Document Type : Research Article:Social history and research on parliament in Iran (Guest editor: Dr. Morteza Nouraei)
Author
Assistante professor of history, Iridology Foundation, Tehran. Iran,
Abstract
In Reza Shah’s period, tax income was one of the key sources for implementing the government’s renovation projects. Therefore, regulating the financial and tax affairs turned into a primary concern for the National Council Assembly. After the demands of guilds and government were raised together, the per-capita taxation on guilds and businesses was abolished and replaced by tax on income. As tax has always been one of the most prominent and challenging issues in the government–guilds relationships, the Council played a significant role in setting the new regulations while also accounting for guild demands as the nation’s legislative institution. This subject is the main focus of this study. This study relies on relevant literature and sources, as well as historical research method combined with an analytical-descriptive approach. It investigates the role of National Council Assembly in compiling and ratifying the most important tax regulations concerning guilds to assess the council’s performance regarding the government’s tax programs for guilds and relevant acts and regulations. This study assumes that the Council acted in tandem with the government to ratify the new regulations. The findings indicate that the Council attempted toward regulating tax and financial affairs including guild taxation as a key government project. Accordingly, the council abolished one of the oldest taxes on guilds and passed new regulations to pave the way for government oversight on taxation quantity and method of tax collection from guilds. However, the Council’s efforts to meet the demands of guilds and direct regulations toward a fair and balanced taxation policy—at least so long it did not conflict with higher government policies—are not negligible.
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Extended Abstract
Title: National Council Assembly’s Performance in Regulating the Government and Guilds’ Relationships Concerning Tax Regulations (1st Pahlavi Period)
introduction: During the period of Reza Shah, tax revenues became one of the most important sources of income for the implementation of the government's modernization programs, and the organization of financial and tax affairs became one of the most important concerns of the National Assembly. In the meantime, the per capita and union tax of guilds and craftsmen was abolished and the income tax was somehow replaced by it. The upcoming research relies on relevant sources and research, such as parliament negotiations, petitions commission documents, and legal approvals, while addressing the role of the National Assembly in drafting and approving the most important approved tax laws for guilds during Reza Shah's era; It examines the performance of the parliament in relation to the government's tax programs regarding trade unions and the relevant approved laws. Despite the number of articles and researches related to the role and performance of the parliament in the first Pahlavi era in the field of parties, representatives' activities in different periods, education, women and foreign relations; In the field of taxation and research guilds, not much research has been done and historical researches at this point in the field of parliament and taxation are few and far between. Regarding trade union tax, the sources mainly refer to this law and its impact on the relationship between the government and trade unions, and they have less focused on the role of the parliament in this regard. The main question of the research is based on this: A: What was the performance of the parliament in relation to the government's tax programs regarding trade unions and the relevant approved laws? B: What was the relationship between the positions of the parliament in the field of tax policies and the demands and problems of the guilds? It is assumed that the parliament took steps along with the government in the field of approving new laws.
Articles such as "Taxation relationship between the government and guilds during the first Pahlavi period: Dissatisfaction with guild tax" (Shirin Bakhsh and others: 2015), "Bazaz and Kalhamal guilds of Sanghar and Keliai during the years 1305-1303" (Dahnavi: 2014) and "Abolition of tax" per capita and guild in the period of Reza Shah and its consequences in Fars province" (Moini Rudbali and Nasiri: 2012). "The position of marketers and guilds in Iran's political and economic developments" (Adine Vand and others, 2014), Ahmed Midari in the article "Guests and Government" (2013) and "Milspo Income Tax Law" (Soleimani and Azizkhah, 2014) on the subject of taxation Guilds have paid during the period of Reza Shah.
Methodology: The upcoming research relies on relevant sources and research, including parliament deliberations, petition documents and legal approvals, based on historical research methods and in a descriptive-analytical way, while addressing the role of the National Assembly in drafting and approving the most important laws. Trade tax approval; It seeks to answer the above questions.
Findings:During the period of Reza Shah, a set of three laws were passed: the abolition of personal and guild tax (approved in December 1305), the law of tax on companies, trade (approved on April 12, 1309), and income tax and stamp duty (approved on November 29, 1312) in the area of guilds. The recent law has faced numerous amendments and was changed in 1317 during the "Income Tax Reform Law".
Discussion and conclusion:The results of the research show that in the process of approving these laws in the sixth to ninth periods of the parliament, despite the absence of an independent representative from the country's trade unions, there is evidence of sensitivity and attention to the problems and demands of the trade unions in the field of taxation, as one of the prominent aspects of relations between the government and trade unions; It is visible. A significant part of these demands were collected through petitions and raised in the parliament. It can be said that at this point, the parliament has moved in line with the plans and tax policies of the government in enacting laws, but at the same time, it has relatively taken into account the concerns of the guilds, especially the small and weak guilds.
Keywords: National consultative Assembly, Guilds, Tax, Government, Pahlavi period, Reza Shah.
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