# Iran

 Country code: IR · Currency: IRR · Language: Persian (farsi)

**Pros**
- Extremely low energy and utility costs through significant government subsidies for industrial operations
- Access to a large, highly educated, and tech-savvy youth population at competitive labor rates
- Strategic geographic position serving as a transit hub between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East

**Cons**
- Pervasive state control and dominance of semi-governmental entities stifling private sector competition
- Severe international sanctions and isolation from global banking systems hindering cross-border capital movement
- Systemic corruption and lack of transparent legal protections for private property and individual liberties

Long story short: Nobody in Tehran comes after you for taxes, the state lacks the manpower to bother. The real trap is money itself: sanctions have severed Iranian banks from the world, so pulling profits out means informal channels and endless headaches.

Corruption plays like a favor economy, not a shakedown. Mountains ring the city, the food is superb, and north Tehran feels safe and lively.

Also worth knowing: the rial can halve in value within a year, paperwork drags forever, and infrastructure outside the capital is patchy at best.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Iran** doesn't tax personal income, and nobody comes sniffing around when you settle in. No withholding, no tax return, no centre-of-vital-interests trap waiting to snap shut.

Earn what you want: the taxman here simply doesn't know your name.

**01.1 Income tax**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Personal income tax | NONE | no personal income tax framework |

**01.2 Tax residence test**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 183-day rule | does not exist here |  |
| Economic interest | does not exist here |  |
| Family centre | does not exist here |  |
| Habitual abode | does not exist here |  |
| Extended-stay test | does not exist here |  |

## Will your wealth be taxed?

Long story short: NO.
**Iran** keeps its hands off what you hold. *No capital gains tax*, no annual wealth grab, no inheritance regime.

Your portfolio compounds in peace and leaves the way it came in; nobody's standing at the door with their palm out.

**02.1 Investment income**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital gains | NONE | no capital gains regime |
| Dividend tax | NONE | no dividend tax |
| Interest income | NONE | no interest income tax |

**02.2 Wealth & estate**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wealth tax | NONE | no annual wealth tax · no real-estate wealth tax · no net-worth assessment |
| Inheritance system | NONE | no estate tax · no heir-based duties · no succession tax framework. Wealth transfers across heir-classes are not taxed in this jurisdiction. Only standard probate / registration fees may apply. |

**02.3 Crypto**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Crypto · tax regime | — | Rate: 40% · Taxed under the 2025 Speculation and Profiteering Taxation Act. Short-term gains (held <1yr) are taxed at 40%, dropping to 10-15% after 1 year and potential exemptions after 2 years. The law uniquely taxes a portion of inflation-driven gains. Mining is regulated as industrial activity. Domestic payments are banned. |
| Crypto-to-crypto | TAXABLE | each swap counts as a disposal — gains realised at every trade |
| FATF travel rule | NOT SIGNED | no information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers |

## Easy to run a company there?

Long story short: YES, BUT EXPOSED.
**Iran** has *no corporate income tax* but stacks the two nastiest non-fiscal frictions: *criminal liability* for misuse of corporate assets (jail on the table for sloppy intra-company spending) and *public registries* (your name served up to anyone with a browser).

The sticker says zero; the exposure says otherwise, on every other axis.

**03.1 Rates**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Corporate tax | NONE | no corporate income tax framework |
| VAT standard rate | NONE | no general VAT · no consumption tax framework |

**03.2 Regime & registry**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IP Box · Patent Box | NONE | no IP regime · IP income taxed under standard corporate rules |
| Misuse of corporate assets | CRIMINAL | criminal liability · Article 258, Clause 3 of the Bill of Amendment to the Commercial Code (1347/1969) · Iran strictly adheres to the 'Autonomy of the Legal Entity' principle (Article 583 of the Commercial Code). Under Article 258(3) of the 1969 Amendment, directors who use company assets or credit for personal purposes against the company's interests face criminal penalties of 1 to 3 years' imprisonment. Because the company is a distinct legal person, the sole shareholder's consent does not negate the crime, and the act is treated as a criminal breach of trust regardless of the company's solvency. |
| Shareholders privacy | PUBLIC | Official Gazette of the Islamic Republic of Iran |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC | Official Gazette of the Islamic Republic of Iran |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

_In this country, the most standard company form is called Sherkat ba Masooliyat Mahdood (Limited Liability Company (LLC)). The costs below are for incorporating a company in its simplest form, for reference only._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government Registration, Name Booking, and Gazette Publication Fees | USD 2 |  |
| Professional Legal Fees for Incorporation and FIPPA Consultancy | USD 2,700 |  |
| Foreigner National Code (Fida Code) Acquisition and Document Translation | USD 300 |  |
| Total | USD 3,002 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NO.
**Iran** has no treaty network at all, which buries the holding question, full stop.

Every dividend in or out eats the statutory withholding at full rate, and no domestic regime can patch a hole that sits on the source side. Don't park a holding here.

