By: Nahla Ahmed - Mohamed Shawky

Microsoft has signed a memorandum of understanding with eTax, a company affiliated with the Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with e-Finance for financial and digital investments, to allow the exploitation of artificial intelligence techniques in the solutions of the Egyptian tax systems in the framework of supporting digital transformation, financial inclusion, and providing financial electronic services supported by modern technology.

According to the memorandum, Microsoft will support digital financial transformation efforts in Egypt by employing artificial intelligence and business intelligence techniques in the tax system, in addition to enabling eTax to enhance its role in developing the basic capabilities necessary for digital transformation for the Egyptian Tax Authority, including projects of electronic invoice and electronic invoice service provider. And smart business reports in the area of ​​tax and tax fraud.

For his part, Ibrahim Sarhan, Chairman of the eTax Technology Company for Tax Solutions, praised the importance of the agreement, saying, “eTax provides specialized technology services, digital transformation projects, technology consultations, and provides all human resources with expertise and specialized services to develop the current electronic tax system and improve tax administration, in a way that works on Enhancing the tax proceeds and making it easier for the gentlemen who deal with the Egyptian Tax Authority by following the latest electronic means.

 "The partnership with Microsoft will enable us to benefit from its vast experience and advanced services in a manner consistent with achieving our vision during the coming period," he added.

 For his part, Mirna Aref, General Manager of Microsoft in Egypt, said about the importance of this agreement. The Covid-19 pandemic has proven beyond any doubt that digital transformation is the only way towards achieving business and services sustainability. We, at Microsoft, are proud that we contribute to the great efforts made by the Egyptian government to achieve digital transformation in all fields. "

"We hope that this partnership will be the beginning of more collaborative efforts in this field, as Microsoft will contribute to building capabilities related to the services we provide, in addition to connecting eTax with our tax partners," she added.

For his part, Khaled Abdul-Ghani, CEO of eTax, expressed his happiness at signing the Memorandum of Understanding with a global giant such as Microsoft, noting that "eTax" is seeking partnerships with global entities within the framework of its goal of exploiting the latest data science technologies and artificial intelligence services, which has become part An integral part of digital transformation efforts and a successful tool for owning a modern data strategy that is able to provide the best data organization and connectivity efficiently.

 He added that artificial intelligence technologies will give us tremendous advantages in terms of collecting, analyzing and processing large amounts of information and data in record time and classifying them much faster, objectively and more accurately than humans, which ensures that we make the best decisions and achieve our goals of preserving the resources of tax authorities and increasing their proceeds and uncovering cases Suspicion of non-compliance, especially in light of the Egyptian government's intention to implement an electronic invoice system, which will help intelligence technologies to develop an accurate profile for each taxpayer.

It is worth noting that eTax was officially launched in 2021 during an official event held in Cairo in cooperation between e-Finance for Financial and Digital Investments, the Ministry of Finance, and in the presence of Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, Mr. Ibrahim Sarhan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of E Finance, and a number of Senior leaders and officials.

The launch of eTax came as the culmination of the successful partnership between the Ministry of Finance and the company "e-Finance", which resulted in the emergence of electronic tax returns for the first time in Egypt, and was a direct reason for providing very easy procedures for taxpayers, as well as the remarkable growth in tax and customs revenues as well. Through the Tax and Customs Electronic Payment and Collection Center.