Remarks that left a mark on budget talks: IYI Party MP gives Mehmet Şimşek a nickname

During the budget negotiations in the TBMM, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek was the target of the opposition.

"TAX-O-MATIC MEHMET"

IYI Party Aydın MP Ömer Karakaş, stating that Mehmet Şimşek, who returned to the post of Treasury and Finance Minister for the second time in 2023, is constantly trying to create new taxes, said: "Unfortunately, Tax-o-matic Mehmet has brought the country to such a state that people will soon be paying taxes on the air they breathe. Do not make the citizens revolt, do not torment the citizens any further."

"OUR CITIZENS CANNOT MAKE ENDS MEET, CANNOT HEAT THEIR HOMES, CANNOT FIND SHELTER"

According to the report in Sözcü, Karakaş compared the number of unemployed people with the number of refugees, stating: "There are 11 million unemployed in our country, and there are over 11 million asylum seekers. Our citizens cannot make ends meet, cannot heat their homes, cannot find shelter. It is not food but stones boiling in the pot. In the last year, the number of people with credit card debt has exceeded 41 million 376 thousand. The number of people who have fallen into legal follow-up because they could not pay their loans has reached 1 million 503 thousand."

"PROBLEMS FROM THE STONE AGE PERSIST"

Drawing attention to the recent rise in high inflation and housing problems, Karakaş stated: "In the Stone Age, people had 3 basic problems. These were shelter, nutrition, and security. When we come to 2024 Turkey, the same problems from the Stone Age still persist. In our country, problems of shelter, nutrition, and security still exist."

"WE ARE STRIVING TO LEAVE NO AREA UNTAXED"

Mehmet Şimşek, who increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) on cleaning products in the summer of 2023 when he took office and ensured that a Special Consumption Tax (SCT) hike was applied to fuel products every 6 months, had also attempted to collect taxes from citizens with credit card limits of 100 thousand TL and above. In a recent statement, Şimşek had used the phrase "We are striving to leave no area untaxed."

News Source: 12punto