“20 percent of what is paid for phone credit is going to the federal treasury,” Kamal Tayyib, the Director of the General Directorate of Tax and Public Properties told Rudaw’s Hadi Salimi on Saturday. “We are trying to return more than 20 billion dinars (approx. $13.8 million) monthly.”
An 11-point decree was issued by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on January 11, its main focus was the imposition of taxes and customs on different sectors in the Kurdistan Region. The decree was to be implemented within the next 60 days upon its release.
The prime minister had asked the ministry of transportation and finance to “set out the procedures to impose 20 percent tax on internet companies in the Kurdistan Region, same as companies in other parts of Iraq”, according to the statement from the prime minister’s office.
Similarly, telecommunication companies such as Asiacell, Korek, and Zain will have to pay sales taxes for operating in the Kurdistan Region, a tax they had initially paid to the federal government.
“The amount of tax collected in the Kurdistan Region should be paid to the KRG instead of the federal government, the decree is very clear,” Korek Telecom spokesperson Aras Tutunchi told Rudaw on Saturday. “Whenever the KRG comes to an agreement with the federal government and the procedures are set out for us, we as Korek Telecom will abide.”
“We ensure our customers that there will be no change in our prices in the Kurdistan Region,” he added.
Prime Minister Barzani has vowed since the beginning of his premiership to root out corruption and maximize government revenues.
Companies and people that do not abide by the decree will face legal consequences, according to the decree – though the decree did not state what those consequences would be.
Ali Abdulrahman, the deputy director of the General Directorate of Tax and Public Properties, told Rudaw’s Rozhan Abubakir in January that his directorate had set the wheels of the tax imposition in motion.
