Iran's tax proceedings system and its governance over economic activities

Damages to the tax system, in terms of legal and criminal law and criminology, are one of the most important threats to this system. In addition, the tax system faces more severe litigation challenges due to unprecedented and oppressive sanctions against Iran and the outbreak of the COVID-19 and its devastating economic consequences. This study aims to investigate the weaknesses, strengths, opportunities, and challenges of the tax proceedings system in Iran, in an analytical-descriptive method. The pathology of an efficient tax proceedings system in Iran can help reduce the number of cases in the courts, collect useful information from the Iranian National Tax Administration (INTA) about the taxpayers‘ economic activities, increase the satisfaction of taxpayers, and so on. Tax authorities should be info rm ed o f com pa n ies a n d ind i vi d ua ls who declare their profits suspiciously and take the necessary measures. For this, these should (1) enact the law on the types of taxes and rates, (2) delineate the legal and regulatory structure, (3) provide free or low-cost accounting services, (4) decree penalties for violators, (5) intensify inspections, and (6) augment control programs to properly record the taxpayers’ records, and accurately and timely fill out income tax returns. Moreover, the findings showed that the professional and intimate behavior of tax officials with taxpayers can be very effective in informing the guidelines, preparing profit and loss statements, and achieving taxable profit.