Turkey to introduce tax changes within 1-2 weeks: Minister

Turkey wants uniform tax measures for companies across the financial sector, and the government will announce tax changes within one or two weeks, Finance Minister Naci A?bal said on April 13.

"There are some uncertain areas in the banking system just as the Banks' Association of Turkey [TBB] has mentioned earlier?We have now been working on this," he said after a meeting in Istanbul. 

"There are banks, Islamic lenders, dubbed participation banks in Turkey, and financial institutions in the finance sector. We have seen different practices based on different laws. It might be stamp taxes or banking insurance transaction taxes. We want to make all tax laws in the sector to be the same. In this vein, we have been removing the differences so as to enable all sector players to compete under the same tax regulations," A?bal noted. 

He said there are some common complaints about the stamp tax so they are trying to figure out how to reduce such kind of tax obligations especially in the context of contracts. 

A?bal noted that these works will be discussed in the coordination board for the improvement of the investment climate, adding that new regulations will be revealed in the next 1-2 weeks. 

The TBB has repeatedly voiced its demands to see new regulations in taxing financial instruments. In this vein, the association wants the reduction in intermediary burdens, the removal of several "gray areas" in the taxation of the financial instruments and the lowering of some burdens resulting from the public sector over financial intermediary services. 

Eyeing 'predictable' taxes in financial sector

"We want to make the financial taxes predictable. Some of the regulations in some tax laws have some uncertain areas...