According to the International Stone Exhibition of Iran, next year's budget bill includes revenues of taxes, customs and other revenues amounting to 365 trillion tomans, of which tax and customs revenues were assumed to be one hundred ninety eight thousand and eight thousand billion tomans. The tax on legal entities is forty four thousand billion toman, out of which the tax is calculated on the account of state legal entities on five thousand seven hundred and eighty eight billion toman and the tax on the performance of state-owned corporations is six thousand nine hundred and forty two billion toman. And it's half a percent of total tax revenue and two percent of total budget revenue. Meanwhile, workers and employees earning more than three million tomans ($ 3,000) a month have to pay the state income tax.

In a conversation with Ibrahim Rasaghi, we asked if this neoliberal policy, which really considers tax exemptions to be the cause of increased employment and is nowadays argued by statesmen, is right.

The inner contradiction of the neoliberal theory of zero state intervention in the economy

Economist Ibrahim Rasaghi noted that since Mr Rafsanjani implemented structural adjustment policies in the country, budgeting has been targeted at taxing more than workers, employees and the micro-distribution sector. have. One reason is that the government thinks that there is competition in the free market and that supply and demand are such that demand can respond.

The economist said that while none of the industrial capitalist countries are even practicing such a theory, Americans are taxing vacant houses or taxing about eighty percent of their home sales; in the UK, that's 90 percent. In this way they help the producers. In the US, hundreds of billions of dollars a year are provided to agricultural producers. In fact, the neoliberal argument that government intervention in the market should be zero is one that has never really been realized, and that the US practice of helping agricultural producers is one of the contradictions.

He added: "Even within neoliberal projects, we are witnessing a monopoly market by a particular group created by the growth of capitalism." When the monopoly of the market falls to the capitalists, they themselves determine the price. As these companies buy agricultural products cheaply from farmers and market them at high prices.

"Iran imports nearly 20 million tonnes of agricultural commodities," Rasaghi said, stressing that the government would do the most convenient job of selling oil and petrochemicals and, of course, importing everything. When that is the case, it turns out that there are five and eight million real unemployed (Planning and Budget Organization statistics) and sixty-six million working age in the country, out of which around 24 million work.

Noting that in neoliberal policies, privatization is on the agenda, the economist pointed out that taxes in economic systems could be a central factor in providing income to the state, which would at least cover government spending. Taxes can provide the government with the opportunity to capitalize on speculative economic activity that is highly profitable. Activities that are not primarily productive.

He continued: In our country the profit of economic activity of import is two hundred percent and the profit of transfers and borrowing from banks is one hundred and fifty percent. Generally, the profits of the non-manufacturing sectors are very high, but productive economic activity makes up about 15% to 20%. This way we can balance the activities with heavy taxation. By raising taxes on this kind of economic activity, employment can help. Taxes One of the most important factors of economic independence is to reduce the impact, create employment, increase production and increase production in countries. Collecting information is also a requirement for taxation.

Rasaghi emphasized: One of the criteria for measuring taxes is to measure it with GDP. In Iran, taxes are about six to seven percent of GDP, but in some countries they reach up to 60 percent. At present, the share of taxes in the state budget is twenty percent. Under such circumstances, the country's economy becomes a non-productive economy. Oil, petrochemical and import economics.

Twenty million tons of food are imported into the country each year

Rasaghi said: Iran is an agricultural country and it is possible to feed the country and ensure food security. But under such conditions, we import 20 million tons of food every year. We get the money from crude oil and cheap oil. While countries try not to sell at least crude.

"The view of parliament and the government is not based on boosting production," he added. According to Article 45 of the Constitution, the government is responsible for providing basic necessities such as housing, food, clothing, health, medical care, education, and the means to establish a family for all, but this law does not apply.

The economist pointed out that next year's budget bill would spend about two-thirds of the budget on state-owned companies: But state-owned corporations' share of taxes is three and a half percent. They conclude that because companies are losing, they should be outsourced to the private sector. Now the companies and factories given to the private sector are all facing closures, bankruptcies and layoffs. One does not question that when managers are corrupt and not accountable to one another, it is clear that factories are at a disadvantage.

He added: Private companies during the war would sell their products cheaply if the factories were state-owned. The same thing caused them to lose. But the problem now is that they don't. State-owned companies raise prices as much as they want.

The parliament has never looked at what these state-owned companies really do, the economist explained. Astronomy is one of the very simple corruption in these companies. Loans and expensive purchases are among the things that these companies do. The government has no regard for its duty under Article 45 of the Constitution. We have about three million unemployed people in the country and about seven to eight million people do not have housing. This shows that the government is ignorant of its duties.

Banks are traitors

Noting that hoarding activities are highly profitable in the country, the economist emphasized: home construction is similar, waiting to sell at two to three times the price when expensive. The problem for manufacturers is elsewhere. The problem for manufacturers is not to impose taxation on import and export activities and to prevent speculative activities.

Banks are traitors, he continued. Instead of helping production, they are trying to make the most of their profits. They buy, hoard, and sell at multiple times the price they bought. There are nearly two and a half million vacant housing units in Iran. Especially since some of the housing units are not vacant; they are in fact speculative, meaning that people are waiting for higher prices to sell. In these conditions, much of the country's wealth remains stagnant. Identifying these homes is easy. However, many people cannot afford to rent a house in the south of Tehran and the suburbs.

"On the one hand, a producer who is not in a good position has to pay taxes, but the issue of employment in the country is not solved by taxing the producers, but rather the fight against corruption and unnecessary imports," Rasaghi said. It is very important to help farmers and to remove intermediaries. As a small farmer, they have to sell their produce cheaply, but the dealers make the most of their profits and sell the produce at high prices.

"The country's economic problems can be resolved, but there is no will to solve it," he said. Everyone agrees with the status quo, but the theorists who are the government payers are obliged to justify government behavior. Rather than providing information that would solve Iran's economic problems, they provide information that exacerbates economic problems to the detriment of workers and subordinates and aggravates the country's economic situation. Bribery, poverty and homelessness also increase as a result.

* Ilna