First 7 articles of the tax regulation bill have been approved

The Bill on Amendments to Tax Laws and Certain Other Laws was discussed in the TBMM General Assembly.

With the bill, an amendment was made to the Law on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables in line with a cancellation decision by the Council of State.

Accordingly, the Minister of Treasury and Finance will be authorized to require a "no debt" certificate for payments to be made by public administrations subject to the Public Financial Management and Control Law and revolving fund enterprises affiliated with these administrations, based on court decisions and payment or enforcement orders from enforcement offices.

With the amendment made to the Income Tax Law, for shares provided free of charge or at a discount to employees by employers qualifying as technology startups according to criteria determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the portion of the fair market value of these shares at the date of issuance that does not exceed the total annual gross wage for that year will be exempt from income tax.

If the shares acquired in this manner by the employee are disposed of within 3 full years from the date of acquisition, the entire exempted tax will be collected from the employer with delay interest without applying a tax loss penalty; if disposed of within 4 to 6 years, 75 percent of the exempted tax will be collected; and if disposed of within 7 to 12 years, 25 percent of the exempted tax will be collected. The statute of limitations for taxes not collected on time due to this exemption will begin at the start of the calendar year following the date the shares provided free of charge or at a discount are disposed of by the employee. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance will be authorized to determine the procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this provision.

TAXPAYERS WILL BE INVITED TO PROVIDE AN EXPLANATION IF A DIFFERENCE OF MORE THAN 20 PERCENT IS DETECTED

The monthly and annual revenue amounts of taxpayers will be determined by taking the average of daily revenue amounts detected as a result of inspections conducted on taxpayers. The revenue amounts determined in this way will be compared with the revenue amounts declared by the taxpayers for the period in which they operated, and if the difference found as a result of the comparison is more than 20 percent, taxpayers will be invited to provide an explanation within the scope of the "invitation to explain" mechanism in the Tax Procedure Law. This provision will also apply to corporate tax payers. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance will be authorized to determine the procedures and principles regarding the implementation of the article.

Payments made by intermediary service providers and electronic commerce intermediary service providers, which enable the conclusion of contracts or the placing of orders for the supply of goods or services by electronic commerce service providers in electronic commerce marketplaces, to service providers and electronic commerce service providers operating according to relevant provisions will be included in the scope of tax withholding.

It is envisaged that tax withholding will be applied to payments made to real persons regarding the purchase of goods and services, taking into account the sectors and activity areas determined by the President. This aims to ensure tax security and reduce the informal economy. The President will be granted the authority to set rates for payments subject to tax withholding, either separately or collectively, based on activity areas, payment types, sectors, business groups, and business types.

Taking into account the grounds for the Constitutional Court's annulment decision, the bill will introduce amendments to the Tax Procedure Law. Accordingly, the upper limit of the collateral to be requested from taxpayers within the scope of the collateral application will be set at 10 percent of the total amount stated in the issued fake documents, not to exceed 10 million liras.

While the period for providing the requested collateral is being extended from 30 to 60 days, it will be ensured that the collateral is returned to taxpayers who fulfill their obligations as prescribed, and that the designated persons are not held responsible for all tax debts accrued as of the date of the collateral request.

SPECIAL IRREGULARITY PENALTIES

With the amendment made to the Tax Procedure Law, the scope of the authority regarding the obligation to document collections and payments will be expanded to combat the informal economy.

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance aims to ensure tax security in cases where all kinds of digital environments, including the internet, are used for economic and commercial purposes such as advertising, announcements, sales, and rentals, in addition to electronic commerce. Accordingly, an obligation to provide notifications regarding their economic and commercial activities will be imposed on electronic commerce service providers, real and legal person intermediary service providers that provide an environment for the economic and commercial activities of others, as well as access, content, hosting, and social network providers. With the regulation, it will be mandatory for intermediary service providers, electronic commerce intermediary service providers, access, hosting, or social network providers to obtain information subject to notification regarding the economic and commercial activities of others, as well as information produced or provided by content providers.

According to the bill, the stock exchange price can be used as a valuation measure in the valuation transactions of precious metals traded on the precious metals exchange.

Precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium will be valued at the stock exchange price. If there is no stock exchange price or if it is understood that the stock exchange price was formed collusively, the cost price will be taken as the basis for valuation instead of this price. This provision will also apply to receivables and debts with or without promissory notes related to precious metals. Receivables and debts based on deposit or credit agreements involving precious metals will be taken into account with their interest calculated up to the valuation date. Regarding the conversion of receivables and debts arising from deposit accounts and credit accounts based on precious metals to their value on the valuation date, the provisions of the Law titled "foreign currencies," "receivables," and "debts" will remain in effect as in the current practice.

İYİ PARTY'S TÜRKOĞLU RECEIVES A "WARNING PENALTY"

Taking the floor on the articles of the bill, İYİ Party Bursa Deputy Yüksel Selçuk Türkoğlu made criticisms directed at the People's Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı). Following this, AKP and MHP deputies reacted sharply to Türkoğlu. TBMM Deputy Speaker Bekir Bozdağ adjourned the session as the argument continued.

During the break, because an argument broke out between İYİ Party's Türkoğlu and MHP Group Deputy Chairman Erkan Akçay, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Bozdağ held a meeting with the group deputy chairmen of all parties.

After the meeting, a scuffle broke out again between Erkan Akçay, who was walking toward the MHP benches, and İYİ Party's Türkoğlu. Türkoğlu reacted harshly to Akçay, claiming that he had hit him. Türkoğlu was removed from the General Assembly Hall by deputies who intervened.

Following the break, TBMM Deputy Speaker Bekir Bozdağ announced that he had issued a warning penalty to İYİ Party's Türkoğlu on the grounds that the words he used disrupted the peace and working order according to the internal regulations.

Bozdağ closed the session to reconvene at 14:00, citing the absence of the commission.

News Source: AA