The government needs to generate more revenues from taxes by fighting tax evasion, said Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Ali Tayebnia on Saturday.
“Increasing tax revenues is not tantamount to increasing tax rates, said Tayebnia, giving assurance that the government does not intend to pressure the manufacturing sector, IRNA reported.
The minister had earleier said that tax evasion and tax exemption account for 43 percent of Iran’s gross domestic product.
In an attempt to find a substitute for its traditional oil revenues, the government has envisioned increasing tax revenues by 19% from 1,000 trillion rials ($37 billion at official exchange rates) in the current year’s budget to 1,190 trillion rials ($44 billion) in the coming year, which starts on March 21.
To achieve this, the government has no choice but to crackdown on tax evasions, a rampant practice that is draining billions of dollars from government coffers.
To counter tax evasion, the government recently came up with a program, known as Comprehensive Tax Plan, to make all taxpayers’ information transparent.
“The plan’s aim is structural reforms in the process of identifying tax sources through transparent information,” Tayebnia said, referring to the Comprehensive Tax Plan which is to come into effect by next year’s end (March 2016). The plan is expected to enable the government increase tax revenues by making structural reforms in tax calculation methods.
In addition to the tax revenues, the government is also trying to boost non-oil exports, which is expected to help the government increase its annual income substantially.
“To reduce its dependence on oil revenues, the government is planning to boost non-oil exports and technical and engineering services,” the official reiterated.
“Foreign currency revenues from oil exports must be included in the trade balance, which suffered from a $1 billion deficit during the first ten months of the current year,” Tayebnia added.
