Page 24 - IRANRptSep18

6.1.1 Budget dynamics - tax issues
Iran’s cigarette tax revenues up 59% in first quarter of Persian year
Iranian tax revenues up 10% y/y in 4-month period
The Iranian government earned IRR1.4tn ($15.21mn) from taxing sales of legal cigarettes in the first quarter of the Persian calendar year (began March 21), marking a rise of 59.3% y/y , the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said in a statistical update. The Iranian tax office and police have stepped up efforts to clamp down on the import and distribution of smuggled and counterfeit cigarettes in the past 12 months.
The increase of more than 50% y/y in revenues is seen as stemming from efforts made to stop smuggled cigarettes coming into the country via routes running from the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and South Caucasus region.
The government is targeting IRR5.3tn in cigarette tax revenues for the whole of the 2018/2019 Persian year.
Iran’s tax revenues rose by 10% y/y in the first four months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), translating to growth of IRR300tn, tax inspectors have told Iran Labour News Agency.
Tax authorities have been given reinforced powers in recent years with the Rouhani administration attempting to claw back cash from businesses used to avoiding their fair share in contributing to the national coffers. In 2015, the government announced tax inspectors had been granted the legal right to check the bank accounts of family members of business owners under investigation.
Kamel Taqavi-Nejad, director of the National Tax Administration, was cited by the news agency on July 30 as saying that authorities had stepped up investigations into suspect taxpayers in recent years and had forced businesses in the country of 80mn to enhance their transparency.
Taqavi-Nejad added that by the end of the last Iranian fiscal year (it arrived in April), some 4.86mn tax returns had been filed digitally. In the previous fiscal year, IRR531.5tn was paid into state coffers, an increase of 7.5% y/y.
24 IRAN Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com