I am Persian Demanding to receive taxes from artists/ Why do movie and TV actors get billions of money but don’t pay Riyals in taxes?
Fars News Agency – Art and Media Group: Over the past two years, in the “Fars Man” system, there have been numerous campaigns on the subject Collecting taxes from artists it is registered. The users present in these surveys have put forward this demand that they should be like other sections of the society Taxes should be collected from film and television actors.
They have raised the question that Why don’t you charge taxes and exempt them from actors, artists, and film and series crews, even though they have billions of income? Even if you have not taxed them, some of them regularly abuse and constantly compare their lives and the lives of foreigners with the lives of the nation. We ask the Ministry of Culture and Guidance, the Tax Affairs Organization and the Parliament to tax all actors, artists, and film and series crews and collect taxes from them.
The issue of tax exemption for artists has many supporters and opponents, for this reason, we will take a look at the various aspects of the issue of artists’ tax, which has always been the subject of debate and opinion in recent years.
The story of artist tax
In the past years, the issue of preventing the tax evasion of the upper deciles of the society and eliminating unjustified tax exemptions has been raised in the expert and media space of the country more than in the past, one of the examples of which is “Tax exemption for artists and celebrities”.
The story of celebrity tax is an issue that became a public demand about two or three years ago, and the then government resisted its implementation with all its might. The tax exemption for artists did not benefit the weak social strata and low-income groups, among the people of culture and art, and for this reason, it had more supporters among the upper strata (economically). However, the community strongly followed up on this demand, and after the change of parliament, this issue was put on the agenda again. The previous government, however, forced it again and did not allow this law to be implemented. Such an action clearly had political reasons and the government was spending money from the public rights of the Iranian people for the interests of a particular political trend. But finally, the era of that administration came to an end, and at the beginning of the new government, the issue of collecting taxes from artists who have rejected the private income ceiling was raised again. At the beginning of this year, the issue of artists’ exemption became the headline of news agencies again, and the parliament announced the return of artists’ taxes.
Despite all this, the issue of removing the tax exemption for artists not only did not reach the implementation stage, but during the presentation of the 1401 budget bill, this time the 13th government emphasized the unconditional tax exemption of artists with a setback compared to the 1400 budget law. The issue that faced the reaction of some representatives of the Budget Consolidation Commission and the legal requirement to remove the tax exemption for artists was amended again in the Budget Bill 1401 with the approval of this commission.
Seyyed Hamid Pourmohammadi, the Deputy Director of the Program and Budget Organization, said: What was stated in the government bill was that only textbook publishers should pay tax, but in the Consolidation Commission, one of the respected representatives made a proposal to cancel the tax exemption for artists. but the government is seriously looking for support for artists. The government insists on tax exemption for artists.
According to Fars report, the members of the Islamic Council, in the third public meeting today, Saturday, March 14, at the House of the Nation, and in the continuation of the review of the revenue section of the budget bill for the next year of the entire country, proposed an amendment regarding part (1), paragraph (Q), note (6) of the single article of this bill. They voted in favor. Based on this component, the tax exemption of activities related to teaching aid publications is removed and Tax exemption for actorsPerforming singing (concert) stage and producing, publishing and duplicating and broadcasting musical works, Auction of works of art The subject of clause (l) of article (139) of the direct taxes law can only be applied up to two billion and 600 million rials per year and after that it is subject to tax at the rate of the direct taxes law.
Finally, during the review of the budget bill 1401 in the public forum, the MPs opposed the decision of the Consolidation Commission to remove the tax exemption of celebrities.
What do the opponents of collecting taxes from artists say?
According to some critics, if this field is not entered in a precise way, the tax exemption for artists will only increase the class gap and make the low-income sections of the art field poorer, and its huge profits will go directly into the pockets of the owners of billions of salaries and unhealthy funds in this field. went
According to the opponents of this issue, “culture and art” should be supported by the government. Opponents are of the opinion that the conditions of a few artists with seemingly large incomes should not be extended to all artists.
According to this spectrum, which are generally the artists and the beneficiaries of the story: firstly, the artist’s income is not permanent, the artist may do his best and work in one year, that is, the artist in one year of work (acting in movies and series), 350 million Toman income. But in the following years, it may not work at all. Will the Finance Department pay his unemployment benefits in the following years? In addition, artists have a golden age and are usually active for a decade. In the meantime, celebrities may only have a high income (for example, one billion tomans per year), which is not much in one year. Is it worth putting such pressure on the cultural and artistic society?
According to them, the income that the government receives from artists is very small and it is not worth creating a psychological burden for the activists in this field.
From another point of view, they believe that artists, like government employees, do not receive housing rights, child rights, etc., and the “Art Trade Union Law” has not been established in the country, so artists should not be expected to pay taxes.
In this regard, one of the members of the Economic Commission of the Parliament, in support of this decision of the Parliament regarding tax exemption for artists, stated that: The income of artists does not include so much that we want to cancel their tax exemption.
Mehdi Esmaili, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, even pointed to the government’s decision to remove tax exemptions for artists and announced: In the budget bill, we had exempted artists from taxes, but the Consolidation Commission removed this issue. We wrote a letter to the parliament and we are trying to ensure that this issue does not harm the economy of art.
