Examining the Problems and Challanges of the Dispute Settlement in Iran

In most countries, tax proceedings are of a great significance as an aspect of financial Law. In Iran, too, it has a long history and because of its importance for mutual relations of taxpayers and the tax administration, and its impact on taxpayers’ satisfaction, it has always been a major issue in the Iranian tax system. Therefore, in this paper problems and challenges ahead of tax dispute settlement aiming at promoting Iran’s tax proceedings are studied. For this purpose, the status qua of tax proceedings and its relevant processes are described and for the purpose of comparing and using best practices of other countries, their tax proceedings have been explored. In so doing, documentary and library study methodologies have been employed as well as a survey method based on questioners filled out by officials working at dispute settlement division. The study findings indicate prolong delayed dispute settlement in Iran, high numbers of tax dispute cases filed with tax dispute settlement boards, lack of independency of tax dispute settlement boards and non-neutrality of decisions made, non-observance of the legal potential of articles (238) and (248) of Direct Taxes Act, are among the most important problems ahead of INTA. At the last section of the paper, some solutions for improving Iranian tax dispute settlement processes have been proposed.