A fool who pays his debt to the state?

The new restructuring package, said to be the most comprehensive debt restructuring in the history of the Republic, has unsettled citizens loyal to their debt. Those who do not pay their public debts and taxes on time, but postpone it with the words “I am going to get amnesty” and “restructuring”, are again rewarded shortly before the elections. Honest taxpayers who day by day pay their debts to the public are almost punished again.

CANNOT BE PICKED UP

The AKP government opened a new restructuring package ahead of elections scheduled for May 14. The package, which was prepared to collect votes and please voters, was like a reward for those who did not pay their debts and taxes for years. In the last 6 years, the restructuring and amnesty law has been approved 5 times. However, these arrangements are also unsuccessful. Because of the packages that go live every two years, taxpayers avoid going into restructuring by saying “A new package is coming out anyway”.

Tax Specialist Dr. According to the information provided by Nedim Türkmen, although the injustice in the tax system was frequently criticized, the state was able to collect a total of 189 thousand 825 million 100 thousand lira in revenue until December 31, 2022, with tax amnesty and restructuring. laws enacted in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. While the regulations issued for the collection of debts to the State were seen to be insufficient, the more comprehensive restructuring package caused reactions to mount. Honest taxpayers, remembering that similar measures are taken every election period, could not help but wonder: “Are citizens who pay their taxes regularly fools?” Tax experts say that while the government-implemented system punishes the poor, it rewards the rich. Pointing out that most of the state’s revenue consists of indirect taxes, experts point out that the low-income earners face taxes at every turn, are unable to avoid the tax burden, and that packages are opened structuring. one after another for the rich.

The amount of overdue tax debt reaches 552 billion TL

Expressing that the system is problematic, the author of SÖZCÜ, Tax Expert Dr. Nedim Türkmen said: “It is quite normal that the system, which is carried out with unfair indirect taxes, leads to restructuring and amnesty every 2 years” . Stating that the success rate in debt restructurings varies between 2% and 10%, Türkmen said: “The overdue tax debt is TL 552 billion as of December 31, 2022, and the amount that is not paid as of April 30, 2021 was TL 282 billion in the latest restructuring agreement.” Noting that unpaid taxes have increased, Türkmen said: “The most important reason for this is inspection reports written due to false invoice reviews and merchants who cannot access credit, do not pay Value Added Tax and they use it as a business loan.”