Iran earns more from tax than oil for first time in almost 50 years

The Guardian ^ | September 27, 2015 | By Saeed Kamali Dehghan

[Brad from Tennessee]

The Iranian government is earning more from tax than oil for the first time in almost half a century as the country shifts its traditional reliance on crude to taxation revenues in the face of plummeting oil prices.

President Hassan Rouhani’s economic strategy is to significantly reduce the government’s dependency on oil and instead collect tax more systematically, according to Ali Kardor, the deputy managing director of the national Iranian oil company (NIOC).

“For the first time in 50 years, the government’s share of the oil revenue is less than what it is earning from tax, including VAT,” he told the Guardian on the sidelines of the second Europe-Iran forum in Geneva. “Only around 10% of Iran’s GDP is currently dependent on oil.” Almost 20% of oil income goes into a sovereign wealth fund, which is reserved for development purposes.

Iran’s oil revenue took a heavy toll in recent years from the oil embargo imposed on Tehran by the EU and US over its nuclear programme and latterly because of falling global crude prices. Sanctions are expected to be lifted when the UN nuclear watchdog verifies Tehran has taken the necessary measures to roll back its nuclear activities as outlined under the landmark nuclear agreement struck in July. Rouhani said last week that could be as early as January. . .

[Brad from Tennessee]

This what the sanctions were supposed to do, destabilize Iran's economy. But Obama threw them a lifeline and now they'll have the best of both worlds--a growing economy and a pathway to nukes.