Baykar’s Selçuk Bayraktar Türkiye’s highest taxpayer

ISTANBUL

Selçuk Bayraktar, chairman and chief technology officer (CTO) of Türkiye’s leading drone maker Baykar, topped the list of highest-income taxpayers in 2023, the country’s Revenue Administration said on Aug. 28.

Last year, 1.95 billion Turkish Liras ($52.4 million) of income tax accrued to Selçuk Bayraktar.

Haluk Bayraktar, general manager of Baykar, ranked second on the list with 1.68 billion liras.

Between 2021 and 2023, Selçuk Bayraktar and Haluk Bayraktar were the top taxpayers in Türkiye. The tax the duo has paid increased by around 12-fold since 2021.

Some 90 percent of Baykar’s revenues came from exports last year. In 2023, Baykar’s export revenues amounted to $1.8 billion, making it one of the top 10 exporting companies in Türkiye.

Mustafa Rahmi Koç, the honorary chair of Koç Holding, Türkiye’s largest industrial group, ranked third on the highest taxpayers list at 480 million liras, while Mehmet Ömer Koç ranked seventh at 261.8 million liras.

Businesswomen İpek Kıraç, who serves on the board of directors of Koç Holding, came fifth on the list at 323.3 million liras.

The names of other individuals ranked in the top 10 were not disclosed.

State-owned lender Ziraat topped the list of corporate taxpayers at 22.75 billion liras.

Private lenders Garanti and Akbank ranked second and third at 21.87 billion liras and 12.6 billion liras, respectively.