Democracy is Free

Socio-economic studies conducted on Turkey show that 10% of the population lives at Western European standards, while 10% lives at Eastern European standards. The remaining 80% is condemned to poverty, ignorance, and misery. The disparity has reached such terrifying dimensions that a person who sells one of their three or five houses for 10 million and puts it into a monthly interest account earns as much net interest income in one month as two years of minimum wage. While indirect taxation was at the 30% level in 1980, it has exceeded 60% these days. Conversely, taxes taken from income have dropped from 60% to 30%. In other words, as the rich got richer, they started paying less tax, and because they paid less tax and avoided taxes, they became even richer. The tax burden was placed on the poor, and naturally, the poor became poorer day by day.

In recent weeks, I went to the Land Registry Office to see the lies I already knew to be true. The place was full of suitcases. Since there are no banknotes larger than 200 TL, the money doesn't even fit in a sack. You need a suitcase. Showing the sale price lower in the land registry is one of the most common forms of tax evasion. Listings on the yellow website and regional averages are clear. There is a 4% title deed fee, a capital gains tax of up to 45% if sold before 5 years, and a tax loss penalty and interest equal to the total amount of evaded tax. There is a reward equal to one-tenth of all this. According to tax legislation, those who report tax evasion are given a 10% reward. It is enough to call ALO189 and report it. Don't bother thinking about the big fish; we ordinary people have no chance of fighting against them. Stories like Dilan Polat or SBK are just a distraction. Citizens should focus on those who block traffic by passing them while they are going to work like sardines. That is, those who get rich by avoiding taxes from all of us. The big fish are the state's business, while the small fish are the citizen's business. Reporting is free. If it yields no results, there is no harm done. In the Republic of Turkey, reporting a suspected crime to ALO189 is not a crime. Moreover, trying it is free.

On the other hand, isn't it a separate shame that the land registry officer doesn't say anything when a property worth ten cents is sold for one cent in front of them? Don't they think, "Since you are selling a ten-cent item for one cent, sell it to me for one and a half cents so I can earn my next forty years of salary at once and resign"? Such blatant tax evasion is very disturbing.

Let's do the math together. If the sale price of a 10 million property is shown as 1 in the official records, tax is being evaded on a 9 million transaction. If 4% of the difference—that is, 360 thousand TL in title deed fees—and the income tax arising from the approximately 2-4 million in earnings if the property was sold before 5 years, along with the tax loss penalty and interest on all of this, are collected thanks to a citizen's report, the reporter earns a 10% reward. In other words, you can buy one house from the same place with an average of 10 reports. Those who have more profitable things to do have read this article in vain. However, retirees, the unemployed, those with low incomes, or those who are unhappy with their jobs can report those who come with suitcases, those who carry money in bags, and those they suspect to ALO189.

Just as we have no country other than Turkey, I believe Turkey has no citizens other than us to stop this injustice. Exercising one's democratic right to report a tax thief and earn a reward can turn into a successful and profitable cooperation for both the citizen and the state during the current period of stagflation.