Few stall holders pay taxes, new laws coming

ÇANAKKALE - Anatolia News Agency

The stall holders association head says he will challenge unfair competition.

Only 48,000 stall holders in bazaars and streets out of a total of 330,000 are taxpayers, said Mehmet Çakman, Confederation of Greengrocers, Fruit Sellers and Mobile Stall holders Crafts and Artisans (TÜSPAF) head.

Speaking on the wholesale market hall law, which took effect Jan. 1 in Turkey’s northwestern province of Çanakkale, Çakman said there were some challenges in building a database regarding stall holders in bazaars and on the streets. The database will be completed by next year and then wholesale marketplace and bazaar codes will be enacted. Thus the law will properly enter into force beginning in January 2013, he said.

Noting the informality in the sector, he said there were 330,000 stall holders active on Turkey’s streets – 48,000 of them pay taxes and the rest work informally.

“We are against unfair competition [in the sector]. We will solve the informal working problem in consulting with the related institutions,” he said.

Bazaars are traditional marketplaces where fruit, vegetables and clothing sellers gather on designated streets by the municipalities once a week.