Turkey’s 50-year-old tax code to change: Minister

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s tax procedure code has been revised and will be in effect soon, said Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek. 

“We are about to finalize our revision on the drafted code. The number of articles has decreased from 521 to 321 in the Turkish tax procedure law thanks to the revision, which started two years ago,” Şimşek said. 

Şimşek noted that the existing code has been in effect since 1961 and such a big change in the half century-old code constitutes a considerable reform. 

The first revision started in September 2013, according to Şimşek. 

“In the rewriting process, we took views from the Union of Chambers of Certified Accountants of Turkey (TÜRMOB), the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), universities, Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD), the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD), Turkey’s Banking Association and Turkey’s Bars Association. We also examined the draft law, which was prepared by the Tax Council,” Şimşek said. 

The views of the General Directorate of Revenue, court decisions and several publications about the issue were also examined, he said, adding that the rewriting process started in December 2014 after these examinations and exchanges of opinions. 

Şimşek said the details of the new drafted law will be announced in the coming days. 

Many articles were revised in line with the new electronic procedures and applications, he noted, adding that a number of new articles were written in accordance with the conditions of several international treaties. 

In line with the fight against informal economy, many articles were revised, especially in penalty conditions. 

“The concept of the tax payers has been emphasized in the new law. By detecting the tax payers’ taxing adaptation degrees, we’ll apply positive discrimination against highly adaptable tax payers,” he said. 

After the draft law is shared with the public, it will be shared with the other ministries and then presented to the cabinet, Şimşek said.