World
Iran’s coupons and taxes: Giving with one hand, taking with the other
Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities are rolling out an electronic coupon scheme in recognition of the dire economic conditions under sanctions, but they are also hiking taxes across the board to cover budget deficits.
As the busy shopping and travel season of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, approaches, the government of centrist President Masoud Pezeshkian has revived the coupons scheme for at least a few more months, this time online.
The first use of coupons in Iran dates back to World War II when the country faced dire economic conditions and famine under British and Soviet occupation, which ended in 1946 after five years.
But coupons are mostly remembered for their widespread use in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution. Neighbouring Iraq invaded Iran with support from global and regional powers to counter the new theocratic Iranian establishment, and an eight-year war squeezed the population.
The coupons
Starting this week, low-income and middle-class Iranians are being given up to 5 million rials (just over $5) per person that can be used to buy limited quantities of food like red meat, chicken, eggs, milk, cooking oil, rice and sugar at government prices. About 60 million people are eligible to use the credit.
People can buy only 11 items from a list of select suppliers and shops across the country, and the credit purchases are separate from monthly government cash handouts that currently amount to about $4.85 per person.
The goal is to marginally alleviate short-term pressure on families who have been watching their purchasing power dwindle for years as a result of local mismanagement and all-encompassing Western sanctions.
The government of late President Ebrahim Raisi, which was in office from 2021 to 2024, implemented electronic coupons schemes twice, in 2023 and 2024, for short periods to ease pressure as well.
His immediate predecessor, President Hassan Rouhani, also publicly considered resorting to coupons in the aftermath of the 2018 withdrawal of the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and imposed harsh sanctions on the country.
On the other hand, taxing everything
The Pezeshkian administration, which lost two key members to a political dispute with hardliners last week, has been trying to cut costs and increase revenues to grapple with a budget crunch.
The government’s approved budget for the Iranian calendar year 1404, which starts on March 21, shows considerably increased taxes and costs of services – in many cases much higher than Iran’s current 35 percent inflation rate.
Successive Iranian governments have been pushed to find new revenue sources, including through tax increases, to decrease the country’s dependency on oil revenues, which have been hit by the “maximum pressure” tactics by the US.
The Pezeshkian government said this month that it pays for 73 percent of its current expenses, excluding infrastructure expenditures, using tax revenues.
According to a February report by Iran’s Parliament Research Center, total government tax revenues are expected to go up 53 percent in the fiscal year 1404 compared with the previous year, the highest jump in a decade.
The budget foresees a 73 percent surge in total government earnings from corporate income tax compared with the year before and a 68 percent increase in income from personal income taxes.
The research arm of the parliament foresees a 36 percent rise compared with the previous year in wealth and property taxes.
Taxes on imports are to go up 85 percent as well with a significant part of the increase linked with government revenues from imports of new or used foreign vehicles after a years-long ban was lifted in 2022.
During the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, restaurants and hotels need to pay for permits to be able to operate while making sure no one publicly breaks their fast by eating, drinking or smoking, something that is considered a crime under Iran’s Islamic laws.
Taxes are increasing months after Iran raised the age of retirement for men by two years to 62 and increased the years of service required to receive full pensions for men to 35 from 30. That was aimed at reducing alarming pension fund deficits that have threatened financial sustainability and exerted more pressure on the government.
Amid another currency freefall and a lingering energy crisis, the embattled government has also been accused by hardline lawmakers of intentionally devaluing the national currency to make short-term gains.
Making services more expensive
Along with boosted taxes, the 1404 budget makes a long list of government services offered to Iranian and foreign nationals much more costly while ramping up financial penalties for offences.
Fees to issue national IDs and passports are up, and it will be more costly to register vehicles and motorcycles. Several fees linked with universities and technical and vocational exams are expected to rise.
Especially with Nowruz prompting millions of Iranians to travel this month, authorities are expecting much higher revenues from traffic fines because they will be hiked by up to 30 percent until early April.
Many major traffic offences had already seen their penalties tripled about eight months ago with several others, including dangerous or drunk driving, expected to be hiked another 50 percent next year.
Authorities plan on charging Iranians more for trying to leave the country too with departure levies up by about 30 percent. Repeated departures would incur more costs.
The state continues to impose financial penalties on and open criminal cases against people who are deemed to have violated mandatory hijab laws. Vehicles can be fined and impounded for weeks if they are repeatedly reported for hijab offences.
The Iranian government plans to make services offered to millions of migrants and refugees across the country more expensive as well, including costs of issuing or renewing travel and work permits.
Tehran Municipality announced last month that costs of services offered to foreign nationals will be 54 percent higher in the next Iranian year.
These price rises will mostly impact migrants and refugees from neighbouring Afghanistan, whose numbers in Iran swelled in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover of the country after the US withdrew in 2021.
Iranian authorities acknowledge at least six million Afghans live in Iran, a country of about 90 million people, but some estimates are several million higher.
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Hungary’s opposition Fidesz party has called for a demonstration on Thursday after Prime Minister Péter Magyar submitted a constitutional amendment to remove the country’s president, Tamás Sulyok.
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Magyar, who won a landslide victory in April’s election, ending Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power, has repeatedly called for the removal of the official appointed by his predecessor, whom he calls “Orbán’s puppet”.
