The Iranian authorities have lifted a ban on 54,000 people barred from leaving the country because of their outstanding taxes, Iranian Economy Minister Tahmasb Mazaheri said Sunday, December 2.
"We have fixed a level of 500 million rials (around $62,000) of tax debt to decide on a ban on leaving the country," the minister added in a televised statement. Following this decision the number of people unable to leave the country because of their debt to the state will be reduced to some 3,000, the minister said.
The measure was decided by the central bank in coordination with the legal and customs authorities and is aimed at easing a social restriction which until now has been hurting businessmen, he added.
The economy ministry or the central bank have been able to bar an Iranian national from leaving the country until that person's outstanding taxes were paid. Mazaheri has also said that parliament was preparing to study a law covering direct taxation as early as Sunday, or during its next sessions.
"This law will modify and clean up economic affairs and clarify our tax laws," the minister added. For several years, the government, whose revenue comes mainly from oil exports, has been trying to set up a tax regime to diversify its income.
Around 34 percent of the state's annual budget should in principle come from taxes, but this figure is far from being achieved, despite an improvement since President Mohammad Khatami came to power in 1997, because of irregular tax collection. — (AFP, Tehran)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
