Turkey meets tax hikes on the first day of year

ANKARA - Hürriyet

Turkey is welcoming the New Year with new tax hikes on a number of goods and services, including cigarettes and motor vehicles, as well as mobile phone subscription and official state document fees.

The government announced that the state tax on one packet of cigarettes will rise to 81.6 percent from 80 percent, which will be reflected on previous prices as rises ranging between 5 and 10 percent. With the rise, the amount of state tax on an 8 liras packet increased to 6.53 liras, from 5.22 liras. However, cigarette firms say they might not reflect the hike on their prices. The price of mobile phone subscriptions increased from 37 liras to 39 liras. There are also increases in the fees for obtaining a number of state documents, including identity cards, passports and notary documents.