Tehran, Iran, Sept.19
Trend:
Iran is to impose tax on buyers of gold and foreign currency, but the policy might be counterproductive, economist Mohammad Tayebian told Trend in an interview.
"Any strict approach on trading gold, gold coin and foreign currency has lead people toward underground activities," he said. "Naturally, people will not be inclined to pay this tax; they will buy and sell gold coin and foreign currency covertly and eventually, many trades will not register in the tax system," he added.
In his view, the new tax law on gold and foreign currency trade is wrong.
"Considering the government budget deficit, the officials are moving toward strict tax regulations instead of finding basic solution. Following tax regulations include tax on empty houses, tax on rental tenants and tax on buyers of gold coin and foreign currency. I think it's useless work," the economist said.
"The damages of this law will be definitely be more than its profits, as people are aware of tax evasion methods and eventually the law will become counterproductive," he said.
Nader Janati, deputy head of Iran National Tax Administration Organization, recently stated in a TV interview that the data from buyers of gold and foreign currency will be barcoded in tax system, and using the collected information, people will more obligated to pay taxes.
Omid Ali Parsa, head of the organization, previously commented on the case saying the officials are informed about instructions for tax on gold coin.
"The related tax affair office wlll compare the tax declaration with the data on volume of gold sale, and if the individual does not include the case in its tax statement, the case will be dealt with according to instructions," he said.
"The related offices should open a tax file for individuals that lack tax payment in gold coin trade and issue verdict on all their tax sources," he said.
The aim of the tax policy is to create more transparent taxes in the system in upcoming years.