Financial Tribune - Government officials have put forth a range of measures to lessen the detrimental impact of the new coronavirus outbreak on economic entities.

The Iranian National Tax Administration is offering penalty abatement waivers for the last Iranian month (Feb. 20-March 19) following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, in the country.

As per a bylaw signed by INTA chief, Omid Ali Parsa, businesses that pay their tax debts by June 20 will be eligible for penalty abatement waiver, which is 90% for manufacturing sector and 80% for the services sector, Mehr News Agency reported.

He also noted that the ceiling on tax revenues for small-scale enterprises will increase from 1,000 million rials ($6,493) to 2,000 million rials ($12,987) for real entities and from 3,000 million rials ($19,480) to 5,000 million rials ($32,467) for legal entities.

Ali Rostampour, another senior official with INTA, says the government has no power to introduce changes in the taxation system, including tax breaks or forgiveness.

�A legal mandate should be issued by the parliament to exempt a business from paying, say value added tax for a six-month period,� he said.