A new era begins for taxis: Penalties for those who do not take a receipt

A real-basis taxation period for commercial taxis has begun as of today. With the new regulation, taxis that acquire a new license plate and change their taximeter will be required to install a "Taxi Fiscal Device" in their vehicles to automatically issue a receipt/invoice for every customer. Penalties will be imposed on passengers who do not request a receipt.

TAXI OWNERS WILL PAY 45 PERCENT OF THEIR EARNINGS AS TAX

The taxi sector, which has been taxed under a simplified method for many years, will now be taxed on a real basis. Taxi plate owners, who previously paid symbolic taxes, will now be liable to pay taxes of up to 45 percent of their earnings. This situation will significantly increase the financial burden on taxi owners in the sector.

Before the pandemic, taxi plate owners could afford to own multiple apartments, but it has now become quite difficult to find the money required to buy an apartment in a neighborhood in Istanbul. While plate prices have reached the 10 million lira level, it is predicted that with the increase in taxes, prices could drop to as low as 8 million lira when taxi plate owners begin to sell their vehicles.

MANDATORY FOR NEW PLATE HOLDERS AND THOSE CHANGING TAXIMETERS

Taxi owners who will acquire a new taxi plate or change their taximeter will be required to install a Taxi Fiscal Device in their vehicles. For existing taxi owners, this system will be mandatory by September 1, 2026. The Taxi Fiscal Device and taximeters will work integrated with each other, and manual processing will not be permitted.

POS DEVICE PRACTICE ENDS

External POS devices will no longer be allowed in taxis. The external POS devices provided to taxi drivers by banks are becoming a thing of the past; from now on, all payment transactions will be carried out through the taximeter and the Taxi Fiscal Device.

LOCATION DATA WILL ALSO BE TRACKED

The Taxi Fiscal Device will receive location data, including latitude and longitude information via GPS, and store it along with time information. Thanks to this data, it will also be possible to monitor where customers who make card payments travel from and to.

RECEIPT/INVOICE OBLIGATION

It has been announced that penalties will be imposed on passengers who exit taxis without taking a receipt or invoice. It has become mandatory for people using taxis to request a receipt or invoice at the end of their trip. Penalties will be applied to passengers found not to have taken a receipt/invoice.

TAXI DRIVERS' EXPENSES CAN BE DEDUCTED FROM TAXES

The main expenses of taxi drivers, apart from fuel, consist of daily costs, vehicle repairs, and maintenance. These expenses can be shown as items that can be deducted in the tax calculation of taxi drivers. However, the fact that drivers have to pay their own social security (SGK) premiums and how payments such as VAT and income tax will be calculated based on their earnings remains uncertain.

The tax liability for taxis rented out by illegal dealers/brokers is also not yet clear. In particular, the tax rate on illegally rented taxi plates was very low, but with the new regulation, the VAT rates that taxi owners must pay due to daily turnover can be high.

With the new regulation, the payment of rental tax on the income obtained by those who rent out taxi plates may come to the agenda. In the past, income obtained by plate owners from vehicles they rented out remained outside of income tax, but with the new regulations, tax may be applied to rental income.

Taxi drivers working on a daily wage basis are expected to make payments such as VAT and income tax arising from their earnings. For example, if a taxi driver has a turnover of 10 thousand lira, the plate owner will pay the VAT on the earnings, and the driver will have to pay tax on the daily wage they receive. It is stated that this situation could lead to major difficulties in the sector.

DECLINE IN PLATE PRICES EXPECTED WITH NEW REGULATION

With the new regulations, it is estimated that taxi plates will be sold quickly, supply will increase, and demand will decrease. For this reason, a decline in the prices of taxi plates is expected. Furthermore, the fact that a large portion of taxi plates are owned through inheritance and are being put up for sale further increases the uncertainty in the sector.

CAN THE REGULATION REGARDING TAXES BE CHANGED?

Although it is known that non-governmental organizations are holding talks with state authorities to introduce a fixed-rate tax for taxi plates, it is stated that it is difficult to make changes because the regulation has already come into effect. Taxi tradesmen are demanding the application of lower tax rates and want the tax burden on the sector to be eased.