The thirty-six percent value added tax on textiles is the reason behind the unreasonable prices of domestically produced fabrics, head of Tehran’s Textile Union, Amir Ghadiminejad, told ISNA on Monday. “Domestic textile manufacturing is not lucrative,” the official complained, saying imposed expenses such as taxes in four different stages of the manufacturing process have resulted in increased prices and consequently a drop in demand for the Iranian fabrics. Foreign products have taken over the market, he said. About 50 percent of the country’s demand for textiles is supplied domestically and the rest is imported from Turkey and China. “Under the current circumstances the sector faces bankrupcy,” he warned, urging the government to support the sector by providing subsidies to textile manufacturers and exempting the sector from value added tax.
