Action plan to fight informal economy unveiled

ANKARA

The government has launched the action plan to fight informal economy for 2023-2025, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati has announced.

“Our efforts to combat informal economy to increase tax revenues and to have a more just income distribution are continuing,” Nebati said on Twitter.

During the preparation of the action plan, authorities collected suggestions from the public, consulted with more than 290 organizations and evaluated some 900 proposals, the minister added.

“We are now launching the Action Plan to Fight Informal Economy as part the targets of the Century of Sustainability, Development and Stability set out in the Century of Türkiye visionary approach.”

The plan includes 44 actions to determine the size of the informal economy, raise awareness regarding informal economy, coordinate efforts between institutions, take legal actions and preventive measures, and improve supervision capacity.

As part of the action plan, lease contracts for properties will be required to be prepared via the online registry system e-Devlet and the Türkiye Real Estate Information and Appraisal System will be set up.

Under the plans, the regulations regarding remote working will be revised and necessary legislative measures will be taken to prevent informal employment practices.

The new system will ensure that employers pay salaries through banks. The companies which employ workers without social insurance will be barred from taking part in public tenders and they will not be entitled to government incentives.

Measures will be taken to encourage payments with debit and credit cards instead of cash.

Legislative and technical work will be launched to develop a system to collect complaints and tip-offs regarding tax evasion.

Legal and technical infrastructure will be prepared for digital assets, according to the action plan.

Nebati separately announced that under the Credit Guarantee Fund (KGF) 250 billion Turkish Liras in loans will be made available to the small and medium-sized companies.

“Companies which have access to loans will be able to benefit from the KGF system. This will prevent a repeat of past practices where companies used those loans to buy foreign currencies and used this financing for other purposes,” he said.

“We are determined to make sure that exports will continue their steady increase which is one of the main objectives of the Türkiye Economy Model,” the minister added.