Cabinet to decide on taxes for night clubs

Neşe KARANFİL ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Municipalities in Turkey currently have the authority to determine a number of taxes, including ‘entertainment taxes.’ DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

The "entertainment tax" for places like bars and night clubs that sell alcoholic beverages will now be determined by the Council of Ministers, within the framework of the new code on alcohol restrictions.

The authority of determining many taxes, including entertainment taxes, recently passed from local municipalities to the Council of Ministers. Law 6487, which regulated alcohol restrictions and came into force on May 24, took away the municipalities’ authority on entertainment taxes and authorized the Cabinet to determine taxes and fee tariffs as “municipality groups.”

Cabinet to determine five taxes

The entertainment tax is applied to places that sell alcoholic beverages like bars, night clubs, discos, and taverns, where a ticket is not required for entry. The Cabinet decision will determine five taxes that were previously determined by municipalities: the entertainment tax, advertising taxes and tariffs for occupation fees, working license fees on holidays and business upstarting fees.

Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek reportedly held a meeting about the changes with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbaş and mayors from Istanbul and other major cities. They discussed whether the rate of taxes and fees would remain the same, and whether a common rate would be determined, according to sources. The Finance Ministry has reportedly been working on the new regulation, which will be declared soon.

Each municipality currently has the authority to determine their own entertainment taxes, advertisement taxes and fees for occupation, working license on holidays and business upstarting fees. For instance, Antalya Metropolitan Municipality determined 35 Turkish Liras in daily entertainment taxes for bars, taverns, cafes and discos and 70 liras for funfairs and ice-skating enterprises. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality applied 55 liras for each square meter of lightened advertisement.

In addition to this, a law placing limits on the sale and advertising of alcoholic beverages took effect on Sept. 9. Retailers are no longer allowed to sell alcoholic beverages between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and the sale of alcohol near schools and places of worship is now also forbidden.