The Egyptian Finance Ministry has embarked on a comprehensive pan-Egypt project for automating and digitalising the processes and procedures of the Egyptian Tax Authority
IBM partners with SAP to help the Egyptian government automate the national tax system. (Credit: Bjoertvedt/Wikimedia Commons)
IBM Consulting and SAP have been selected by the Egyptian Ministry of Finance to help automate the tax system in Egypt as part of the digital transformation strategy of the government.
The Finance Ministry has launched a comprehensive pan-Egypt project for automating and digitalising the processes and procedures of the Egyptian Tax Authority.
The objectives for the project are integrating the informal economy into the formal economy, improving governance over tax return, listing the tax community better accurately, and expanding the tax base, laying the foundations for tax justice, and enabling fair competition in markets.
Egyptian Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said: “The project is part of the digital transformation strategy that the government has launched to enhance the business ecosystem in Egypt. The modernisation of the current taxation system is also part of the Unified Tax Law and the national vision to maximise public revenues.
“The Ministry is keen to adopt advanced technology in its reform agenda which is why we selected IBM and SAP as partners for the modernisation of the tax core system and empowering the e-payments strategy.”
IBM Consulting by collaborating with SAP is offering an integrated solution based on the SAP Tax and Revenue Management for Public Sector package.
According to IBM, the package can equip the Finance Ministry with a comprehensive business operations automation platform for helping in simplifying and automating its business processes into intelligent workflows, improve collaboration, and increase its citizen experiences.
IBM said that the system was trialled successfully with 10 tax offices across Greater Cairo and will continue to be expanded across the country later this year.
Besides, IBM deployed the IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation solution to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) into the Finance Ministry’s processes. This will help in giving taxpayers, tax officers, as well as collectors with a seamless, well-governed, and a more automated taxation journey.
With the solution, the accuracy in taxpayers’ submissions can be improved and deeper understanding of the tax process can be driven, while helping the Finance Ministry to concentrate on higher-value work such as minimising evasion of taxes and helping in boosting the national tax revenue.
IBM Egypt general manager Marwa Abbas said: “We are honoured to be leading such a complex project that can help supports the national economy. IBM delivered a tailored solution to the Ministry of Finance in the short term, and based on the roll-out pilot experience, the outcomes were quite successful.
“We are confident that the integrated core taxation model can support Egypt’s digital transformation journey.”
In late 2021, IBM and ACME SAICO were selected by the Egyptian Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade for fully automating 22 wheat silos across Egypt.