TEHRAN - Iran’s tax incomes during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21, 2022) rose 11.8 percent compared to the same period of time in the previous year, Tasnim news agency reported citing the Iranian National Tax Administration (INTA) data.

According to the mentioned data, INTA collected 3.48 quadrillion rials (about $10 billion) of taxes during the nine-month period of this year, while the figure was 3.11 quadrillion rials (about $8.16 billion) in the same time span of the past year.

Based on the INTA data, of the collected taxes, 2.19 quadrillion rials (about $5.74 billion) was related to direct taxes and 1.28 quadrillion rials (about $3.36 billion) was the share of tax on goods and services.

INTA also managed to collect 377 trillion rials (about $989.6 million) of taxes in the ninth Iranian calendar month of Azar (November 22-December 21, 2022).

In late October 2022, INTA Head Davoud Manzour said the government’s average monthly tax collections have increased by 80 percent in the current Iranian calendar year as compared to the previous year.

According to Manzour, last year every month about 250 trillion rials (about $656 million) of taxes were collected on average, while the figure has reached 450 trillion rials ($1.18 billion) in the current year.

According to the official, INTA has been taking serious measures for battling tax evasion, so that the organization has discovered more than 170 cases over the past year and the violators have been faced with heavy penalties.

There are many methods of tax evasion and one of the most common is the creation of shell companies, he explained.

“Unfortunately, there are many problems in the regulations and laws regarding company establishment and there is no necessary strictness. We see such cases with regard to business cards and credit cards as well,” the official added.

Iran’s tax income reached over 3.54 quadrillion rials (about $9.29 billion) in the previous Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20, 2022).

EF/MA