Tax Forgiveness for Quake-Stricken Province

Quake-stricken taxpayers living in the western Kermanshah Province, who have lost more than half of their properties will have their tax debts for the fiscal years 2016-17 and 2017-18 forgiven, as per a decision made by the Cabinet on Nov. 22, ILNA reported. The 7.3 magnitude earthquake rocked Kermanshah and the regions bordering Iraq on Nov. 12, killing over hundreds of people and injuring thousands of others. According to Nematollah Haqiqi, the head of Industries, Mining and Trade Organization of Kermanshah Province, the disaster has made 2,300 people jobless in Kermanshah. He said the quake inflicted losses estimated at around 8 trillion rials ($200 million) on the agriculture sector of the province. Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht has said the government is allocating 6,590 billion rials ($164 million) in loans and 2,810 billion rials ($70 million) as grants to households in the western province.