The government earned 240 trillion rials ($1.82 billion) in tax revenues during the first quarter of the current Iranian year that began on March 21, indicating a 28% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year.
This was announced by Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand, IRIB News reported.
“Last year, 1,090 trillion rials ($8.28 billion) were generated from taxation, indicating that 97% of the budget’s anticipated tax revenues materialized,” he added.
According to Mohammad Qasem Panahi, a former caretaker of Iranian National Tax Administration, earnings had been estimated to stand at 1,130 trillion rials ($8.59 billion) as per the budget law, suggesting that 97% of the target were achieved.
“Direct tax revenues, including “tax on legal entities”, “income tax” and “wealth tax”, stood at 640 trillion rials ($4.8 billion), registering an increase of 15% compared with the year before,” he said.
Earnings from tax on goods and services hit 450 trillion rials ($3.42 billion), indicating an 11% year-on-year growth.
A total of 1,400 trillion rials ($10.64 billion) has been projected in tax revenues this year (March 2019-20).
The Economy Ministry estimates that tax evasion and avoidance in Iran stands at 35% of total tax revenues.
INTA is setting up a specialized court to hear only tax cases in Tehran.
Value added tax accounts for the lion’s share of total tax revenues in Iran with 23.5%, as per the INTA figures, followed by corporate and import taxes.
This is while income tax makes up the biggest share of tax revenues in high-income countries. Corporate (company) tax is the second top source of such revenues in Iran.
According to the World Bank's latest Ease of Doing Business Report 2019, Iran's score in "paying taxes" was 56.78, registering an improvement of 4.17 percentage point compared to 2018.
The Doing Business report measures taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-sized company must pay in a given year, as well as the administrative burden of paying taxes and contributions.
According to the World Bank, on average, firms in Iran make 20 tax payments a year, spend 216 hours a year filing, preparing and paying taxes, and pay total taxes amounting to 44.7% of their profit, giving the country the 149th global ranking among 190 countries.
The World Bank says Iran made paying taxes easier by introducing an online system for filing social security contributions, allowing the possibility of filing value added tax refund claims, amending corporate income tax returns and making payment of additional tax liability.
Omid Ali Parsa, the former head of the Statistical Center of Iran, has been newly appointed as the new director of INTA.
Expanding the tax base, fighting tax evasion and improving transparency in the taxation process were missions set for the new chief taxman by President Hassan Rouhani.
