Turkey raises taxes on fuel, cuts housing sales tax

ANKARA

Turkey has raised its special consumption tax on gasoline, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and some mineral oils, while it has cut value added tax on home sales, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette on Sept. 8.

Special consumption tax on gasoline and diesel will be increased by 0.20 Turkish Liras per liter, while the value added tax on property sales will be reduced to 8 percent from 18 percent until March 31, 2017, according to the decree.

The special tax on LPG will also be hiked from 1.578 liras to 1.778 liras.

A senior economy official told Reuters the hikes in special consumption tax on fuels will make around 2 billion liras ($681.4 million) in positive contribution to the state budget in 2016 and 8 billion liras ($2.7 billion) in 2017.

The tax hikes in fuels are expected to push up the pumping prices by 4 percent, according to the official.

The special consumption taxes in gasoline was hiked 9.2 percent, in diesel 12.5 percent and in LPG 12.7 percent, added the official.