Finance Ministry monitors luxury yacht and boat sales

ANKARA

As part of its effort to keep a tight eye on taxpayers who make large incomes and lead lavish lifestyles yet fail to pay the proper taxes, the Treasury and Finance Ministry has commenced tracking transactions of luxury yachts and boats.

Within the scope of the initiative, authorities discovered a tax loss of 1.4 billion Turkish liras from sales between 2021 and 2023 by cross-checking their own data with information obtained from the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry and data gathered through international information exchanges.

Concentrating on high-risk taxpayers, the Revenue Administration found that over 45,000 private boats and yachts were sold in those three years.

The investigation revealed a significant discrepancy between the declared and actual prices for private boat and yacht sales involving 15,000 natural entities and 1,527 companies out of these transactions.

“We are advancing our battle against the informal economy sector by sector. Those that understate the sales prices will be required to pay the appropriate taxes and penalties as a result of the investigations,” Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said in his remarks regarding the matter.

Şimşek further noted that they will proceed with the initiatives on the matter and employ brand-new audit approaches, noting that they will not relent in their efforts to improve the fairness and effectiveness of taxation.

“Our extensive sectoral field inspections are still ongoing in an effort to eradicate unfair competition and tax losses brought on by informality. We'll keep a careful eye on people who make large purchases with earnings that are not subject to taxes and people who indulge in luxury spending but have small tax bases.”