Magyar’s amendment, filed on Saturday, states that “the mandate of the incumbent President of the Republic shall terminate on the day following the entry into force of the amendment to the Fundamental Law”.
The governing Tisza Party holds a supermajority in parliament, meaning the amendment is expected to pass. According to sources in the Hungarian parliament, the vote could take place as early as next week, but this has not been officially confirmed.
The constitutional changes would also remove four constitutional judges by setting their retirement age at 70, and limit parliamentary deputies to a 12-year mandate.
President Sulyok has said he has no intention of resigning, describing Magyar’s move as a threat to democracy.
“The question is whether this force will sweep away internationally recognised and required principles of the rule of law, as well as genuine representative democracy,” Sulyok said in a statement on Sunday.
Magyar pledged repeatedly during his election campaign to remove the president from office. He argues that Sulyok failed to fulfil his constitutional duties and did not stand up for opposition supporters during Orbán’s time in power.
“Viktor Orbán failed the Hungarian people, and Tamás Sulyok, whom he appointed, failed the Hungarian Republic,” Magyar said in June.
Fidesz has said the president’s removal would pave the way for tyranny, and has called for a demonstration on Thursday in support of Sulyok.
“The Tisza Party crosses all boundaries – human, moral and legal,” said Orbán. “Hungarian voters did not authorise this.”
The opposition argues that Sulyok was elected in accordance with the constitution, and that his removal would amount to personalised legislation.
A delegation from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, an advisory body specialising in constitutional affairs, visited Hungary last week and met both the president and government officials. Its findings have not yet been made public.
The European Commission has said it is monitoring the constitutional amendment process in Hungary.
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One of the leading American institutes devoted to research on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program sounded an alarm this week over the regime’s uninspected underground site in the Zagros Mountains.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have not been allowed to visit the secret site, known as Pickaxe Mountain.
The highly fortified facility is casting serious doubt on Iran’s willingness to abide by the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached with the Trump administration. The United States, together with Israel, launched Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28, 2026, targeting Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.
Experts from the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) argue that halting work at Pickaxe Mountain and allowing IAEA inspectors access would be a key good-faith measure to test whether Iran is prepared to abandon its pattern of deception.
OBAMA-ERA INSPECTION FLAWS IN IRAN COULD PERSIST AS EXPERTS WARN OF NUCLEAR BLIND SPOTS
A satellite image shows an overview of the Pickaxe Mountain tunnel complex in Natanz. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
Spencer Faragasso, a senior fellow with the group who covers Iran, North Korea, illicit trade, and nuclear issues, wrote on X: “Important update by us at @TheGoodISIS. The ongoing work at Pickaxe Mountain is deeply concerning. This work has continued steadily since at least 2020. In my view, this is a hedge by Iran in case negotiations fail — they will then have a nuclear facility in a late stage of construction. We assessed that Pickaxe is likely large enough to hold an enrichment plant.”
Iran has used facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan to enrich uranium, the key material for a nuclear weapons program.
Faragasso added, “If Iran is serious about negotiating, it should halt construction at Pickaxe Mountain as a token of good faith. But what can be expected from a regime as brutal and conniving as Iran’s?”
The institute posted a detailed analysis of new satellite imagery from late June 2026 showing continued activity at Pickaxe Mountain.
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Vice President JD Vance prior to a meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Bürgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, June 21, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/Keystone via AP)
The institute wrote that “at Pickaxe Mountain, vehicle activity can be seen on the roads leading to the open set of Western tunnel portals, indicating that construction inside the tunnel complex, as well as hardening of the tunnel entrance, are ongoing. The MOU signed between the United States and Iran requires that Iran maintain the status quo, which should prohibit construction at any nuclear-related facility, including Pickaxe Mountain.”
In late June, the IAEA declined to answer a detailed Fox News Digital query on whether it would seek access to the Pickaxe Mountain facility. According to the satellite imagery obtained by the institute, “at Natanz, little activity can be seen. The access points to the below-ground enrichment halls have not been repaired.
“The personnel entrances remain destroyed, and vehicle entrances remain severely damaged. A single vehicle can be seen on the road outside of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), which was destroyed in June 2025 but was later covered by Iran.”
As U.S.-Iran talks opened Sunday in Switzerland, and a dispute over who controls and monitors billions of dollars in potentially unfrozen Iranian assets emerged. (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via Reuters)
The institute also reported, “As of June 29, 2026, there is no observed activity at Esfahan. The tunnel portals remain backfilled with dirt.” ISIS tracked developments at the Fordow site, buried inside a mountain north of the holy Islamic city of Qom.
“At Fordow, as earlier reported by the Institute, between May 10 and May 18, Iran added passive defensive measures in the form of earthen/rocky mounds and other objects on the roads leading to the tunnel entrances. The alternating placements of the piles/objects are very precise, which creates a series of chicanes, indicating they are not intended as obstructions but rather to prevent rapid ingress and egress by any vehicle toward the tunnels.”
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The institute added, “The June 21 Vantor image shows that the objects along the road remain there. The tunnel portals also remain backfilled with dirt” at Fordow.
Fox News Digital sent questions to the State Department and the Iranian Mission to the United Nations.
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