April 19, 2019
The Iranian National Tax Administration has released the names of 10 religious foundations entitled to exemptions from direct taxes as per a decree of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Rohollah Khomeini, and current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi.
This is the first time the list has been made public and comes after much criticism and questioning of whether religious foundations ought to be exempt.
The most noteworthy point of the list was that Astan Qods Rezavi, the formal name of the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, which is believed to be the wealthiest foundation in the country, was not exempted from taxes.
The exempt foundations are: the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, the Islamic Development Organization, the Islamic Propagation Office of the Qom Seminary, the Housing Foundation of the Islamic Revolution, the Mostazafan Foundation of the Islamic Revolution, the Executive Headquarters of Imam Kho-meini’s Directive, the Hawzeh Services Center, the Islamic Revolution Cultural Research Institute and Al-Mustafa International University.
The exemptions granted to these Islamic foundations do not include the value added tax, the Fars news agency reported.
The announced exemption for the Mostazafan Foundation comes just after its chief, Mohammad Saeedi-kia, said that from 2005-6 to 2016-17, the foundation paid more than 47 trillion rials ($375 million at current exchange rates) in taxes.