Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

An Iranian official has said the country is losing between $12-20 billion each year through tax evasion.

Ali Askari, Head of the State Tax Organization said the losses are equivalent to 20to 25 percent of the country’s gross domestic product revenue.

Askari said the country has to curb the tide through identifying the loopholes, Press TV reported.

He hoped that Iran’s revenues would substantially rise “with the implementation of a comprehensive tax system.”

Askari said the government used to meet about 50 percent of its spending through the tax take but it has raised this to 60 percent in the budget for the new fiscal year which begins on March 21.

He added that Iran has sizeable capacities to boost its revenues through tax collection and reduce heavy reliance on the oil income.

“Oil, as an external variable, is an untrustworthy source of revenue since its prices are dependent on outside factors. Hence, we must not count on oil prices any longer,” Askari said.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution called on February 19 on the Iranians to help state officials implement new measures for boosting production and trade tax revenues. He said paying tax is a “religious obligation”.

“Some of the major owners of capital who are avoiding tax are committing a felony since they are making the country dependent on the oil money more than ever and create further problems,” Khamenei said.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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