Amendment to the Communiqués on the Tax Procedure Law

By Elif Kahya On Feb 2, 2023

1 – General Communiqué on Tax Procedure Law published in Official Gazette no. 32073 of 14.01.2023 (Sequence No: 545)

The Communiqué amends article 1 of Law no. 7421 and subparagraph (10) of the 1st paragraph of the repeated article 257 in Law no. 213 to authorize the Ministry of Treasury and Finance to obtain collateral from taxpayers involved in the trade of motor vehicles as defined in Law no. 4760 for the purpose of guaranteeing the collection of the taxes levied on the goods specified in the list (II) attached to Law no. 4760 on Special Consumption Tax. It was published to stipulate the relevant procedures and principles. Thus, in the Communiqué:

Individual importers are required to provide collateral pursuant to the provisions of the relevant paragraph. Distributors and Directorate General of State Supply Office, which delivers vehicles to public institutions and organizations, are excluded from the scope.
Individual importers, who must provide collateral, are obligated to acquire the necessary certificate and provide collateral in accordance with the Communiqué in order to import the relevant vehicles without paying the special consumption tax. Certain conditions are laid down for importers requesting a certificate, apart from the requirement to provide collateral. Among the individual importers who meet these conditions, those that are obligated to provide collateral are allowed to have the certificate if their collateral equals up to the maximum amount valid for the relevant year as specified in the relevant paragraph; however, if they fail to fulfill any of the conditions, they will not receive the certificate.
It is stated that collateral must be provided before obtaining the certificate. The completion and cancellation of the certificate are regulated.
The requirements are laid down for the personal import of the goods in the relevant list, and the conditions under which the importer is considered to be involved in the trade of motor vehicles, and the applicable obligations in this case are stipulated, except for the specified exceptions and exemptions.
The minimum collateral amount is defined for those who are obligated to provide collateral, and the performance of the listed activities is prohibited before the provision of collateral. The applicable procedure for the taxation of the relevant taxpayers and the procedure to be followed in case of violation of the collateral obligation or any other obligations in the Communiqué are set forth.
The period during which the specified collaterals will be provided and the tax office that will receive them are indicated.
The offsetting method for the tax debts of the taxpayers providing collateral, the method of completing the collateral process, and the procedure to be followed otherwise are specified.
Specific conditions are laid down based on whether the collateral is a bank letter or a surety bond.
The maximum limits to be considered while determining the amount of the collateral to be requested, and accordingly, the deadline for the submission of the collateral and the procedure to be followed in case of non-submission are defined.
It is stated that one or several documents that can be issued as collateral can be offered together as collateral. These documents are required to be issued in accordance with the annexes.
The refund and cancellation of the collateral provided are regulated.
The notification obligations of individual importers and others who request a certificate and must provide collateral are specified.
The violations and the penalties to be imposed in case of violation concerning those who must provide collateral are set forth.
The follow-up of imports and documents, the powers of the Administration, and procedural requirements are regulated.
The Communiqué’s effective date is specified, and the process is defined for the possibility that the certificate is granted in the transition period.

2 – Communiqué (Sequence No: 547) published in Official Gazette no. 32073 of 14.01.2023 Amending the General Communiqué on the Tax Procedure Law (Sequence No: 537)

The amending Communiqué adds new articles to follow article 26 in the General Communiqué on the Tax Procedure Law (Sequence No: 537) published in Official Gazette no. 31835 of 14.05.2022. Thus, in the Communiqué:

Additional obligations are prescribed for organizations using different accounting methods than those specified in the General Communiqués on Implementing Accounting Systems, and for taxpayers who need to use different accounting methods due to their specific field of activity, even though they keep books on a balance sheet basis.
It is stated that the taxpayers who do not have obligations regarding the preparation and reporting of financial statements, as well as the use of a uniform accounting framework, and the planning and operation of accounts, as stipulated in the General Communiqués on Implementing Accounting Systems, will benefit from revaluation specified in Paragraph (Ç) of the repeated article 298 and the provisional article 32 in Law no. 213.
Procedural obligations are imposed for revaluation. The steps to be taken in the event that these obligations are met in the following term are defined.
The disposal of the relevant depreciable economic assets is regulated.
The method for monitoring the created account is established.
It is required to comply with the procedures and principles set forth in other relevant articles of the Communiqué, in addition to the matters specified here.

3 – General Communiqué on the Tax Procedure Law published in Official Gazette no. 32077 of 18.01.2023 (Sequence No: 546)

The Communiqué was published based on the authorization in article 170/A added as a result of Law no. 7338 of 14.10.2021 in order to prescribe the procedures and principles for treating as notifications made by taxpayers the information that taxpayers are required to disclose under Law no. 213, but which is electronically notified to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance by the Ministry of Trade. Thus, in the Communiqué:

The provisions of the law are referred to as the Communiqué’s legal basis.
The obligation of notification is repealed for the procedures registered in the trade registry, which are specified in the annex.
The Ministry of Trade is authorized to announce the annulment of the notification obligation for the information excluded from the annex.
The procedure for registering branches is regulated.
The registration periods, violations, and penalties to be imposed in case of violations are set forth.