Everything You Need to Know About Clearance with Someone Else's Business Card

Since there are restrictions on the import and clearance of certain goods from customs, many merchants may use someone else's business card to carry out their business affairs. Although using someone else's business card is considered illegal, there are solutions that allow you to legally clear goods using another person's business card.

The laws in Iran are established to minimize the misuse of others' identities and protect individuals' privacy in business transactions. If you have a power of attorney from the owner of the business card and commit to covering all taxes and customs fees, you can easily and legally use someone else's business card. Otherwise, the law considers you a criminal and imposes penalties accordingly.

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How to Clear Our Goods from Customs without a Business Card?

For the import and export of many goods in Iran, you are required to have a business card. However, if you meet one of the following conditions, you can clear your desired goods from customs without the need for a business card:

• To clear goods without a business card, you must obtain the necessary license from the relevant authority, although this may not be required for certain types of goods. For instance, manufacturing factories that import various equipment, machinery, and related parts do not need a business card. In this case, specific licenses are issued to these manufacturing units. These licenses are typically issued once and are valid for a maximum of six months. If you meet the necessary conditions, this period can be extended. It should be noted that if you require a continuous supply of raw materials, you cannot use a specific license, and you must take the necessary steps to obtain a business card.
• If you have a nationwide mining establishment permit or an exploitation license in Iran, you can clear certain goods from customs without a business card. In this case, you no longer need to clear goods with someone else's business card. In both cases, the relevant authorities must examine individuals' records and ensure that no specific licenses have been issued to them in the past. Only then can the process of clearing goods without a business card be carried out.

The Steps to Obtain a Business Card

If you have your own exclusive business card, the customs clearance process for your goods is much faster, and you no longer need to go through the steps of clearing goods with someone else's business card and facing its challenges. You may have wondered about the steps to obtain a business card and how you can have your own exclusive business card.

read more: Import of Goods with Business Card

To obtain a business card, you need to follow the steps below:

1. First, you need to enter the Iran Comprehensive Trade System website at https://ntsw.ir/ and then select the "Register" option.
2. On the page that opens, enter your personal information and save it.
3. Upload documents related to obtaining a business card, such as the completed form, a passport-sized photo, a copy of your ID card and national card, a certificate of no criminal record, your latest educational certificate, economic code, and lease agreement or property document to this system.
4. After that, you should complete and electronically submit your signature certificate on a provided form to the Iran Comprehensive Trade System.
5. All individuals and legal entities can log in to this system using their username and password to find out about the status of their document verification process. If all your documents are complete, you will be notified by SMS, and if there are any deficiencies in your documents, you will also be informed.
6. Upon verification of your application, you must participate in the online training courses provided.
7. Two to three days after completing the training course, your business card will be issued and sent to the address you have provided to the organization.
8. The delivery of your card through postal services takes between 5 to 7 business days.
9. To prevent the misuse of business cards by others, the card is only delivered to the cardholder. If you are not present during the postal officer's visit, the card will be returned to the Chamber of Commerce, and you will need to reapply for document submission to the organization.

read more: Documents Required for Goods Clearance

Is it Allowed to Import Using someone else's Business Card or Not?

Since many brokers and profiteers use the business cards of individuals with no prior experience to engage in unrestricted imports of consumer goods, importing with someone else's business card is considered an illegal act and is deemed a crime because the government cannot collect income taxes from these individuals.

Since the income of ordinary individuals is to some extent subject to tax exemptions, the government's revenue from customs clearance using other people's business cards may be lost. For this reason, any rental, purchase, sale, and use of other people's business cards for importing goods is illegal.

Profiteers pay a small amount to the owner of the business card for each item imported, but on the other hand, they earn substantial income through tax evasion schemes. Many experts believe that the requirement for business cards for imports and exports should be eliminated, and other laws should replace it.

Laws Regarding the Rental of Business Cards

As mentioned in previous sections, many profiteers deceive low-income individuals and encourage them to obtain a business card. They then use this card for importing and clearing their goods through customs. Importing goods with someone else's business card is one of the tax evasion methods used by traffickers and brokers.

When a person's debts accumulate, and the tax authorities come to collect their taxes from the cardholder, they realize that this individual has very low income and cannot afford to pay taxes. Typically, profiteers use forged documents to deceive low-income individuals and take advantage of them. Therefore, it is better never to seek the rental of a business card and instead earn income through legal means.

Final Words

If you are familiar with legal methods for importing various types of goods, you can easily and completely legally import your desired items into Iran without the need for clearing goods with someone else's business card. In this regard, experts of Gezderazi Trading Group are ready to provide free consultation to you. For more information, please contact us so that we can inform you about various legal methods of customs clearance.