85% of Tax Revenues Collected From 3 Percent of Taxpayers

EghtesadOnline: Eighty-five percent of Iran's tax revenues come from only 3% of taxpayers, according to the head of Majlis Economic Commission, Eliyas Hazrati.

News ID: ۷۴۹۰۲۳

25 November 2019

He made the remarks on Wednesday in an address to the 25th National Conference of Non-Oil Export Promotion held in the city of Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan Province.

"We have been looking to manage our finances away from oil revenues for long. There is no room for procrastination any more. There is now a historic opportunity [as US sanctions against Iran are preventing the Islamic Republic from selling oil in international markets] to boost our non-oil exports and cut oil dependency in current budget expenditures," Hazrati was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the head of Plan and Budget Organization, said in August that oil revenues are generated from selling the country’s capital assets and should be spent on possessing capital assets, such as development projects, Financial Tribune reported.

“Therefore, all revenues from oil sales will be allocated to the development sector as per structural reforms in the next year’s budget,” he said.

Noting that current spending levels from oil revenues will be cut to zero in the next fiscal budget (March 2020-21), the official said, “The number of provincial development projects has increased from 76 to 86 over the past couple of years, indicating that new projects have been initiated before the completion of old ones. The disproportionate rise in the number of development projects will be avoided, as per the reforms suggested in next year’s budget.”

Hazrati noted that there's a gap between Iran's tax revenue of 1,270 trillion rials ($10.71 billion) and 3,200 rials ($27 billion) in current expenditures [per annum].

He added that tax revenues earned during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Nov. 21) saw a 50% rise compared with last year's corresponding period.

The official failed to provide any numbers though.