TEHRAN-Head of Iran's National Tax Administration (INTA) Seyyed Kamel Taqavi-Nejad in Tuesday news conference announced that the administration could collect 90 percent of its expected tax income in the past Iranian year of 1394 (which ended on March 19, 2016).

“The earned figure stood at 667 trillion rials ($19.3 billion) and registered a 16-percent growth, compared to the year of 1393,” Tagavi-Nejad added.

According to the budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year (which began on March 20, 2016)  tax incomes are projected to rise by 14 percent from the last year’s 880 trillion rials (about $25.4 billion) to one quadrillion rials (about $28.9 billion), Iran's Management and Planning Organization Director Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said in January.

Nobakht said, “To reduce our reliance on oil revenues, we need to increase government’s tax incomes.”

Tax incomes, he said, includes the revenues earned from direct tax, value added tax (VAT) and customs duties.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s economic strategy is to significantly reduce the government’s dependency on oil and instead collect tax more systematically, Ali Kardor, the deputy managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company said on October 2015.  

“For the first time in 50 years, the government’s share of the oil revenue is less than what it is earning from tax, including VAT,” Kardor said. “Only around 10% of Iran’s GDP is currently dependent on oil.” 

Meanwhile, according to Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia Iran’s economy is heavily dependent on oil revenues; however, the government is determined to reduce dependence on oil through improving the tax system and the boosting of economic activities.

HJ/MA