During a press conference yesterday, Şimşek provided information on a new system that will allow firms who request information or clarifications from the ministry to receive fast answers to their questions over the Internet. Şimşek, stressing that every question by firms that goes unanswered ends in the loss of possible tax revenue, stated the new system will allow faster answers to the nearly 30,000 tax questions asked annually by firms.
“Firms looking for answers to their tax questions will apply either directly to the tax office in their province or to the local revenue office,” said Şimşek, adding that answers and decisions regarding the matter will be published on the Internet and delivered electronically to the relevant parties. He added that this would create transparency and allow public access to a “serious” archive of rulings. “Firms will not be able to pick and choose rulings. In the end, it used to be that a firm unsatisfied with a specific decision would just apply to a different office. This will no longer be possible.”
Archiving, the minister noted, would prevent diverging views by different tax offices on the same topic or even the same case, and if there was a different ruling on the topic at a later date, it would be published on the Internet so firms would be informed of possible changes. He also added that if an audit of a company’s books is under way, then the company will not be able to request a new ruling regarding taxes owed.
Şimşek also spoke about new tax reforms that are currently in the process of being implemented, such as the Risk Analysis Model, which will be used to measure the risk of fraud by exporters applying for value-added tax (KDV) returns, and the publishing of the “report card” system used to grade firms on their tax compliance.
Answering questions from the press after the event, Şimşek spoke about the recent tax increases in the beginning of the year, saying that the lump-sum tax hike in the cigarette industry would be enforced, despite the fact that it created a price war in the industry. On tax collection in other sectors, he stated that the Treasury would do everything in its power to collect all taxes in order to reach the projected tax revenues for 2010, adding that some of these taxes had not been adjusted for inflation in over two years.
Responding to criticism that lump-sum tax increases would lead to price decreases for bigger firms who can afford to cut prices -- therefore leading to instability in the market -- he emphasized that if firms did not directly reflect the increases in taxes on top of their current prices, they would change the taxes to be proportional. “If they don’t comply, we will develop alternative systems to make them comply,” Şimşek stated. “We have a revenue target, and we will do everything in our power to reach these realistic targets.”
