Afghan Biographies
Interim Taliban Administration Domestic Taxes and Income
| Name | Interim Taliban Administration Domestic Taxes and Income |
| Ethnic backgr. | |
| Date of birth | |
| Function/Grade | Background |
| History and Biodata | 1. Foreign donations Several Afghan and US officials have long accused certain countries - including Pakistan, Iran and Russia - of giving financial aid to the Taliban. This is a practice they frequently deny. However, private citizens from Pakistan and several Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are considered to be the largest individual contributors. Although impossible to measure exactly, these sources of funding are thought to provide a significant proportion of the Taliban's revenue. According to experts it could be as much as $500m a year.
These links are long-standing. A classified US intelligence report estimated that in 2008 the Taliban received $106m from foreign sources, in particular from the Gulf states. 2. Drug trade The Taliban have long been thought to run a taxation system to cover their insurgent operations, including on the illegal drug trade. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium, which can be refined to make heroin. With an estimated annual export value of $1.5-$3bn, opium is big business, supplying the overwhelming majority of heroin worldwide. A 10% cultivation tax is collected from opium farmers, according to Afghan government officials. Taxes are also reportedly collected from the laboratories converting opium into heroin, as well as the traders who smuggle the illicit drugs.
Estimates of the Taliban's annual earnings from the illicit drug economy range from $100m-$400m. The drug trade accounts for up to 60% of the Taliban's annual revenue, said US commander General John Nicholson in the 2018 Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (Sigar) report. But some experts say this figure is an overestimation.
The Taliban often deny their involvement in the drug industry, and take pride in having banned opium poppy cultivation for a period while in power in 2000. 3. Expanding areas of control The Taliban's financial network extends well beyond taxing just the opium business. In an open letter in 2018, the Taliban warned Afghan traders to pay their taxes on various goods - including fuel and construction material - when travelling through areas they controlled. After ousting the Afghan government, the Taliban now controls all the major trade routes in the country, as well as border crossings - creating more potential sources of revenue from imports and exports. Over the past two decades, a significant amount of Western money has also unintentionally ended up in Taliban pockets. Firstly, the Taliban have taxed development and infrastructure projects - including roads, schools, and clinics - mostly funded by the West. Secondly, the Taliban are thought to have made tens of millions of dollars annually from taxing truckers supplying international forces stationed in various parts of the country. They are also thought to have made a significant amount of money from services provided by the Afghan government. The head of Afghanistan's Electricity Company told the BBC in 2018 that the Taliban were earning more than $2m a year by billing electricity consumers in different parts of the country.
And there is also income generated directly from conflict. Each time the Taliban captures a military post or an urban centre, they empty treasuries and seizes scores of weapons, as well as cars and armoured vehicles. 4. Mines and minerals Afghanistan is rich in minerals and precious stones, much of it under-exploited as a result of the years of conflict. The mining industry in Afghanistan is worth an estimated $1bn annually, according to Afghan government officials. Most of the extraction is small scale and much of it is done illegally. The Taliban have taken control of mining sites and extorted money from ongoing legal and illegal mining operations. In its 2014 annual report, the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said the Taliban received more than $10m a year from 25 to 30 illegal mining operations in southern Helmand province.
World Bank June 2025): During the third month (M3) of the fiscal year,revenue collection amounted to approximately AFN 17.5 billion (around USD 250 million), reflecting a 9.5 percent increase compared to the same month last year. Over the first three months of FY2025, total domestic revenue collection reached AFN 59.1 billion (approximately USD 830 million), equivalent to about 4 percent of GDP and representing a 12 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase. Tax revenues increased by 11.7 percent YoY to AFN 22.8 billion, primarily driven by strengthened tax enforcement and a recovery in demand, contributing 4.4 percentage points to an overall revenue increase. Customs duties increased moderately by 3.7 percent to AFN 16.5 billion, supported by improved border management and recent tariff hikes on select goods aimed at protecting domestic industries, contributing 0.9 percentage points to overall revenue growth. Non-tax revenues grew more robustly, rising by 19 percent to AFN 19.9 billion and contributing 6.2 percentage points to overall revenue growth. Key sources included toll collections from road and transport services, passport issuance, higher overflight fees following the Iran-Israel conflict, as well as receipts from railway services and telecommunications. Revenues from other sources declined slightly by 1.5 percent, falling from AFN 163 million in the first quarter of FY2024 to AFN 160 million in the same period of FY2025. However, Afghanistan's GDP is estimated to have grown 2.5 percent in 2024, marking the second consecutive year of economic expansion. The recovery is primarily driven by the agriculture, mining, construction and commerce |
| Last Modified | 2025-08-07 |
| Established | 2025-08-07 |