**04.1 Substance & exemptions**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Territorial · individuals | WORLDWIDE | worldwide income taxation regardless of source |
| Territorial · corporates | WORLDWIDE | worldwide corporate taxation |
| Participation exemption | NONE | no dividend participation exemption regime |
| CFC rules | NONE | no controlled foreign corporation regime · foreign-source corporate income out of scope |

**04.2 Withholding tax · non-resident**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| WHT · dividends | NONE | no withholding on outbound dividends |
| WHT · interest | NONE | no withholding on outbound interest |
| WHT · royalties | NONE | no withholding on outbound royalties |
| Tax-haven WHT | NONE | no punitive rate on record |

**04.3 Treaty network**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Treaties signed | 0 | active |
| Treaties pending | — | in negotiation |

## Easy to come and go?

Long story short: SOME.
**Iran** taxes your worldwide income while you're resident, but at least the exit is free: *no exit tax* on the way out.

Leaving costs you paperwork, not money; your unrealised gains walk out the door with you, untouched.

**05.1 Exit & dual nationality**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Exit tax | NONE | no triggers active · residence change tax-free · no deemed-disposal mechanism |
| Dual citizenship | FORBIDDEN | naturalisation requires renouncing existing citizenship |

**05.2 Citizenship paths**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Residence | 5 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Marriage | — | not available |
| Birth | jus soli | available path to naturalisation |
| Descent | — | not available |
| Investment | — | not available |

## Is your money watched?

Long story short: NO.
Foreign tax offices see next to nothing of what you do in **Iran**: it has signed *few exchange frameworks*.

But the *corporate registries are public*: your shareholdings and directorships are one search away for anyone curious. Invisible from abroad, on display at home.

**Multilateral reporting frameworks — 0/9 active**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRS | None | — |
| CARF | None | — |
| FATCA | None | — |
| MLI | None | — |
| BEPS | None | — |
| MAAC | None | — |
| GLOBAL FORUM | None | — |
| EOIR | None | — |
| CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE | None | — |

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: YES.
**Iran** sits on an **international embargo list** (UN, US or EU sanctions). This is not blacklist friction, it's the financial death penalty: correspondent banking is gone, payment rails refuse the corridor, and simply transacting with the country can put *you* on a sanctions desk's radar.

Whatever the tax math says, the jurisdiction is radioactive. Walk away.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 3 authorities**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Listed | un / us / eu sanctions |
| FATF | Listed | grey / black list |
| EU | Clear | non-cooperative list |
| FRANCE | Clear | ETNC list |
| SPAIN | Clear | tax-haven list |
| PORTUGAL | Clear | favourable regimes |
| BRAZIL | Listed | low-tax list |

## Do you feel free there?

Long story short: NO.
Press freedom in **Iran** is *locked down* (RSF rank **\#176**). Independent media and civic space operate under pressure (when they operate at all), and that kind of grip usually spills over into economic life too.

Small mercy: crypto isn't formally banned.

**08.1 Press freedom**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Press freedom · RSF index | 176/180 | score 16 · · 0 rank year-on-year |

Central bank digital currency

    Program Status Cross-border Sources     Digital Rial

The main motivation for Iran's CBDC is to modernize its financial system and provide a secure and efficient means of payment. The development of a digital rial would also give the Central Bank of Iran more control over the country's monetary policy and can help to circumvent international sanctions. Additionally, the pilot launch of the CBDC could help to test the feasibility of such a currency and assess its potential impact on the economy before a full-scale implementation.

Central Bank of Iran

   PILOT   —   [announce →](https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2024/11/25/3206932/iran-central-bank-governor-announces-imminent-launch-of-digital-rial "Announcement")

 programs 1

## Connected to the world?

Long story short: COMPLETELY CUT OFF.
**Iran** is unplugged from the global money grid: **0/11** of the services we track work here. No *Stripe*, no *Amazon*, and almost nothing around them either.

Whatever your plan is, the payment layer gets built from scratch, with local banks and local rules. Come for other reasons; connectivity isn't one of them.

**Accept payments — 0/6 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stripe | Not available | card payments |
| PayPal | Not available | wallet payments |
| Adyen | Not available | enterprise psp |
| Mollie | Not available | eu payments |
| GoCardless | Not available | direct debit |
| Paddle | Not available | merchant of record |

**Bank and move money — 0/3 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wise | Not available | multi-currency |
| Revolut | Not available | personal banking |
| Revolut Business | Not available | business banking |

**Buy and sell on Amazon — 0/2 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Amazon | Not available | consumer delivery |
| Amazon Seller | Not available | marketplace selling |

  SEE ALSO## Other jurisdictions worth comparing

Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Iran. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Cuba CU  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/cu) [   Sudan SD  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sd) [   Syria SY  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sy)

  NOTABLY MORE FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, higher total score.

 [   Cook Islands CK  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ck) [   Fiji FJ  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/fj) [   Solomon Islands SB  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/sb)