Shocking hike in revolving fund fees for title deed transactions!

Following the recent earthquake in Istanbul, the government has increased the revolving fund fee charged for title deed transactions by 50 to 200 percent.

According to a report by Sözcü, the fee paid by citizens purchasing real estate such as houses, plots, or fields rose from 3,549 Turkish Liras to 5,324 Turkish Liras as of May 1. With this increase, the total rate of hikes implemented within the year has reached 116 percent.

THE INCREASE FOR FOREIGNERS HAS REACHED 332 PERCENT

According to the new tariff determined by a Presidential decree, the revolving fund indicator fee, which was raised from 822 liras to 1,183 liras at the beginning of the year, became 1,774 liras as of May 1. This indicator fee is generally applied as three times the amount in city centers, and two or two-and-a-half times in other regions. For example, a citizen purchasing a house in Maltepe, Istanbul, or Keçiören, Ankara, will now have to pay a revolving fund fee of 5,324 liras in addition to the title deed tax.

This item had already been increased from 2,466 liras to 3,549 liras at the beginning of the year. In other words, it has been hiked for the second time in just a few months. Within the scope of the same decision, an additional 200 percent hike was applied to the revolving fund fee to be paid by foreigners. Thus, the payment for foreigners, which was 5,543 liras at the beginning of the year, rose to 16,629 liras with the May 1 hike. The total rate of increase reached 332 percent. Furthermore, a 200 percent increase was also applied to the amounts that municipalities, public institutions, banks, and companies will pay for title deed inquiries.

ONLY 1/10TH OF THE COLLECTED MONEY IS USED FOR EARTHQUAKES

A 4 percent title deed tax continues to be collected based on the sale price in real estate transactions. Apart from this, only 10 percent of the paid revolving fund fee is transferred to urban transformation projects. The remaining large portion is spent on the general budget and personnel expenses. In other words, only a very small fraction of these high-amount additional payments collected from citizens will be used for earthquake preparedness.

News Source: 12punto