Tax expert explains: What are the tax-free prices of cigarettes and alcohol?
Tax expert Dr. Ozan Bingöl has revealed how the Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV) burden applied to fuel and alcoholic beverages drives up prices. He explained how low the prices of many products, from gasoline to alcohol and cigarettes, could be if it weren't for these taxes.
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For nearly 25 years, a tax on tax has been paid on many products, primarily fuel, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco, through the Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV). Tax expert Dr. Ozan Bingöl explained what the prices of alcohol, cigarettes, and fuel would be if they were tax-free.
Bingöl calculated the tax-free price of fuel as follows: "The tax-free price of a liter of gasoline sold for 41.55 liras is 23 liras and 33 kuruş. The product is taxed by adding an 11.30 TL ÖTV burden on top of this price.
Then, when a 20 percent VAT is added to the taxed amount of 34 liras and 63 kuruş, the price becomes 41.55 TL. Because VAT is also charged on the ÖTV, the public pays 2 liras and 30 kuruş extra for a liter of gasoline that should normally be 39.3 liras."
Bingöl calculated that for a 70cl bottle of rakı, the ÖTV amount rose from 334.72 TL to 399.96 TL, the VAT amount rose from 116.50 TL to 142.21 TL, and the total tax amount increased from 451.22 TL to 542.17 TL. Sharing on his social media account, Bingöl stated that the price of a 70cl bottle of rakı has risen to 853 TL.
Explaining the tax rates on cigarettes, Bingöl stated, "-51.85 TL of a pack of cigarettes with a sales price of 60 TL, -56.91 TL of a pack of cigarettes with a sales price of 70 TL, and -63.93 TL of a pack of cigarettes with a sales price of 80 TL consist of taxes."