Ahmet Karabay
The Revenue Administration (GİB) has announced the list of the top 100 taxpayers for the 2023 taxation period in terms of annual income and corporate taxes. The Bayraktar brothers, owners of Baykar Technology, topped the list for income tax, while Mustafa Rahmi Koç came in third.
These are the initial details shared. Today, I will need to inundate you with a lot of figures. I believe I have to do this to explain my point.
Last year, 4,541,644 taxpayers nationwide submitted annual income tax returns. On average, each taxpayer declared a tax base of 150,265 TL. The average income tax accrued on this base was 45,255 TL. There is no forecast on how much of this will be collected.
At the top of the list of those who declared the highest income tax, just like last year, is Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman of the Board of Baykar and son-in-law of President Tayyip Erdoğan. Bayraktar accrued a tax of 1,952,680,474 TL in 2023. Second on the list is Haluk Bayraktar, General Manager of Baykar, with 1,683,198,305 TL. With these figures, the amount of tax paid by the Bayraktar brothers has increased by approximately 12 times since 2021.
The taxpayers in 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th positions requested that their names be kept confidential. İpek Kıraç, who accrued 323,300,723 TL in taxes, is in 5th place, and Mehmet Ömer Koç, with 261,773,295 TL, is in 7th place.
AT THIS RATE, THE LIST WILL BE MADE UP OF PEOPLE WHO KEEP THEIR NAMES SECRET
There is an interesting trend with those who request their names to be kept confidential. This number increases every year. If this continues, by 2028, the entire list may consist of those who do not want their names disclosed:
- 2000: 14 people
- 2008: 31 people
- 2012: 35 people
- 2018: 58 people
- 2019: 67 people
- 2023: 73 people
Out of the top 15, only 6 wanted their names to be disclosed. Five of these are from the Bayraktar and Koç families. The Koç family is present, but where is the Sabancı family? Or where are those who were on the Forbes list last year when it comes to paying taxes?
In the past, award ceremonies were held for top taxpayers, and those who paid taxes took pride in what they contributed.
So why don’t those on the top taxpayers list want their names to be disclosed?
The state knows these companies, but charities, associations, religious orders, and criminal organizations may not easily access this information. These individuals might fear becoming targets of a looting system if their names come to the forefront. Or they might resort to this because the income they obtain from unofficial or shady businesses far exceeds the taxes they pay. Some employers may not want their employees to learn about their earnings and use this information in salary negotiation. Those who have grown rapidly through political and social connections may not want their newfound wealth to be seen.
THE ERASED TAX DEBTS OF THE “GANG OF FIVE” AND THEIR ALLIES
Then there’s the situation of the companies that have been fattened up. By “fattened,” I mean those that operate through lucrative contracts awarded by the public sector, and even that isn’t enough—they have their taxes erased. Among them is Mehmet Cengiz, who will be remembered for his insults to this nation, and the rest of the “Gang of Five,” who have been awarded $220 billion (7.5 trillion TL) in contracts over the last 18 years. But the number of tax exemptions granted to this “Gang of Five” is shameful:
- Cengiz İnşaat: 30 times
- Kolin İnşaat: 36 times
- Makyol İnşaat: 24 times
- Kalyon Holding: 19 times
- Limak İnşaat: 19 times
I think there’s a point here that we’re all missing. The erased tax debts probably belong to the big boss.
Despite all this, we must still congratulate the Bayraktar brothers, who are tax champions, even though they have the privilege of being in-laws. They declare their income with a behavior unprecedented among political Islamists. I think there are two reasons for this.
a) They have to be official because all their sales are well-known and easy to track. b) More importantly, they want to take the lead in the leadership race that will occur in the near future within the AK Party after Erdoğan.
World-renowned economist Daron Acemoğlu once said, “Dictatorships give investments to their own businessmen. However, they can’t collect taxes because they can’t ask their own people for taxes.” This must be the fundamental reason why allies don’t rank high in taxes.
In the meantime, one notable name on the list is lawyer Gönenç Gürkaynak, who declared 144 million TL in taxes in 2023, placing him 15th. Where do you think Ersan Şen, the lawyer known for handling dirty work, is?
THE CORPORATE TAX SITUATION IS EVEN STRANGER
Eight out of the top ten corporate taxpayers are banks. Ziraat Bank tops the list. Those who know the reality must have laughed out loud at how Ziraat Bank got to the top. In 2023, 21-35 billion TL was transferred from the central budget to Ziraat Bank due to duty losses. The tax they paid was 22 billion 75 million TL. Apparently, the stone they threw didn’t hit the frog they scared.
The average corporate tax paid by the 1.1 million corporate taxpayers is 750,000 lira annually. If you wanted to buy a moderately priced car, the tax you would pay is 720,000 lira. In our country, when a citizen buys a moderately priced car, they pay 112% tax, while in Hungary, the highest in Europe, it’s 27%.
In this country, even on kitchen gas, a Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV), typically known to be levied on luxury goods, is applied. When you buy a 12-kilogram cylinder for 780 TL, you pay 104 TL in ÖTV and 71 TL in VAT, totaling 175 TL in taxes.
IT WILL BE SEEN THAT INCREASING TAX RATES WILL NOT INCREASE TAX REVENUE
If you increase taxes before income, you will not only lose the tax but also the income. Because as tax rates increase, the economy tends to move away from the official record. While you’re trying to pluck the geese in the coop, the wild geese roaming outside will start to fatten up. There’s also a side effect to plucking the geese in the coop. You won’t be able to reduce inflation, and the inflation you experience will become chronic.
The situation we’re facing now is this:
- The rich will be reluctant to pay taxes.
- The taxes of the allies will continue to be erased.
- The Beştepe Palace won’t even consider austerity.
- The public sector will continue to fatten up in terms of employee numbers and spending.
- We will continue to care for 5 million refugees.
Then we will continue to ask ourselves, “Why isn’t inflation going down?” Unable to control the higher-ups, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek will come out and say, “The reason for the budget deficit is the retirees.”
Remember, the cause of inflation is not the 90% of the population that you’re oppressing, but the 10% that you’re too weak to handle and even feed.
After all this boring writing, let me end with an anecdote that might make some people happy.
In U.S. history, the only treaty made in a language other than English was signed in 1795 in Turkish. This treaty, signed between American envoy Joseph Donaldson and Hasan Pasha of Algiers, resulted in the U.S. paying tribute/tax to the Ottoman Empire for 23 years.
