Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 17
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Tax evasion amounts to 600 trillion rials (about $17 billion) in Iran annually.
Iranian MP Mousarreza Servati said while it has been projected that tax revenues to replace oil revenues, but tax evasion amounts to 600 trillion rials per year, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Jan. 17.
There are many people who run businesses and have their own houses, but they evade from paying taxes, he said.
He added that between 2 and 10 years of tax exemption has been approved for those who invest in underdeveloped areas, industrial estates, and special economic zones.
Ali Askari, head of Iran's tax organization, has said that tax evasion is one of the main problems of the country's taxation system.
He added that about 25 percent of the Iran's overall economy does not pay taxes.
The Islamic Republic's tax revenues would reach 570 trillion rials (about $20.8 billion based on official rate of 27,294 rials/USD) by the end of current Iranian fiscal year (March 21, 2015), Askari said.
He added that the predicted tax revenues would be materialized by 95 percent during the current year.
Iran's tax revenues stood at 428 trillion rials (some $15.68 billion) during the first nine months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21-Dec. 22, 2014), the official said.