Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 9
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Member of the Iranian parliament Planning and Budget Committee Rajab Rahmani said that tax evasion in the country stands at 800 billion rials (34500 rials making USD1), Mizan news agency reported on Feb. 9.
"This is a significant amount. However the percentage has grown smaller from 60 to 40," he said.
"We must not let some high-income people evade taxes while wage-earners are under pressure," he said, noting that the majority of the tax evaders come with huge incomes.
Rahmani further said that Iran is mechanizing the collection of taxes which will help a great deal to fight tax fraud.
He hoped that by fixing wholes in tax collection procedures, the country's dependence on oil revenue will be eased.
Iran's tax revenues (660 trillion rials or $24 billion) account for 34 percent of the country's total budget in the current fiscal year (started on March 21, 2014), which is 18 percent more than the previous year.
Tax revenues will account for 870 trillion rials of the country's total budget in the next fiscal year (it will start on March 20, 2015).