31.12.2024 15:02
The Ministry of Treasury and Finance has initiated work to impose a mandatory identification requirement for gold transactions exceeding 185,000 TL at jewelers, which is currently in effect but has not yet been implemented.
The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) had implemented a requirement for jewelers to present identification for large buying and selling transactions in order to prevent situations such as fraud and money laundering in recent years.
Despite being raised to 185 thousand lira in 2023, this regulation is not being applied in many parts of Turkey.
Currently, many jewelers do not request any identification even for transactions amounting to millions of lira, while the Ministry of Treasury and Finance has taken action to reverse this situation.
TRANSACTIONS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED
In recent months, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek stated that one of the sectors with the largest tax evasion in Turkey is jewelry and precious stones, announcing that a new team has been formed to conduct inspections on these businesses.
These teams will not be limited to evaluating the taxes paid by jewelers.
At the same time, the teams that will monitor illegal practices will examine whether jewelers have collected identification information and whether they have verified the accuracy of this information in transactions where the total amount is 185 thousand lira or more, or in multiple interconnected transactions where the total transaction amount exceeds 185 thousand lira.
Due to the heavy penalties that the ministry will impose, it is expected that jewelers will comply with the identification requirement in the new period and completely halt transactions for individuals who do not present identification in transactions exceeding the limit to be determined by 2025.