The Iranian National Tax Administration has taken a new step toward trusting taxpayers and changing its operational procedures in line with the adoption of new Direct Tax Code, which aims to boost government tax revenues by streamlining taxation.
Previously if a taxpayer’s books showed irregularities or were not accepted on various grounds, tax authorities would discard the tax statement filed by the taxpayer. Instead, the authorities would calculate due taxes by themselves.
A much contested reason for annulling statements was showing weak profits or turnover. Taxpayers have voiced their displeasure for years. The whole process was too arbitrary and stirred much controversy.
If your books were annulled, you would face an uphill battle to turn the decision. Also, the taxes calculated by INTA were deemed unrealistic.
This whole process is set to end this year. The tax administration is planning to calculate taxes solely based on filed tax statements from now on.
If a person fails to file statements in time and based on regulations, the tax administration will create a statement for the taxpayer based on statements from other taxpayers—the INTA is putting together a database of tax information—and calculate taxes for the person.
INTA is mandated to form its Comprehensive Database nationwide before 2018. The new approach will help uphold the rights of taxpayers and increase their satisfaction with the taxation system, IRNA reported.
