22.12.2025 15:02
In Adana, lawyer Emre Çulhacı experienced the shock of his life when he learned that there was a tax debt of 2 billion 650 million 843 thousand 607 lira registered in his name as a traffic fine. It was revealed that the incident occurred due to a clerical error at the tax office. Çulhacı said, "I encountered an astronomical figure. I thought they must be reading it wrong. But this amount really appeared in the system."
Emre Çulhacı, a lawyer living in the Kozan district of Adana, experienced the shock of his life when he learned that there was a tax debt of 2 billion 650 million 843 thousand 607 lira attributed to him due to a traffic fine. After overcoming the shock of this amount, which corresponds to about one-thirtieth of the total traffic fines issued in Turkey last year, lawyer Çulhacı corrected the mistake through discussions.
"I THOUGHT THEY MUST BE READING IT WRONG"
Explaining that he experienced the incident due to a clerical error made by the Çukurova Tax Office, lawyer Emre Çulhacı said, "Since it is the end of the year, when we, as lawyers, request acquittal attorney fees, we need to receive a 'no debt' letter from the administrative affairs unit of the prosecutor's office. However, I was warned that I had a serious public debt from the Kozan Prosecutor's Office and that deductions would be made here, which prompted me to investigate. I thought they must be reading it wrong," he said.
"I ENCOUNTERED AN ASTRONOMICAL FIGURE LIKE 2 BILLION 650 MILLION"
Initially thinking that the figure was read incorrectly, Çulhacı stated, "An incredible amount was being mentioned. It was a figure that was told to me with one household missing, and that was already a very high amount. At first, it was said that there was a debt of about 2 million TL. I couldn't believe that either. But later, I encountered an astronomical figure of 2 billion 650 million TL. I received a debt status letter from the Digital Tax Office through E-Government. I started working to correct the process. Indeed, this amount was visible in the system. However, when I looked at the overdue debts, I realized that the situation was different. When I looked at the current debt in dollar terms, it amounted to 63.5 million dollars. I had an unpaid erroneous 'u' turn fine of 1042 TL," he said.
"EQUIVALENT TO 250 CARS, 660 APARTMENTS"
Çulhacı stated, "As a result of discussions with the authorities, it was indicated that this was a clerical error and that I had no such debt. In the newly obtained debt status letter, the actual debt amount was stated. Our main grievance is this; we are currently trying to determine whether any deductions have been made from the acquittal attorney fees we received from different prosecutor's offices. Even if the debt does not appear this way, we are tracking it if there was a deduction. I experienced a huge shock all of a sudden. The fact that the debt appeared as a traffic fine somewhat relieved me because extraordinary measures would be required for such a high traffic fine. I tried to calm myself by thinking that a debt of 2.5 billion TL stemmed from a systemic error. I have been a lawyer for 5 years, and I have not encountered anyone around me who has faced such a large-scale error. It is such an amount that it is equivalent to 1,250 cars worth 2 million lira each or 660 apartments worth 4 million lira each," he concluded.