Almost all interment payment gateways and point-of-sale terminals are fully integrated into the tax system, concluding a project that started almost two years ago, the Central Bank of Iran vice governor for innovative technology said.
“Currently, more than 8 million payment instruments are active in the country and all are connected to the tax system,” Mehran Mahramian was quoted as saying by the CBI website.
The Iranian National Tax Administration in coordination with the CBI decided in 2020 to connect payment gateways to the national tax system as part of the measures to curb tax evasion by businesses, particularly those in the high income bracket.
The plan involved requiring applicants for POS or other payment gateways to first file tax returns as a precondition to receive the payment instruments. Those who already operated a payment tool were required to file tax return files and were automatically eligible for tax.
According to Mahramian, “only a handful of payment instruments are still not linked to INTA platforms, mainly those in sensitive occupations, such as hospitals, health care centers and the like”.
In addition to facilitating the tax collection process, policymakers say the move is expected to “significantly curb” illegal activities using rented payment gateways and play a key role in monitoring fraud, money laundering and online betting.
The plan is part of the framework of the so-called ‘innovative taxation’ system initiated by INTA. It says transition from electronic to innovative taxation will help improve tax collection, augment government revenue, reduce overreliance on oil export, promote fair tax collection and fight fraud.
POS is the most popular payment instrument in Iran. Data released by Shaparak, the nationwide payment settlement network, show that POS devices topped the list of instruments with the biggest market share at 93.57% as of July 22. This was followed by online payment gateways at 4.8% and mobile instruments 1.63%.