🇪🇬 Moving to Egypt: tax, residency and cost of living

Key facts

Top income tax

27.5%

Corporate tax

22.5%

Capital gains

10%

Wealth tax

No

Inheritance tax

No

Cost of living index

28

Safety

5/10

Internet quality

5/10

Visa-free destinations

50

Foreigners can own property

Yes

Residency in

0 months

Citizenship in

0 years

Taxes

Egypt taxes residents on worldwide income progressively from 0% to 27.5% (seven brackets, Egyptian Tax Authority), with a personal exemption of EGP 20,000; the 27.5% top rate is moderate (higher than Nigeria's 25%, lower than Turkey's 40% or South Africa's 45%), there is no wealth or inheritance tax, VAT is 14% and corporate tax 22.5%.

Residency and visas

Egypt offers accessible citizenship by investment (around USD 250,000 deposit or USD 300,000 in property) plus residence by investment; ordinary naturalisation usually takes about ten years, so the country has a real, relatively fast route for international relocation.

Property ownership

Foreigners may acquire property freehold in Egypt, with limits: usually a maximum of two units for personal use, area caps and bans on agricultural land and parts of Sinai; this makes property a real plus, stronger than the leasehold-only models of many emerging markets.

Cost of living and quality of life

Egypt offers low nominal costs, a large country with Cairo as a vibrant metropolis and the Red Sea as a tourist draw, but against that stand pound risk and inflation after the 2024 devaluation, moderate safety and infrastructure that weigh on real comfort.

Passport and mobility

The Egyptian passport reaches about 50 destinations (moderate), but dual nationality is allowed; the central bank applies exchange controls and the Egyptian pound has depreciated sharply since the 2024 free float, which hampers international mobility of capital.

Residency and visas

• Burgerschap via investering (citizenship-by-investment): staatsburgerschap tegen ongeveer USD 250.000 non-refundable deposito bij de staat of USD 300.000 in vastgoed (of USD 350.000 project-investering); dubbele nationaliteit toegestaan · €230,000
• Verblijf via investering of vastgoed plus reguliere naturalisatie na doorgaans zo'n tien jaar legaal verblijf

Why people move to Egypt

• Moderate 27.5% top rate and no wealth or inheritance tax

  Egypt taxes residents progressively up to 27.5%, moderate for a large country, with a personal exemption of EGP 20,000 and no wealth or inheritance tax; on top of that come accessible citizenship by investment and freehold property for foreigners.

• Exchange controls, pound risk and moderate passport

  The biggest downsides are non-fiscal: the central bank applies exchange controls, the pound has depreciated sharply since the 2024 free float with high inflation, and the passport reaches only about 50 destinations, which puts capital preservation and mobility under pressure.