Turkey: Tax Rates And Amounts Announced For Certain Categories Of Alcohol, Soda, Tobacco, Agricultural Products And Cellular Phones In Turkey

Rates for Value Added Tax, Special Consumption Tax and tobacco fund amounts for certain goods have been determined in Turkey. Changes relate particularly to certain categories of alcohol, soda, tobacco, agricultural products, as well as cellular phones. Council of Ministers' Decree number 2015/8353 dated 29 December 2015 ("Decree") was published in Official Gazette number 29580 on 1 January 2016, entering into effect on the same day.

Significant provisions in the Decree include:

• Certain Value Added Tax rates have been updated with regard to agricultural Line 23 is removed from section named "B) OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES" under List (II) annexed to the Council of Ministers' Decree dated 24 December 2007 and numbered 2015/8320 as regards determination of Value Added Tax rates for goods and services. Lines 19 and 20, which generally pertain to agricultural products, have been moved to List (I), annexed to the Decree.
• Tax rates, minimum fixed and fixed tax amounts for the goods stated in the Special Consumption Tax Law Number 4760 have been amended. Accordingly, Table A and B under List III annexed to the Special Consumption Tax Law have been updated:
  
  
  • Table A: Tax rates and minimum fixed tax amounts for sodas containing starch and alcoholic beverages in general. The tax rate for sodas containing starch is noted as 25%. The tax rate for malty beer is determined as 63%, with a minimum tax amount of TRY 1.03 (the lowest minimum tax rate noted in the table). Liquor and beverages which have an alcohol content over 22% have a minimum tax rate of TRY 150.71 (the highest minimum tax rate noted in the table). A 0% tax rate applies to all other beverages listed in the table (such as wine, fermented beverages and liquors).
  • Table B: Tax rates, minimum fixed tax amounts and fixed tax amounts for tobacco products in general. For these products, the tax rates vary between 40% and 65.25%, while the minimum fixed tax amount varies between TRY 0.0577 and TRY 0.221. The fixed tax amount for all these products is determined as TRY 0.2468.
• The tax amount for mobile cellular phones with the H.S. Code 8517.12.00.00.11 increases from TRY 120 to TRY 160.

Please see this link for the full text of the Decree (only available in Turkish).

Information first published in the MA | Gazette, a fortnightly legal update newsletter produced by Moroğlu Arseven.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.