The Tax System in Iraqi and Iranian Law A Comparative Study

The study has aimed  to identify the provisions of the tax system in the Iraqi and Iranian laws and to show their similarities and differences.  Iraq is one of the first tax systems in the region and is the first country in the region to legislate the tax law. However, this system developed with the change of the economic and political systems that accompanied the elite in Iraq over the ages. Sometimes it is a free economic system and sometimes it is a socialist, and can be a mixed economic system.  Iraq continued to follow the socialist approach in its economy until 2003, but the change that Iraq witnessed after 2003 affected the economic system, as taxes were estimated 69% of GDP  at current prices in the seventies, then it decreased to 64% in the eighties, and decreased in the nineties, but did not exceed 3%.  This  percentage  was recorded  at  0.74%  in 2009  which witnessed  a decline  in GDP due to  the  global  economic crisis  and  this  percentage  did  not  reach one  percent  at  best ,even in 2015 which witnessed a decline in GDP due to the sharp decline in oil prices as well, which led to affecting  on the tax system.  However, the Iraqi  legislation  was unable to do so.  By following this great change, this system   has noted  some timid steps that the authority in Iraq must almost coordinate  economic planning and appropriate legislation to interpret  the environment.  We also see some theories that are intended to be generalized to the Iraqi economy to match the level of economic change that must be followed by an error-free amendment or renewal that may lead to a defect in the economic system. This  required  the Iraqi legislator to reconsider financial legislation in general and taxes in particular in  Iraq.  according to the results of the study, as for the current Iranian tax system, it indicates its negative status within the framework of its three pillars, represented by complexity, lack of comprehensiveness, and the existence of broad and ineffective exemptions at the same time, as well as many weaknesses in the application of guarantees that are considered  among the problems facing tax laws and regulations.  It is also noted that there are challenges facing the Iranian tax system, such as weak information technology infrastructure and high collection costs, and  attention to taxpayers as the third pillar of the tax system.  It is necessary to amend the direct tax law, expand the tax base, implement radical reforms in it, and reform the general culture of society in the long term.