Defenders of the merchant class attack the program of collecting taxes from brokers
According to the economic correspondent of Fars News Agency, given the determination of the 13th government to put an end to the speculative and destructive activities of the productive sector of the economy, it is expected that once again the beneficiaries of unproductive activities and brokers, from their long and wide tribunes and previously official newspapers They called themselves the mouthpiece of capitalism in Iran, using it to undermine the law against the government, and to use propaganda speakers to defend the interests of traders in any way they could.
In this regard, today, one of the pro-capitalist newspapers drew a caricature on the front page of its newspaper with the headline “Immediate Tax Blade”, criticized the government’s plan to collect capital gains tax, and claimed to support the middle class with popular literature. While the capital gains tax is largely applied to the rich and the owners of unproductive and large-scale capital, and incidentally, this tax base is in favor of other income groups.
One of the most effective tax bases in the world’s economic systems is the capital gains tax, a tax that dates back more than 100 years in some developed countries to the point where documentation of how this tax was formed is difficult to find due to its long history.
Accordingly, capital gains are simply capital gains; For example, property income is the difference between the purchase and sale price of a property that is taxed based on property income tax.
For example, if the capital gains tax rate is 40%, if a real estate agent buys it for 100 million Tomans and sells it for 200 million Tomans, he will have a profit of 100 million Tomans and must earn 40 million out of 100 million Tomans. Give yourself as a tax to the government.
In this regard, a significant reduction in profits is a middleman in the economy to prevent these factors from entering markets such as coins, currency, gold and housing, and will direct capital to the productive economic sector.
* Capital income tax in the eyes of great economists
The point of attention around this tax system is the seal of approval of most great and renowned economists; For example, art George Nineteenth-century American economist believes, «The main focus of tax revenues should be on unproductive activities in order to boost production and create jobs. This will be achieved by raising the capital gains tax rate.»
On the other hand Joseph Stiglitz, senior economist at the World Bank and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, says «Business must be eliminated by changing motives. The tax system can never help create jobs and economic growth by providing equal and simultaneous support to the productive and non-productive sectors.»
* New Zealand experience after the passage of the capital gains tax
Although most countries in the world have adopted capital gains tax years and even centuries ago, there are few countries in the world that have recently decided to adopt this tax base.
In this regard, a look at the experience of New Zealand, which has recently used capital gains tax as a tax base, clearly shows the impact of this tax on unproductive economic activities and the consequent decline in housing prices.
Based on empirical studies, Dominic Stephens Senior Economist of the Institute West Pack in New Zealand believes that the implementation of the capital gains tax in this country has reduced housing prices by 10 to 11 percent.
He provides an analysis of how the real estate market responds to a range of potential changes. According to this research and analysis, the imposition of capital gains tax at a rate of 10% reduces housing prices by 10.9% compared to the non-imposition of capital gains tax.
This does not necessarily mean a sharp drop in house prices of 10.9 percent at once, but rather that housing prices will grow less than other factors influencing their purchase, such as people’s incomes. In fact, the housing market will be more stable and there will be no price jumps.
In New Zealand, investing in real estate is taxed less than other investments. The difference between the investment tax rate in banks and corporate stocks (productive capital) and real estate investment (non-productive investment) is about 30%.
This is mainly due to the fact that the income from productive investments is taxed, while the income from tax capital is not. Productive investments pay high taxes, and in contrast, property investment, which is an easier way to earn more revenue, generates no tax revenue for the government and is tax-free.
According to a New Zealand study, the number of rented housing units will increase by 5.5% as a result of the capital gains tax. If this does not happen, housing prices will fall due to increased supply, and applicants will be able to buy and purchase housing more easily.
* Traders, staunch opponents of capital gains tax in Iran
Despite the very positive experience of the capital gains tax plan, this plan has strong opponents in our country, and the reason for their opposition is not very hidden. In other words, this plan directly reduces the income from unproductive activities of traders and speculators in the country’s economic space, and this issue is considered to be the main cause of some objections.
Examining the history of the capital gains tax plan in Iran can clearly show the opposing strata of this tax impact base. In this regard, in 1987, the law of direct taxes of the country was approved by the parliament, and articles 3 to 16 of the third chapter of this tax law were similar to the capital gains tax.
Although the law set low rates for capital gains tax on land and housing, the same low rates were not enforced by governments; Therefore, it was expected that the tax rates in this sector would be amended by the parliament and increased to enable policy-making and counter-speculation in the housing market. There were 16 direct tax laws passed in 1987, which were removed by the sixth parliament.
It should be emphasized that Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, as a member of the sixth parliament, was considered a staunch opponent of the implementation of the law on capital gains tax, and his speech as a representative of the people of Rasht is available in the detailed sessions of the parliament.
After the abolition of the law on capital gains tax by the sixth parliament and نبهمسکنRegulation of housing market conditions, approval of capital gains tax in the form of a tax package went to parliament in 1393, but this time Abbas Akhundi, Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Rouhani’s government, along with the then speaker of the parliament prevented the approval of this tax base.
In this regard, Farhad Beizai, a housing expert, said in a debate with Hossein Abdo Tabrizi, the cleric’s advisor: «In 1993, in order to regulate the market and the exit of traders, the tax package went to the parliament, but with a letter sent by the Minister of Roads and Urban Development to the speaker of the parliament, he asked for its removal, and for this reason Not properly and fully approved.»
In addition to sending a letter and preventing the approval of the capital gains tax in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Abbas Akhoondi explicitly commented on a television program against the capital gains tax and said: «I am completely opposed to capital gains tax; Because a country that needs investment, any major capital threat will inevitably backfire.»
* The thirteenth government is determined to pass a capital gains tax
The controversy over this tax plan continued in the Rouhani government, and now the thirteenth government has changed its positive approach in this area and is trying to pass a capital gains tax.
In this regard, Ehsan خاندوزی The Minister of Economy, who was one of the drivers of the approval of the capital income tax during his term in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, said, referring to the review of the capital income and income tax plan in the Assembly: “The government is determined to increase the share of the non-productive and commercial sectors in paying the country’s taxes.»
The passage and implementation of this new tax base will certainly raise a lot of cries. More wave of media outlets may be raised in the coming months to prevent this new base from being implemented, but what needs to be considered is the capital gains tax in most countries. The world has been implemented and has had positive results as well as the signatures of many economists The world is based on management.
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