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Coll 28/3(2) ‘Persia. Financial situation.’ [152r] (303/817)
The record is made up of 1 file (407 folios). It was created in 7 Sep 1938-1 Jan 1946. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
310.000. 000 rials. We estimate this year from the same tax a revenue of
450.000. 000 rials, it is evident, therefore, that we shall not obtain enough
additional revenue from the present law to cover the probable deficit,
hurthermore* it is not likely that we can obtain enough revenue from the
new law to cover the deficit.
(2) Because of the uncertainties of the situation, the Majless should
provide the Government with means to obtain the maximum amount of
revenue. The deficit this year will be bad enough: but the Government
has accumulated a large floating debt which must also be paid. The time
to get the needed revenue is during this period of inflation, when, as I
have repeatedly pointed out, heavy taxation is necessary to stabilize pri
ces. It is certain that the revenue from the proposed income-tax law will
not be enough lor the needs of the Government; and we shall therefore
submit in due time projects for an increase of the inheritance taxes and
for new or increased taxes on luxuries. If, after meeting all the needs of
the Government and of the country, we find that we have a surplus in
the Treasury, the Majless can reduce the income-tax rates.
(3) 1 hat our proposed taxes will ruin the economic life of the country
is a ridiculous assertion. Ruin will certainly come if Iran experiences con
tinued inflation and ultimate bankruptcy, the two evil conditions that the
income-tax project is designed to combat.
(4) That the proposed taxes will destroy the standard of living of the
people* is equally misleading. Of course, the rich will have less money to
spend on luxuries but the poorer and middle classes will have more to
spend on necessities. The real enemy of the standard of living is inflation.
Even with the higher rates provided in the income-tax project, the
people of Iran, even the well-to-do and rich people, will not be heavily
taxed compared with the people of other countries. Taxpayers of Iran will
pay less than American taxpayers having the same incomes. And it is
these heavily-taxed American taxpayers that we are now appealing to for
help.
The provisions of the original project and the changes proposed by
the Financial Laws Commission fall into three main groups: (l) Those
relating to exemptions and deductions; (2) those relating to rates: and (3)
those relating to administration.
Exemptions and Deductions. In our original project, we proposed
liberal exemptions and deductions, for the purpose of assuring more jus-
About this item
- Content
Papers reporting on the financial situation in Iran, sent by staff at the British Legation at Tehran (Horace James Seymour; Reader William Bullard) to the Foreign Office, London. The file is a direct chronological continuation of Coll 28/3 ‘Persia. Financial situation’ (IOR/L/PS/12/3394).
The file includes:
- Covering letters enclosing copies of the monthly Bulletin , produced by the Bank Melli Iran (also referred to as the Mellié Iran Bank, and Banque Mellié Iran). The copies of Bulletin are not included in the file (although some front covers do survive), however the covering letters give short summaries of their lead articles.
- Details and estimates for Iran’s annual budgets, with numerous statistical tables.
- Correspondence dated December 1939 to February 1940 relating to irrevocable documentary confirmed credits (irrevocable letters of credit) opened by Bank Melli Iran through banks in India (ff 356-361).
- Copies of laws passed by the Iranian Parliament, including a law relating to war credits and treasury bills (in French, f 334), a Law for the Prevention of Hoarding (ff 325-329) and an Income Tax Law (ff 262-271).
- Correspondence and budget reports dated 1943-1944, produced during the takeover of the administration of Iran’s Finance Ministry by a mission from the United States, led by Arthur Chester Millspaugh.
At the front of the file (ff 4-200) are fourteen monthly reports of the Administrator General of the Finances of Iran (Millspaugh), produced according to the Solar Hijri calender, and dating from Ordibehesht 1322 (equivalent to the Gregorian calendar date of 22 April to 22 May 1943) to Mehr 1323 (23 September to 22 October 1944). The reports, which also contain lists of staff of the Iranian Ministry of Finance and its connected organisations, summarise Iranian finances. Many of the reports contain a map of Iran (for example, folio 185), showing borders, roads and railways, major towns and cities, and districts, which are numbered 1 to 10.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (407 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file. The file’s correspondence begins at folio 202 and ends at folio 407. Printed reports occupy the front portion of the file (with an enclosing note, ff 4-201), and are also arranged in reverse chronological order.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 408; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 28/3(2) ‘Persia. Financial situation.’ [152r] (303/817), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3396, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100037593729.0x000068> [accessed 13 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/3396
- Title
- Coll 28/3(2) ‘Persia. Financial situation.’
- Pages
- 187r:200v, 176r:186v, 162r:175v, 149r:161v, 138r:148v, 126r:137v, 109r:125v, 84r:108v, 68r:83v
- Author
- Bank Melli Iran
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.