Turkey doubles tax fines

ANKARA

The Turkish government imposed a record amount of tax penalties last year by more than doubling the collected tax fine under tighter financial controls over companies.

The government has managed to prevent 8.5 billion Turkish Liras worth of tax evasion by reviewing more than 73,000 taxpayers, according to data provided by the Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek on Jan. 13.

The taxpayers found guilty of tax evasion have been fined a total of 19 billion lira, he added.

Therefore, the total value of prevented tax evasion rose 89 percent while the imposed penalties skyrocketed by 117 percent compared to 2012.

After the unification of tax control mechanisms under the single roof of Tax Audition Board (VDK), the government geared up the fight against informal economy as well as measures taken against tax lost and evasion.