First year tax exemption on kolbari and malavani border imports ends; customs told to collect the 2 percent advance tax

Iran's National Tax Administration has announced the end of the first year of implementation of the Law on Organising and Supervising Border Trade, and in a letter to the head of Iran's Customs Administration asked for the 2 percent advance import tax, along with value added tax and duties, to be collected on goods imported through the kolbari and malavani border trade routes. The report was published on Saturday 1 August 2026 (10 Mordad 1405).

The law, passed on 14 February 2024 (25 Bahman 1402), provided under the opening clause of Article 2 that goods imported by these routes would be liable at clearance only for 50 percent of the duties and value added tax set for definitive import, and would be exempt from other duties and taxes during the first year of implementation. That first year has now ended.

The tax administration said reports it had received showed some customs offices were still not collecting the 2 percent advance tax despite the end of the exemption period, and that in some cases value added tax and duties had also gone uncollected. Following the letter, Iran's Customs Administration issued a directive requiring customs managers to supervise correct implementation and to apply a uniform procedure.