Tax Agency Spokesman: VAT Refunds Grew 153 Percent in Iran's First Four Months of the Year

According to Bourse News, Mehdi Movahedi Beknazar, spokesman for Iran's National Tax Administration, said tax revenue collected in the first four months of the Iranian year 1405 (roughly April to July 2026) reached about 577 trillion tomans, up 46 percent from 396 trillion tomans in the same period last year, a pace he said falls short of the roughly 60 percent growth targeted for this year. He said tax revenue covers at most 48 percent of government spending, with more than half of the budget funded from oil sales, bond issuance and other sources.

Movahedi Beknazar said VAT refunds in particular rose about two and a half times, or 153 percent, over the same four months compared with a year earlier, a trend he described as one indicator of the tax agency's support for domestic production. He noted the increase alongside the need to collect the revenue projected in the 1405 budget, which was set roughly 60 percent higher than the 1404 budget.