Special Consumption Tax on natural gas, petrol hiked

ANKARA

The Special Consumption Tax (SCT) on natural gas for household use and petrol has been hiked, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette.

The SCT on petrol was increased by 5 Turkish Liras ($0.19), but including the value-added tax (VAT), the pump price will be some 6 liras higher, while the cost of filling up a 50-liter tank will rise to 1,702 liras.

The Treasury and Finance Ministry said that the SCT was increased in order to ease the burden of earthquake-related spending on the budget.

The tax adjustment will also help bring the current account deficit under control, the statement by the ministry added.

The ministry noted that the SCT, which is a fixed tax, has not increased since 2016 despite the increases in global oil prices and the exchange rates.

The share of SCT collected from petrol in GDP was 4.58 percent in 2016 but declined to 2.8 percent in 2022, the statement said, adding that SCT on petrol accounted for 17.84 percent of overall tax revenues last year, down from 26.23 percent in 2016.

The pump price of petrol will increase from 26.7 liras/liter to 34.1 liras/liter, the statement noted.

The SCT on natural gas consumption in households was hiked from 0.023 liras to 0.075 liras. The Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) explained that coupled with the VAT, the price of natural gas increased by around 6 liras per cubic meter.

It said that, on average, the taxes account for 36 percent of natural gas bill in Europe, whereas the share of SCT and VAT in natural gas bills in Türkiye is 18 percent.