07.11.2025 12:14
The Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, answered the questions of the members of parliament after the discussions on the 2026 budget in the TBMM Planning and Budget Commission. In response to the question, "Will there be a tax amnesty?" Minister Şimşek stated, "If our taxpayer presents their balance sheet and income statement and shows that they are in difficulty, we would be happy to arrange installment payments. However, we do not have any legal regulation on the agenda for this."
```html
The Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, answered the questions of the members of parliament after the budget discussions of his ministry and its affiliated institutions for the year 2026 in the TBMM Planning and Budget Commission.
"REGULATIONS WERE MADE IN THE PAST PERIODS"
Responding to the questions of the members of parliament regarding the tax amnesty, Şimşek said: "Regulations were made in the past periods. Generally, there was no reduction or cancellation of the principal taxes in the regulations. Only the late payment interest and penalties were updated in line with the inflation rate.
It is very clear that the restructuring disrupts tax compliance. If our taxpayer presents their balance sheet and income statement and shows that they are in difficulty, we will gladly allow installment payments. In this sense, the restructuring is open to everyone in difficulty. There is no legal regulation on our agenda for this. We do not find it appropriate to reward those who do not pay their taxes on time."
"DO YOU WANT TAX ON MINIMUM WAGE?"
Şimşek, referring to the reduction of tax expenditures, emphasized that in 2026, 1 trillion 92 billion liras of tax expenditures stemmed from excluding the minimum wage from taxation. Şimşek noted: "Do you want tax on minimum wage? One-third of tax expenditures is due to the exclusion of minimum wage from taxation. You do these to encourage investment, production, and exports. You do this for employment. The total amount of these is 641.5 billion liras. The share allocated for supporting disadvantaged groups, especially individuals with disabilities, education, health, culture, and sports activities is approximately 265 billion liras. The share allocated for supporting farmers' agricultural activities is 262 billion liras. Should we increase the taxes on our farmers? Should we also tax feed and fertilizer? These are what you call tax debt cancellation. Because outside of this, tax debts cannot be canceled; all of these are done by law, and I have no intervention in any of them."
"YOU CANNOT MAKE A BURGEOIS CAPITALIST OUT OF ME"
Minister Şimşek said, "You cannot make a bourgeois capitalist out of me, friends, it is impossible. Look, I am the one who increased the corporate tax by 5 points, I am the one who raised the banks' tax from 20% to 30%, I am the one who increased the banks' fees by 50%, I am the one who introduced a minimum corporate tax in the domestic market, I am the one who introduced a minimum corporate tax for global companies. I am the one who removed the 50% capital gains exemption on the sale of real estate by companies, I am the one who reduced the exemption on the sale of shares in subsidiaries. I am the one who increased the withholding tax on dividends from 10% to 15%. Currently, deposits and funds up to 6 months maturity constitute 95% of the total. We increased their tax to 17.5%. If I am a rentier, if I represent global capital, how can I increase the interest on deposits from 5% to 17.5%. No capitalist comes out of me. I am here to provide public service." he said.
```