$30b Tax Income Next Year

The budget law of the upcoming fiscal year (March 2017-18) has projected 1,150 trillion rials ($30.59 billion) in tax and customs revenues.

Bourse Press also quoted chairman of the Iranian National Tax Administration, Kamel Taqavinejad, as saying that to boost tax revenues in the coming year, INTA will focus on collecting tax arrears that stand at 130 trillion rials ($3.45 billion).   

Earlier in February, Taqavinejad said INTA had earned 810 trillion rials ($20.9 billion) in tax revenues since the beginning of the fiscal year.

“An aggregate of 1,010 trillion rials (about $26 billion) is projected to be earned from tax and duties by the yearend,” he said.

Last year’s tax revenues, excluding earnings from duties levied on goods and services, stood at 680 trillion rials ($17.6 billion).

“Tax revenues constitute 36% of the government’s total revenues and close to 50% of the current budget come from tax collections. Recovering unpaid taxes is INTA’s priority this year. Up until now, the administration has managed to collect nearly 135 trillion rials ($3.5 billion) in arrears,” he said.

About 60% of Iran’s economy do not pay tax, including 40% that are exempt from tax and 20% that evade tax payment. Tax evasion is estimated at 300 trillion rials ($7.7 billion) annually. According to Taqavinejad, value added tax and duties on goods and services account for half of tax revenues and the remaining 50% come primarily from direct taxation.

According to Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia, as many as 500,000 taxpayers, including major producers and importers, pay around 150 trillion rials ($3.96 billion) as VAT every year. Taqavinejad said INTA pays over 600 trillion rials of VAT revenues to municipalities and 50 trillion to the Health Ministry for the Health Reform Plan.

The VAT Law took effect in the Iranian year to March 2009 and is being extended annually. VAT currently stands at 9% in Iran. The tax-to-GDP ratio in Iran stands at 7.3%, which should rise to around 11% as per the sixth five-year development plan (2017-22). Tax revenues account for 25-30% of GDP in developed countries.