Egypt is considering imposing a tax on people and organization that advertise on social media platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter and other platforms. This, according to some parliamentarians in Egypt will help the country “protect the Egyptian advertising market.”
According to a communique released by the parliamentarians, imposing these taxes on the advertising companies will protect the Egyptian advertising market, and adjust its mechanisms.
However, it is skeptical on how the Egyptian state is going to collect money from advertisers, as some of the companies, which use Facebook and Google to target the Egyptian users, don’t have regional offices inside the country. One of the parliamentarians suggested that implementing these ad taxes on Facebook and Google is an option, but other options and possibilities are still on the table for further discussions.
“These taxes will be the first step to confront social media advertisements. Other countries developed strategies to control this kind of ads. We can do it in our country as well,” said John Talaat, Deputy Head of the Communications and Information Technology Committee and a member of Egypt’s parliament.
Talaat further added that implementing this advertising tax will most likely have a positive impact on the amount of tax revenue Egypt collects. This, in turn, increases the possible funds available for Egypt’s government to deliver public services to citizens.
Interestingly, Talaat is of the opinion that the proposed new tax should only be imposed on big corporations advertising on Facebook and Google and not on individuals.
“It can turn into an online information war if we do not apply an adjusting mechanism,” Abdel Kader Tamer, Deputy of the Parliament’s Culture and Media Committee.
It’s worthy to note that, unlike the recent Uganda social media tax, Egypt’s tax targets advertisers on social media platforms and not the users. However, just like the Uganda tax, it will be interesting to observe how Egypt’s parliament will monitor and enforce the tax.