Required certification · Egypt
Commercial Registry & Tax Card (via GAFI)
The baseline legal-existence layer — incorporate and get your Commercial Register + Tax Card first
Market position
GAFI's one-stop shop incorporates the business and issues its Commercial Register (السجل التجاري) and Tax Card (البطاقة الضريبية) — the documents that make a company a legal entity able to invoice, bank and contract. Every downstream registration requires these first.
Egypt-specific note
The first domino — through the GAFI one-stop shop a basic LLC can be incorporated in roughly 3–7 business days once documents are complete, and the resulting Commercial Register number is what ETA, EFCBC and the social-insurance authority all key off.
Pros
- + Establishes a legal entity that can contract/bank/invoice
- + The one-stop shop bundles incorporation + register + tax card
- + The Commercial Register number is the key identifier every other body needs
- + Electronic incorporation portal speeds formation
Cons
- − A prerequisite, not the finish line (still need EFCBC class, VAT, social insurance)
- − Document assembly is bureaucratic
- − The Commercial Register must be periodically renewed or it lapses
- − Foreign-ownership structures add steps
Typical Egypt pricing
Official fees / varies (small registry + annual subscription scaled to capital).
Why this matters for Egypt trades
The ETA runs tax (14% VAT, 22.5% corporate tax) and the mandatory e-invoicing/e-receipt clearance system (JSON/XML, UUID, digital signature — only cleared invoices are deductible, and non-compliance bars government work); EFCBC ("Tasheed") membership and classification (Law 104/1992) is required to take work above EGP 50,000 or bid public tenders; engineers must register with the Egyptian Engineers Syndicate; companies incorporate via GAFI (Commercial Register + Tax Card); employers must enrol every worker in social insurance (NOSI, Law 148/2019); and building in the new cities is permitted through NUCA.
Egyptian construction & trades software selection is shaped above all by the ETA (Egyptian Tax Authority) e-invoicing mandate — live and enforced (full B2B mandate from April 2023; paper invoices invalid for deduction since ~July 2023), a real-time clearance model where only cleared e-invoices allow VAT/cost deduction, and now reaching small businesses (the VAT-registration threshold was halved to EGP 250,000, with small firms required to register by 31 March 2026). Add a volatile, un-pegged Egyptian pound (which favours local EGP-priced vendors over USD-billed foreign SaaS), 14% VAT, mandatory EFCBC contractor classification, Engineers-Syndicate registration, and a megaproject pipeline led by the New Administrative Capital. B2B runs in Arabic and English.
Frequently asked
Is Commercial Registry & Tax Card (via GAFI) a good fit for Egypt trades?
GAFI's one-stop shop incorporates the business and issues its Commercial Register (السجل التجاري) and Tax Card (البطاقة الضريبية) — the documents that make a company a legal entity able to invoice, bank and contract. Every downstream registration requires these first. The first domino — through the GAFI one-stop shop a basic LLC can be incorporated in roughly 3–7 business days once documents are complete, and the resulting Commercial Register number is what ETA, EFCBC and the social-insurance authority all key off.
What does Commercial Registry & Tax Card (via GAFI) cost in Egypt?
Official fees / varies (small registry + annual subscription scaled to capital).. Pricing and availability can change by region — confirm current Egypt pricing on the vendor's site before committing.
Other Egypt vendors
Egyptian Federation for Construction & Building Contractors (EFCBC)
Required certification
Egyptian Engineers Syndicate (Order of Engineers)
Required certification
Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA)
Required certification
National Organization for Social Insurance (NOSI)
Required certification
New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA)
Required certification
Daftra
Field service software