Federation of Chambers of Commerce: The electronic tax platform has become inevitable, 31 DEC

 Federation of Chambers of Commerce: The electronic tax platform has become inevitable

12/30/2023

The Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce confirmed today, Saturday, that adopting the electronic platform for paying taxes has become inevitable as part of government steps it described as “positive” to attract major merchants, companies and international brands to work in Iraq.

The president of the federation, Abdul Razzaq Al-Zuhairi, told the official media and its follow-up, Al-Ghad Press, that “access to the electronic platform for paying taxes has become inevitable and will be implemented within the time frame set by the General Tax Authority, but there is a major problem represented by small merchants who now represent the majority, as they are forced to go to the parallel market.

He added, "There has been an old fear for decades between the merchant and the government , " noting that "a positive tax system has been launched, but we need to restore trust between the merchant and the government ."

He pointed out that "the majority of the Iraqi market is made up of small merchants, due to the circumstances that Iraq went through," stressing that "the equation will change during the coming period, and large international companies and labels and large merchants will enter the Iraqi market, while small merchants will be shoppers ."

Al-Zuhairi continued, "Taxes created a kind of gap and problems for many Iraqis, including the loss of files, the similarity of names, taking deposits without refunding them, calculating the tax twice, and other problems ."

He explained that "the recent decision of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani will change many of these problems, but the implementation needs to be strict , " pointing out that "Iraq deals with white money with countries of the world, so the issue of the electronic platform is positive, and it is a global step ."

Earlier, the General Authority for Taxes announced the adoption of electronic payment in a binding manner in the payment of taxes, starting from January 1 of the new year 2024, and the start of implementing the self-assessment system for the first time in Iraq.   LINK