Tax Accounts for 40% of Iran's Public Budget, Less Than One-Third of Gov’t Revenues

Tax revenues account for 40% of the government’s public budget, the head of Iranian National Tax Administration said. “INTA collected 366 trillion rials ($2.69 billion) in tax and duties over the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 21), registering a 10% rise compared with the similar period of last year,” IRNA also quoted Kamel Taqavinejad as saying on Tuesday. Noting that over 6,000 suspicious transaction reports and 500 shell companies were identified last year, the official said so far 1.9 million new taxpayers have been identified. Nader Jannati, the deputy head of Iranian National Tax Administration, sayid, “The issue of tax evasion in Iran is disturbing.” According to Pedram Soltani, the deputy head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, over 1,500 trillion rials ($11 billion) worth of economic transactions in Iran’s economy are carried out under the radar of tax system.