The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Tax Revenues of West Azerbaijan Province

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global and Iranian economies have been affected in various ways. The tax sector seems to have reacted relatively quickly to this pandemic. This study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tax revenues in West Azerbaijan Province.

This descriptive-analytic and cross-sectional study was conducted in the second half of 2021. Primary data for 17 cities of West Azerbaijan Province were provided by the General Administration of Tax Affairs of this province in the form of 9 variables in Excel Format. The data were related to 2019 (Before the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2020 (After the COVID-19 pandemic). The data were analyzed by SPSS using descriptive statistics (Frequency, Percentage, Median, Interquartile range) and analytical statistics (Wilcoxon signed rank test) at a 5% significance level.

Based on the descriptive results, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an increase in the tax revenues of West Azerbaijan province in the fields of government employees’ salary tax, stock transfer tax, inheritance tax and stamp duty tax and a decrease in these revenues in the areas of private employee’s salary tax, income tax on legal entities, business income tax, property transfer tax and value-added tax. Based on the analytical results, the impact of this pandemic on the private employee’s salary tax (P=0.003), income tax on legal entities (P=0.019), business income tax (P=0.013), property transfer tax (P=0.015) and value-added tax (P=0.001) was found to be negative and significant. Furthermore, the effect on stock transfer tax (P=0.030) and inheritance tax (P=0.001) was positive and significant. On the other hand, the impact of this pandemic on government employees’ salary tax (P=0.287) and stamp duty tax (P=0.356) was not statistically significant.

The COVID-19 pandemic hurt most of the tax revenue sectors. To compensate for the decreased income in vulnerable sectors, the government must develop international trade with comprehensive support from the non-governmental sector while creating new tax lines. Also, stabilizing the financing cycle and designing mechanisms to prevent tax evasion, especially in high-paying jobs, can be fruitful.