Turkish tax authority targets wealthy non-filers

ANKARA

The Treasury and Finance Ministry’s Tax Inspection Board (VDK) is set to issue notices to 16,300 high-income taxpayers who failed to file income declarations despite lavish spending patterns.

According to ministry sources, the initiative is part of the VDK’s ongoing High-Income Groups Oversight and Compliance Program, designed to ensure that declared income aligns with actual spending.

The program’s first phase focuses on shareholders of large corporations who maintain luxury lifestyles without declaring income, or whose reported earnings are inconsistent with their expenditures. These individuals will be formally notified and invited to meetings to clarify their tax obligations.

The oversight also extends to individuals without corporate ties but who engage in conspicuous consumption, such as purchasing luxury cars, real estate, jewelry, designer goods, yachts and exclusive event tickets. Where income levels cannot reasonably explain such spending, taxpayers will be reminded of their fiscal responsibilities.

This marks the second major wave of the program. In its initial rollout, launched in 2025, the VDK scrutinized 10,000 shareholders of large-scale companies who had not filed income tax returns for 2023–2024. That effort led to a collective tax base increase of 15 billion Turkish Liras.