Payroll in Egypt 2026: salary tax, social insurance and payslips

In Egypt the employer withholds salary tax and the employee's 11% social insurance contribution from each salary, and deducts 0.05% for the Martyrs' Fund. On top of gross pay the employer pays 18.75% social insurance on an insurable wage that in 2026 runs from EGP 2,700 to EGP 16,700 a month.

Payroll in Egypt at a glance

Social insurance and the Martyrs' Fund

Social insurance is governed by the Social Insurance and Pensions Law No. 148 of 2019 and collected by the National Organization for Social Insurance (NOSI). Contributions are charged on the employee's insurable wage, which is the monthly salary within a minimum and a maximum set for each year.

On a salary above EGP 16,700 a month, social insurance stops at the maximum: at most EGP 1,837 for the employee and EGP 3,131.25 for the employer each month. Company managers and board members listed in the commercial register are insured as employers, at a flat 21% of the maximum insurable wage.

The employee's social insurance contributions are deducted from income before salary tax is calculated. The Martyrs' Fund contribution is withheld by the employer from public- and private-sector salaries alike and paid over to the fund.

Salary tax on employment income

Salary tax is part of the Income Tax Law No. 91 of 2005. Its brackets and the personal exemption were last changed by Law No. 7 of 2024, published in the Official Gazette on 21 February 2024 and applied to salaries from the following month. The amendments of July 2026 (Law No. 151 of 2026) changed other articles of the law, not the salary brackets or the exemption.

The employer works out each employee's annual net income: gross salary less the employee's social insurance contributions and the personal exemption of EGP 20,000. The total is rounded down to the nearest EGP 10. For annual net income up to EGP 600,000 the brackets are:

The high-earner rule

Above EGP 600,000 of annual net income, the lower brackets fall away step by step, so the whole income is taxed at a higher starting rate:

The employer withholds one-twelfth of the annual tax each month. Severance pay is exempt, and so are some benefits in kind given to all employees, such as meals at work, group transport, health care and necessary tools and uniforms.

Minimum wage, insurable wage and mandatory pay

• Minimum wage: the private-sector minimum wage is set by decision of the National Wages Council. Check the current decision before you set pay, and keep salaries at or above it.
• Insurable wage: whatever the salary, social insurance is charged on at least EGP 2,700 a month in 2026, and never on more than EGP 16,700.
• Extra pay: neither the tax law nor the social insurance law requires a 13th salary; bonuses, overtime and annual increases follow the Labour Law, your contracts and your company rules.

Because the minimum and maximum insurable wage change every year, update them in your payroll settings each January.

Monthly payroll calendar and filings

• Every month: calculate and withhold salary tax, social insurance and the Martyrs' Fund contribution, and pay the salary tax within 15 days of the month following the payment.
• Unified payroll system: the Egyptian Tax Authority runs a unified system for calculating salary tax, with monthly calculation forms for the private sector (updated for 2026) and for the public sector. Employees' names must have four parts and match their national ID card.
• Every quarter: file the quarterly salary tax statements in January, April, July and October.
• Every year: file the annual settlement (taswiya) of each employee's salaries and tax on the ETA's settlement forms.
• Social insurance: report employees' insurable wages and pay the employee and employer contributions to NOSI every month.

Keep each employee's payroll records, the monthly calculation forms and the annual settlement, because the settlement reconciles the year's withholding with the tax actually due.

Worked example: EGP 15,000 a month

A single employee in Cairo with no dependants, paid EGP 15,000 gross a month in 2026 (EGP 180,000 a year), all of it insurable.

The annual tax is 0 on the first EGP 40,000, EGP 1,500 on the next 15,000, EGP 2,250 on the next 15,000 and EGP 14,040 on the remaining EGP 70,200. The salary is below the EGP 16,700 maximum, so social insurance applies to the full amount.

Common mistakes

1. 1Taxing gross pay without first deducting the employee's social insurance and the EGP 20,000 exemption.
2. 2Applying the 0% bracket to high earners: above EGP 600,000 of annual net income the lower brackets are lost step by step.
3. 3Charging social insurance above EGP 16,700 a month, or below EGP 2,700 for low or part-time pay.
4. 4Forgetting the Martyrs' Fund deduction of 0.05%, which is not capped like social insurance.
5. 5Using last year's insurable wage limits after they change in January.
6. 6Paying salary tax late: it is due within 15 days of the following month, not at the quarterly statement.

How Clientlly helps

Clientlly does not ship a built-in payroll profile for Egypt. An administrator enters Egypt's payroll rates once in the payroll tax settings: the income-tax bands, the personal allowance, the employee and employer contribution rates and the minimum wage. Clientlly then calculates gross to net and the employer contributions and produces payslips for each employee.

Alongside payroll, the human resources module handles leave requests and approvals with a leave calendar and keeps HR documents, and attendance and time tracking records working hours and overtime. To close the books after the payroll run, see our month-end close checklist.