four says its 500,000Le, then that is what it will be'

Why?

Oh come on Remus, get a grip, you should know like most people on here that Dusak always edges his bets so that he always comes out the winner. If I am telling the truth, he has said nothing wrong. If I have written something just to wind-up the resident in Luxor, then he still wins on his statement.

[A-Four]

My husband and I travelled by private car a coupe of months ago, Luxor/Marsa Alam/Luxor. There is already a new-ish, but only partially built rail line, visible from the road.

Thank you for your comment here Winged Isis, especially in view of the fact that it's rare for you to post these days, there are so many on this site, who have the knowledge though very rarely write nowadays, at least when some do, I don't always feel I'm pissing against the wind.

[A-Four]

One's primary residence is exempt, I think, up to 2 million in value.

Other property beyond that is assumed to be rental property, if I understand it correctly, and will be taxed if its annual rental value is greater than 2k a month or thereabouts.

How the rental value is determined (this is different from rental rate) I'm not sure, but considering most places rented to foreigners in Luxor are rented out for more than that, some people may be in for a nasty shock when it comes to the cost of their deadweight property that has no takers at the moment. I do believe though part of this tax is intended to stop people from just sitting on empty property and instead put it back on the rental/sale market because there are millions of units sitting empty in the country right now.

Not sure how they are wording this, but if I quote their actual wording it goes like this,.......

Under the new amendment private accommodation will be taxed according to its potential rental value, anything below 24,000LE will be exempt. Commercial property rental value below 1,200 again will not be taxed.


There is one review that is presently taking place, and ratification will not be made for the next three months, and that is regarding what the Egyptian authorities call 'private rental holiday accommodation'. There is some information that has already been set out, but I am not on this forum to help these such people, though I do hope that owners of such properties have fat wallets.

[Mad Dilys]

One's primary residence is exempt, I think, up to 2 million in value.

Other property beyond that is assumed to be rental property, if I understand it correctly, and will be taxed if its annual rental value is greater than 2k a month or thereabouts.

Odd, Annual rental of 2k a month is 24k of course, should it be Annual Rental of 2K bearing in mind how meagre some property rentals are out of the tourist areas?

Hi, Brian Yare, I've been taking tips.

[newcastle]

One's primary residence is exempt, I think, up to 2 million in value.

Other property beyond that is assumed to be rental property, if I understand it correctly, and will be taxed if its annual rental value is greater than 2k a month or thereabouts.

Odd, Annual rental of 2k a month is 24k of course, should it be Annual Rental of 2K bearing in mind how meagre some property rentals are out of the tourist areas?

Hi, Brian Yare, I've been taking tips.

If Hurghada is anything to go by, the assessment of rental value has little to do with the current paucity of "actual" rentals. It seems to be a hypothetical figure based - if hot just grabbed from the air - on the halcyon days of yesteryear.....or some far off dream scenario.

[A-Four]

One's primary residence is exempt, I think, up to 2 million in value.

Other property beyond that is assumed to be rental property, if I understand it correctly, and will be taxed if its annual rental value is greater than 2k a month or thereabouts.

Odd, Annual rental of 2k a month is 24k of course, should it be Annual Rental of 2K bearing in mind how meagre some property rentals are out of the tourist areas?

Hi, Brian Yare, I've been taking tips.

Even looking at the (not so fine) detail of what President Sisi passed last week, it really is difficult to see quite what is clear.

One thing is for sure, and that is the review of what the government are calling 'private holiday rental accommodation', and the policy making has been given a maximum of three months to report.

When the average tourist looks on the internet for accommodation for say, one month , late October, looking at Bookings.com, they will see that quite often it can be just as expensive to stay in accommodation on the WB, as staying in a good hotel in town. However when we then look at staying on a Dahabiya for a month, ( which I know most of us would not even dream of doing), the total cost is, when booking a single person is £10,984, and yes, I do mean sterling, and then we notice that, one has to be quick booking this, as we are informed (in red), that there are only three places still available.

We on here would never even think about such a deal, but there it is, and if we are seeing this price, then I assure you all, the Governments Department of Finance in Cairo has also seen it,..............so think of that what you may.

[carrie]

Yes but if you look at the sites that advertise rented accomodation the price they ask is very unlikely to be the price they get. Recently a friend was asked 4000le Egyptian for a flat on the West Bank she ended up paying 25OOle and as far as I know that flat has remained empty barring two months ever since , nearly 8 months without a let.Are the authorities when they are calculating the tax on "to rent" properties going to assume that the accomodation is let every month? Just don't see how it is going to work.

[A-Four]

Yes but if you look at the sites that advertise rented accomodation the price they ask is very unlikely to be the price they get.

