Minister Şimşek announced! Tax is coming for crypto assets and stock market gains.

The Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, answered questions about current issues in a television broadcast. Minister Şimşek stated that they will not step back in the fight against the informal economy and mentioned that they are working on the taxation of crypto assets and stock market gains.

MINISTER ŞIMŞEK: WE WILL ESTABLISH TAX JUSTICE

Highlights from Minister Şimşek's statements are as follows: "Currently, many sectors are trying to avoid taxes. There is a significant level of informal economy. We will achieve results by combating this. We will expand the tax base to achieve results. We will achieve results by eliminating exceptions. We will establish tax justice. More tax for those who earn more, less tax for those who earn less. The ratio of all taxes collected in OECD countries to national income is 34%. The EU average is over 41%. In Turkey, it is 20.8%. We have the second lowest tax burden among OECD countries. The ratio of indirect taxes to national income is 9.1%. In the EU, this ratio is 13.6%. The problem is that direct tax revenues are low in Turkey. In other words, the taxes we collect from companies.

"THE NOISE CREATED IS NOT TRUE"

Our aim is not to impose a new tax burden on our citizens. The government exempted the minimum wage from taxes. Previously, the lowest income tax bracket was 22%. We reduced it to 15%. The lowest income tax rate was 35%, and the AK Party government increased it to 40%. Last year, as soon as we came to power, we increased corporate tax from 20% to 25%. Therefore, the noise created is not true.

"WE WILL NOT STEP BACK IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE INFORMAL ECONOMY"

Currently, VAT is 1% for many food products. We exempt fertilizers and animal feed from VAT for our farmers. We apply reduced VAT rates in many sectors. We reduced the VAT on electricity used in households. We made 850 thousand artisans completely exempt from taxes. In this tax package, we have a minimum of 15% corporate tax for multinational companies based abroad. We are working on corporate tax for domestic companies. The average annual income declared by our lawyers is 17,500 TL. These are very low amounts. We will follow and request explanations for these. We will fight against the informal economy. What we are trying to explain is the minimum corporate tax, the minimum income tax, the fight against the informal economy, and the elimination of exceptions.

"WE WILL INCLUDE CRYPTO ASSETS IN THE TAX SCOPE"

We will include crypto assets in the tax scope. Maybe not in this package, but we are working on the taxation of stock market gains in the next package.

"WE WILL NOW CONDUCT REVENUE DETERMINATION IN BUSINESSES"

We will now conduct revenue determination in businesses. We will sit at the cash register and determine revenue from morning to closing time. We will repeat this on different days and months. If the declaration does not match this, we will invite for an explanation. For this, we will request authority. In 2023, 454 thousand companies declared losses. If you add those who declare symbolic profits, more than half of the companies subject to corporate tax are trying to evade taxes. If anyone from the Ministry of Treasury and Finance says that they can prepare a report on artificial intelligence, our door is open. 1.2 million taxpayers declared losses. There are significant discrepancies between their declarations and revenues. I am warning those who earn a lot. The penalties for their efforts to evade taxes will be more severe. We will increase inspections. We will gradually introduce more algorithms and artificial intelligence.

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE TAX PACKAGE?

If you ask what is included in today's tax package. What passed through our filter is a minimum corporate tax from multinational companies and all companies operating in Turkey. We aim to increase the tax rate for companies operating under build-operate-transfer projects above the corporate tax rate. In our draft, there is no mention of tips or motorcycle couriers."