Just months after the UAE announced licensing requirements for influencers living in the gulf nation—Egypt is following suit.
As social media grows in prominence across the Arab world, the North African nation has just announced plans to put a tax on social media posts. The tax, which has already been approved by the parliament, is due to follow the same guidelines as Egyptian advertising taxes already in place which currently require local companies to pay an additional 20 percent of an ad’s cost.
The announcement of the new social media tax comes at a time when the nation is struggling with a budget deficit, and an overall weakening economy. Once put in place, the tax should rake in billions of dollars for the state’s treasury.
The law has yet to be approved by Egypt’s Ministry of Finance—the government body with the power to impose the law. Egyptian MPs however, are pushing for it to be implemented, so we should expect it to become official in the coming months.