You and I know that very well, but when advertising with people such as the huge international company known by as Booking.com, they want their 15% commission, and will charge it on that amount. Therefore, if such people who put up such properties to rent in Luxor or WB at a more realistic price there might be a greater take up of such accommodation for even a regular, one or two month per year person(s)

When we see such advertising as I have suggested here, this is pointed at the new tourist to Luxor or WB, can you seriously see them arguing the price of their accommodation on the door step,..............no, and neither can the Egyptian Government.

[newcastle]

Again....from our experience in Hurghada (where a property tax has been in force since early last year) assessment of the "rental value" of property was made by the local tax office and notified to the owner. In many cases this valuation was made without any interaction with the owner (who might well have been out of Egypt anyway).

To my knowledge, tax demands running into thousands of EGP's have been issued on modest 2 & 3 bedroom apartments without any apparent consistency. In some cases the owners had never rented their property and had no intention of doing so.

The owner has a period in which to appeal the valuation.

It's been a bonanza for the local lawyers (everything being in Arabic of course)....and a headache for many foreign owners of Hurghada properties.

[Dusak]

' ... but if A-four says its 500,000Le, then that is what it will be'

Why?

Because he is never wrong.

' ... but if A-four says its 500,000Le, then that is what it will be'

Why?

Oh come on Remus, get a grip, you should know like most people on here that Dusak always edges his bets so that he always comes out the winner. If I am telling the truth, he has said nothing wrong. If I have written something just to wind-up the resident in Luxor, then he still wins on his statement.

No one can ever accuse me of ''edging my bets'' as it matters not to me if whatever I quote is right or wrong. I just pass on what I am told in case it is of any interest to others. One thing you will NEVER see me post is a ''didn't I tell you so'' posts as I have no interest in dislocating my shoulder attempting to pat myself on the back. What I quoted was found on the internet this Friday as a latest update. If it proves to be incorrect, so what. I will pay whatever is asked of me and get on with the rest of the day.

[Glyphdoctor]

I meant monthly rental of 2k. Sorry about the confusion. Every time I have seen it mentioned as annual but I calculated it at monthly and then wrote "annual" because I saw it that way so often.

[Glyphdoctor]

I think it will wind up upsetting a lot of landlords. Luxor doesn't have so many old law flats probably being rented out, but most of our neighbors in our building here in Cairo have old law contracts because they signed their contracts in the 60s or 70s and are paying 5LE a month or less and their flats could be set at that rate for the next 80 years depending on how long people live. We signed a 59 year lease (the maximum possible under the new law) so we have a rather low rent of 200LE a month but the people upstairs rented theirs on a 3 year lease and are paying at least 2000LE a month. So if you take theirs as the going rate for a flat in our building, tax would be due on all the flats, and those getting 5LE/month from the tenants may not be able to cover the taxes.

[Remus]

What has all this to do with the extension of the Luxor Governorate?

Thank you to all you 'Gods, Royal VIPs, Pharaohs ...etc' for your comments about
rental values, but what is the connexion to the Marsa Alam thread?

Apologies if this mere Member is missing the point .....

[DJKeefy]

What has all this to do with the extension of the Luxor Governorate?

Thank you to all you 'Gods, Royal VIPs, Pharaohs ...etc' for your comments about
rental values, but what is the connexion to the Marsa Alam thread?

Apologies if this mere Member is missing the point .....

Gods, Royal VIPs, Pharaohs are only that cause of the numbers of posts they have made Remus, that does not make them more intelligent or any bigger than a new member does it, it's not significant to what your group status is to how you are treated or what you can see on Luxor4u.

[Mad Dilys]

I think it will wind up upsetting a lot of landlords. Luxor doesn't have so many old law flats probably being rented out, but most of our neighbors in our building here in Cairo have old law contracts because they signed their contracts in the 60s or 70s and are paying 5LE a month or less and their flats could be set at that rate for the next 80 years depending on how long people live. We signed a 59 year lease (the maximum possible under the new law) so we have a rather low rent of 200LE a month but the people upstairs rented theirs on a 3 year lease and are paying at least 2000LE a month. So if you take theirs as the going rate for a flat in our building, tax would be due on all the flats, and those getting 5LE/month from the tenants may not be able to cover the taxes.

I have stayed with friends in various parts of Egypt whose rents were on long leases of about 5 LE and they were all the old high ceilinged type with big rooms, parquet floors and thick walls. Actually there was an urban myth that these were more susceptible to earthquakes. Personally I have been in one in the Khan el Khalili during an earthquake and only knew from the light swinging gently what was happening.