Iraq's Income Tax Law grants the taxpayer the right to object to their income assessment within 21 days of being notified of it. If the objection is rejected, they may appeal the decision to the Review Committee within a further 21 days from being notified of the rejection, and if the tax under the decision exceeds ten thousand dinars, it may be further contested before a special Cassation Board within 15 days.

Objecting to the Tax Authority

The law provides that a taxpayer, after being notified of the assessed income and the resulting tax, may submit a written objection to the tax authority that notified them of the assessment, or to any office of the General Commission for Taxes, within 21 days of being notified, stating the grounds for the objection and the adjustment requested, and they must submit the books, records and data on their income needed to substantiate the objection. The objection will not be considered unless the taxpayer pays the assessed tax during the objection period, with the possibility of paying it in installments if unable to pay it in full.

Appealing to the Review Committee

If the tax authority rejects the taxpayer's objection to the amount of income or tax, they may appeal its decision to the Review Committee by a petition submitted to it or to any office of the General Commission for Taxes, within 21 days of being notified of the rejection of their objection, and they must substantiate this with documents, records and other data. The Committee may annul, uphold, increase or reduce the assessment, stating the grounds for its decision.

The Review Committee's Powers

The Review Committee's authority is not limited to upholding or annulling the assessment; the Committee considers and decides on everything related to the assessment of income, its liability to tax, refunds and allowances, and the tax authority must implement the Committee's decisions once notified of them, as must the taxpayer. This makes the Committee a comprehensive competent body that considers the whole of the tax dispute, not just a single point in it.

Cassation Before the Cassation Board

Decisions of the appeal committees are final if the tax amount involved is ten thousand dinars or less. If the tax amount in the decision exceeds ten thousand dinars, the tax authority and the taxpayer may contest it within 15 days from the date of notification before a special Cassation Board formed under the chairmanship of a Court of Cassation judge with the membership of representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the commercial and industrial sectors, and the Board's decision is final.

Why Are These Administrative Channels the Only Route?

The law confines the consideration of tax disputes to these graduated administrative channels, expressly providing that the courts will not hear any case relating to the assessment, imposition or collection of the tax, or any transaction carried out under the provisions of the law. This makes the objection, followed by the appeal, followed by the cassation appeal, the exclusive legal paths a taxpayer must follow to contest their tax assessment.

The Cassation Fee

A taxpayer wishing to lodge a cassation appeal against an appeal committee's decision must pay a fee to the General Commission for Taxes' fund, set at 1% of the tax amount in the decision under appeal, with a maximum of one thousand dinars, and this fee is treated as final revenue for the public treasury.

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