Exclusive: A source reveals the truth behind a government decision to withdraw tax deposits.
Exclusive: A source reveals the truth behind a government decision to withdraw tax deposits.
2025-05-01 09:17
Shafaq News/ A responsible source explained on Thursday that the Iraqi government withdrew funds from tax deposits to cover expenses, including salaries, and did not record a final account for the public treasury.
The source told Shafaq News Agency, “Some social media outlets and satellite channels circulated a Cabinet decision regarding the withdrawal of tax deposits. We would like to point out that these funds have not been credited to the final account of the public treasury, but rather are being used to cover expenses, including salaries.”
He added, “The decision includes reversing the amounts of trusts from the revenues collected during tax accounting. This is a procedure that the financial institution has followed under various previous governments. Furthermore, it was not a secret procedure, but rather was carried out by an announced decision from the Council of Ministers.”
He stressed that “what happened under the previous government regarding tax trusts could have been avoided and prevented had the same measures mentioned above been taken, especially since this decision was made after being studied by the Ministry of Finance as the competent authority.”
He pointed out that “the deliberate distortion of facts, deception, and confusion, carried out for electoral gains, not only target the government but also harm all of Iraq. We affirm that these actions will not deter the government from pursuing reforms that ensure citizen service.”
On Wednesday, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Moeen Al-Kadhimi, told Shafaq News Agency that “the Iraqi government’s withdrawal of funds from tax deposits to finance and pay salaries for the coming months is a normal and legal procedure,” stressing that “this matter is temporary.”
He explained that “the government will return these funds to the tax trusts after the arrival of the financial transfers from the US Federal Reserve, especially since Iraq’s financial situation is good and it has an excellent reserve of dollars.” He reiterated that “the problem of delaying the arrival of these transfers to Iraq and their conversion into Iraqi dinars prompted the government to take this step.”
The Council of Ministers had previously, in an official decision, authorized the Minister of Finance to withdraw tax deposits less than five years old to finance and pay salaries for April and subsequent months.
The Ministry of Finance is scheduled to deposit the amount later, as needed, for the state’s total. Cash settlements will be made monthly upon request by reversing the deposit amount from the actual monthly revenues collected when conducting tax accounting, according to the decision.
shafaq.com
