Now doctors are under the microscope! 13 billion lira in unregistered income detected

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance's audits in the fight against the informal economy continue without interruption. While the work carried out by the Revenue Administration continues unabated across all professional groups and sectors, the button has also been pressed for doctors' private practices.

In the work carried out by the GİB, the tax returns and financial compliance levels of taxpayers working as doctors in private practices were examined using artificial intelligence-supported analysis programs.

DIFFERENCES REACHING 400 PERCENT

It was determined that some doctors with private practices did not fully reflect the examination fees they received from patients, as well as the income they earned from procedures such as aesthetic and surgical operations and dental treatments, in their declarations, and that there were differences reaching 400 percent between their declared income and their actual earnings.

With artificial intelligence-supported analyses, the 3,663 most risky taxpayers among doctors with discrepancies between their tax declarations and income were identified in the first stage. It was understood that these taxpayers left approximately 13 billion lira in revenue unregistered.

GIANT GAP BETWEEN DECLARATION AND REALITY

It was also determined that some doctors operating in fields such as general surgery, orthopedics, and neurosurgery under-declared the surgery and examination fees they received from patients. It was found that surgeons, especially those working under contract with private hospitals or accepting patients in their own

practices, hid income that should have been taxed by showing surgery fees as low. In this study, it was seen that an obstetrician left 53 million lira of annual income undeclared and reported it as 6.5 million lira.

In the examinations directed at dentists, it was understood that income obtained especially from implants, prostheses, orthodontics, and aesthetic dental treatments was under-declared. It was determined that a dentist showed their annual revenue as 3 million lira despite earning 67 million lira.

INCOME FROM AESTHETICS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

The rapidly growing aesthetics sector in recent years has also been placed at the center of the audits. In the examinations conducted, it was seen that some doctors performing procedures such as rhinoplasty, fillers, botox, and liposuction under-declared the income they earned. It was determined that a significant portion of the income in some aesthetic clinics, especially those accepting patients from abroad and working with foreign currency, remained undeclared. Within the scope of the study, it was understood that a doctor specializing in hair transplantation earned 69 million lira in revenue despite declaring their annual income as 7 million lira.

Taxpayers who obtained unregistered earnings have begun to be invited to tax offices within the scope of voluntary compliance.

Within the scope of the study, 850 of the doctors invited to voluntary compliance in the first stage filed tax returns and corrected their tax bases.

STATEMENT FROM MINISTER ŞİMŞEK

Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek said that it is important for taxpayers who do not declare their earnings or under-declare them to contact tax offices within the scope of voluntary compliance efforts in order to avoid facing heavy penal sanctions.

Emphasizing that voluntary compliance efforts allow taxpayers to explain the issues asked by the tax administration, Şimşek stated the following:

"Our goal is not to punish anyone, but to tax earnings that have remained unregistered. Tax audits are conducted on taxpayers who do not show compliance during the voluntary compliance process and do not declare their unregistered earnings, or their period earnings are assessed by appraisal commissions. Our goal is to ensure justice and efficiency in taxation. Informality is the greatest injustice. Our determined fight on this issue will continue."