Reports and images circulated on social media indicate the expansion of protests and strikes by gold sellers in several cities of Iran.
On Sunday, May 5, videos and images were released showing gold sellers in several cities of Iran joining the strike of merchants in this profession and closing their shops.
Some gold sellers in the Tehran market, starting from April 28, protested against the regime’s parliamentary tax resolution and the reactivation of the “Comprehensive Trade System” and went on strike, closing their shops.
In the following days, gold sellers in the markets of Tabriz, Hamedan, and Isfahan also joined this strike.
The reactivation of the “Comprehensive Trade System” and the plan for “Capital Gain Tax” are the main reasons for the gold sellers’ strike, which now seems to have turned into a nationwide strike.
The Ebrahim Raisi government claims that the “Comprehensive Trade System” is designed to facilitate access for traders and merchants to domestic trade information and also to monitor and regulate various sectors of the buying, selling, and trading market.
However, now all producers and wholesale and retail sellers of gold and jewelry are asked to register their transactions in this system; a matter that has raised concerns among market participants in this profession.
On the other hand, representatives of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) amended two articles of the “Profit Tax and Note Trading Tax” bill, or the “Capital Gain Tax”, to secure the approval of the Guardian Council, which exacerbated the protests of the gold sellers.
These protests, which began with the closure of gold shops in some cities a week ago, continued on Sunday, May 5, in the cities of Shiraz, Yazd, Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Hamedan, Urmia, Zanjan, Qom, and Ardabil.
On this day, merchants in Bandar Abbas also organized a gathering in protest against the increase in value-added tax rates.
According to the country’s 2024 budget law, the value-added tax rate has increased from 9% to 10% since the beginning of the Persian year (from March 21).
Some experts say that increasing the value-added tax, as it is supposed to be paid out of the consumer’s pocket, means inflation and price hikes.
According to a recent report published by the Central Bank of Iran on calculating debt settlement and dowry, the inflation rate in 2023 was over 52%.
