Luxury vehicles under the Treasury's lens: Here are the 7 brands being tracked

According to information obtained from the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, the Tax Inspection Board (VDK) has placed taxpayers who do not declare taxes commensurate with their expenditures under scrutiny, in line with the message and instructions of Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek: "We will increase justice and efficiency in taxation, and we will collect more taxes from those who earn more. We are improving budget financing by combating the informal economy."

Tax inspectors have begun investigating how individuals who own luxury vehicles acquired these vehicles and whether they have declared the income used to purchase them.

Studies conducted on 7,885 vehicles in the luxury segment identified taxpayers who have no income declaration or company partnership, or who, despite having a partnership, have not had their companies distribute dividends. It was observed that these luxury vehicles include 2022, 2023, and 2024 models of Porsche, Bentley, Ferrari, Lotus, Maserati, Mercedes (Maybach, G, S), and BMW (740, I7) brands.

In these efforts, taxpayers who have acquired luxury vehicles with unregistered income will be the primary target group.

The investigations determined that approximately 3 thousand vehicles are registered to individuals, 2 thousand of whom hold partnerships in 7 thousand companies, and among these, only 300 companies distributed profits in 2022 and 2023.

It was determined that 780 of the vehicles examined were registered to individuals who are not taxpayers, and these individuals have no source of income.

It was found that only 150 of the luxury vehicle owners have a tax liability, and 100 of them reported profits of less than 1 million liras.

The investigations are prioritizing individuals who are not taxpayers, have no partnership in a company, and have no other declared income. Subsequently, work will be carried out targeting taxpayers who are company partners but have no profit distribution or other declared income.

In this context, 500 vehicle owners were initially referred for tax audits to determine whether this situation, which is inconsistent with their income, is related to unreported earnings.

The Tax Inspection Board (VDK) also encountered remarkable examples during its investigation.

In another instance, it was determined that individuals with no declared income and no business partnerships purchased Bentley vehicles in 2023 for 27 million lira.

For example, it was found that business owners purchased Mercedes vehicles in 2023 for prices reaching 23 million lira, while their companies had only a few million lira in net profit over the last two periods and had not distributed any dividends. Inspections revealed that the vehicle costs were paid from company bank accounts but were not reflected in the records.

Tax inspectors will determine the source of income used to acquire the luxury vehicles in question and ensure that this income is taxed. Money laundering investigations will also be conducted for those for whom no legal source can be identified.

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance will expand and continue such preliminary investigations within the framework of new findings from risk analysis units, broadening their scope.