A look at the background of artist taxation in the world
A look at the history of paying taxes for artists and celebrities (film and television actors) shows that in most countries of the world, artists (with emphasis on film and television actors) pay taxes. For example, the Internal Revenue Service of America, which is busy collecting taxes in this country, not only exempts artists from receiving taxes, but many famous American artists saw their assets confiscated or even spent in prison due to non-payment of taxes or tax evasion. In the following, we will take a look at the issue of paying taxes of famous artists and celebrities of the world, each of whom has been the headline of the world’s prestigious media and news agencies for a long time.
Sophia Loren and 17 A day in prison for tax evasion
One of the oldest media topics related to artist and celebrity taxes is the amazing case of Sophia Loren. Loren, who spent 17 days in prison for tax evasion in 1982. The Italian actor, of course, was released from prison by paying taxes and related fines and settling accounts with the US Internal Revenue Service. Such cases are not related to the past and similar ones can be found in the recent periods as well.
Nicolas Cage and the $6.6 million tax
A famous case in this matter dates back to 2009, when the US Internal Revenue Service announced that Nicolas Cage, the famous American actor, owed $6.6 million in back taxes and had to pay them. This figure increased to 6.7 million dollars by the end of the same year. This was Cage’s total debt for the years 2002 to 2009, and Cage finally had to clear his tax debt in 2012. The famous American actor had to sell several villas and even a dinosaur skull fossil that he had bought earlier to pay off his tax debt. He later said that his taxes were around 14 million dollars and after re-evaluation, he finally settled the matter by paying 6 million dollars.
John Travolta and the tax of 604 thousand dollars
Another famous actor of the movie “Change of Face” is also one of the celebrities who did not escape the razor of the American Tax Agency. John Travolta was sentenced to pay a fine of 1.1 million dollars by the US Internal Revenue Service for not reporting his income and losses correctly between 1993 and 1995, and in 2000 he was forced to settle this debt by receiving a discount of 604 thousand dollars to the organization. pay tax
Robert De Niro also pays taxes
As another case, Robert De Niro, the famous Hollywood actor, was involved in 2015 with $6.4 million in unpaid taxes. Of course, he claimed that the Internal Revenue Service had sent his tax letters to the wrong address, and he eventually settled his taxes.
When Scosizzi (director Greg Wall Street) also pays taxes
Another case is the director of The Wolf of Wall Street. Italian-American director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and historian Martin Scorsese is one of the most famous Oscar-winning directors, but all these issues did not make him exempt from paying taxes. In Valentine’s Day 2011, he witnessed the imposition of $3 million in back taxes, interest and related penalties. Scorsese had to pay 2 million dollars in taxes in 2002 and 2003, of course, he paid all of them.
Shakira and Pique were prosecuted for tax evasion
Shakira, a famous American singer, and her husband Pique (the two celebrities are separated), a famous Spanish soccer player, were prosecuted for not providing correct tax information between 2011 and 2014 when they lived in Spain and may will be sentenced to pay 300 million dollars in back taxes.
Pamela Anderson, Earl Simmons, Martha Stewart and Wassily Snipes tax issue
Pamela Anderson is one of the actresses who has usually done well when it comes to paying her income taxes, but the New York Daily newspaper reported in 2012 that the Canadian actress was being sued for the third time for not paying taxes.
Earl Simmons aka DMX is an American rapper who spent a year in prison for tax evasion in 2018. In July 2017, he was sentenced to one year in prison by the District Attorney of the Southern District of New York. This American rapper had 1.7 million dollars of tax evasion.
Martha Stewart, a former American model and author, spent 5 months in prison in 2004 for tax evasion of about $220,000.
Wesley Snipes, the famous American actor and martial artist, was sentenced to 3 years in prison in 2010 for not paying his taxes in the amount of 7 million dollars between 1999 and 2001. In 2010, after entering prison, this famous actor protested the 3-year sentence for non-payment of taxes, which was rejected in court. Finally, he was released from prison in 2013 after serving his full term of imprisonment, and while he had to pay his taxes, he also suffered three years of imprisonment due to tax evasion.
The last word
Finally, in line with the participants in the Fars survey, I can raise the question: How much of the arguments of those in favor of tax exemption for artists and celebrities are reasonable and acceptable? Is it not possible to extend the tax exemption of these classes to other trades and groups on the pretext of their low income?
Studies show that tax systems in most countries that have social justice are implemented in a classified manner; In the way that the basic needs are defined and based on the priorities, the tax tables start from the zero rate to the top. For example, in these countries, the tax is zero for essential consumer items and gradually increases for other items, and the incomes of different people are classified in the same way. Therefore, the application of tax exemptions based on the amount of income of individuals and the regular control of bank account circulation can establish tax justice and along with that social justice.
In the final analysis, tax is one of the government’s tools for “establishing justice in society”. Taxing famous artists and people with high incomes in cultural fields will significantly contribute to the flow of economic transparency and many structures will be transformed in this way. According to some experts, there is no valid reason why artists (film and television actors) are exempt from income tax, unlike other classes and guilds of society. In fact, logic dictates that they, like other natural persons, are subject to a graduated income tax or, like other businesses, they are subject to a 25% profit tax.
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