Finding and hiding 10 Euros from each trip of foreign passengers/ Will the Euros that went to the treasury be returned?

Online Economy – Ahmadreza Masoudi: This week, during the consideration of the report of the consolidation commission of the 7th development plan, in addition to approving the increase in the retirement age, which was accompanied by a row of supporters and opponents, the parliamentarians agreed to a proposal that, if implemented, during the implementation of the 7th plan, every passenger An Iranian who wants to buy a foreign travel ticket will be charged 10 euros separately.

In the justification of such a proposal, it is stated that the government receives this amount from passengers in order to provide financial resources for the implementation of development plans and to improve airport services in international airports; An issue that is controversial in several ways and can cause public dissatisfaction like some costly decisions; Especially when this money is deposited into the treasury, it is generally not allocated to the infrastructure and is used to cover the government’s current expenses; Moreover, in the issue of collecting export duties from some goods, it was stipulated that these duties will be allocated to equipping the relevant production and providing the required infrastructure; An issue that has never been implemented after several consecutive years.

An important point that stands out more than anything else is receiving fees in foreign currency; A topic that raises many questions. First, why have parliamentarians used the foreign currency Euro instead of using the national currency? Some look for the answer to this question in the currency fluctuations of the last few years.

Why did the parliament decide to charge new fees from foreign travelers?

For example, the exit tax in 1401 for travelers who leave the country for the first time in a year was equivalent to 400 thousand tomans; But with this figure remaining constant this year and the exchange rate doubling, the dollar value of this amount practically halved, and due to the high inflation of the economy, the government’s income from this practically decreased significantly.

Based on this, it is possible that the decision of parliamentarians strengthens the hypothesis of foreign exchange receipts by the government and the dollarization of Iran’s economy; Especially since it goes without saying that the continuation of the 40% inflation rate in Iran’s economy and the chronicity of this phenomenon cannot be without influence on the decision of the representatives, and they seek that in the event of an increase in inflation and the exchange rate, the government by adjusting the euro rate, resources Maintain your finances and income.

The next issue is that the basis of the government rate of the Euro currency has no proportion with the current realities of Iran’s economy and the level of wages; Although the members of the parliament have taken into account the assumption that travelers traveling abroad are among the highest income deciles of the society; But it should be remembered that the major weaknesses of the domestic tourism industry and the unreasonable high rates of hotels and services in some tourist cities of Iran have led people to travel abroad.

On the other hand, according to the statistics, the neighboring countries are mainly the first destination of Iranian tourists, and most of the travelers go on affordable trips. As the reports recently published by the World Travel & Tourism Council show that in 2021, Turkey is by far the main destination for Iranian citizens, and according to this, 71% Iranian tourist trips to Turkey have been made.

Based on this, assuming the exchange rate remains unchanged, exit taxes remain unchanged and of course a 20% increase in wages next year, if an Iranian family of 4 plans to travel to Turkey, they must pay 40 euros for the new parliament resolution and 1 million And he has to pay six hundred thousand tomans for leaving the country, which is about three million tomans. This number alone can cover the cost of a family member’s ticket, after this, economic pressure will be placed on the Iranian tourist, which can ultimately disrupt the profit and loss calculation of the decision makers due to public dissatisfaction. .

How does the 10-euro toll serve Iran’s airport development?

According to official statistics, 7 million 242 thousand 667 Iranians traveled abroad in 2017, when the currency shock affected Iran’s economy. Assuming economic stability and no jump in the exchange rate, estimates show that in the coming year, about 8 million people will probably leave the land and air borders of the country, and again, probably half of these passengers will leave the country through the air borders and will be subject to the new decree. There will be Majlis, of course, pilgrims must be excluded from it.

Based on the estimate, if 3 million passengers intend to leave for non-pilgrimage destinations, 30 million euros will be deposited into the treasury account from the decision of the parliament. In the next step, if this income is to be spent on the development of the country’s airport, it should be taken into account that the cost of building the new airport in Istanbul is estimated at 12 billion dollars. In terms of international standards, Imam Khomeini (RA) airport is even close to the standards of the international airport of the neighboring country, the income of 30 million euros cannot be effective and beneficial.

Another important point is that the policy makers of the neighboring countries basically do not go to collect duties or taxes from their citizens in many development projects. The new Istanbul airport was built without spending a single euro from the government treasury and by a consortium of different companies, and according to official reports, it will contribute 80.7 billion euros to the country’s economy annually.

The priority is to attract domestic and foreign investors

Undoubtedly, fair taxation and collection of tolls can bring rich revenues for governments. Many developed countries and the top economies of the world can provide public goods to their citizens from the place of taxation and create mutual satisfaction between the government and the citizens, because appropriate services are provided to the members of the society and everyone knows this. What are the funds spent on?

On the other hand, based on the acknowledgment of the head of the country’s planning and budget organization, the government’s goal setting in the area of ​​tax collection has been fully realized this year, and in a sense, different sections of the people and small business owners have not committed any violations, although Iran’s economy suffers from tax evasion. And numerous government and private companies that do not pay taxes are still suffering; But in the end, it seems that putting more pressure on the people to provide income can cause a fatal blow to the social capital of the statesmen.

Experience has shown that attracting foreign and domestic capital and facilitating the business environment can have a great desire among investors to participate in infrastructure projects, and the policymaker should improve his understanding of the reasons behind the development of the country.