The issue at hand was the value-added tax (VAT), the same sore subject that has caused repeated strikes by bazaaris all around the country in recent years.
The latest strike in the Tehran bazaar involved chiefly fabric merchants and never extended to the entire bazaar. It started in mid-summer.
Ali Askari, the chief of the Tax Revenue Organization, said merchants now have until September 22 to register for payment of the VAT.
The state news agency reported that the Majlis Presiding Board and Economic Committee had pressed Askari to extend the deadline for registration, but that he refused to do so, saying he had already extended it three times.
Askari reportedly said that the fabric merchants should have been paying the VAT since 2009, but had boycotted payments. He said part of settlement involved voiding the fines for non-payment that had earlier been assessed on them.
It was not made clear if the merchants would have to pay the tax back to 2009 or just start paying as of September 22. The VAT is currently 4 percent.
The merchants struck saying poor economic conditions had made it difficult for them to pay the tax.
The bazaaris at one time were calling for a five-year postponement in the imposition of the tax.
They have also asked for training in how to keep records on, calculate and pay the tax. Many merchants have been offended that the law requires them to keep detailed financial records and to make those available to tax collectors. To many bazaaris, that is an invasion of privacy.
