Unions Call for Reform During 37th Tax Week: "We Want Justice in Taxation"

Structural Imbalance in the Tax System Tax Week, celebrated annually in the last week of February, began this year under the shadow of criticism regarding structural issues in the tax system.
While the 37th Tax Week events organized by the Revenue Administration highlight tax awareness and voluntary compliance, unions and economists are drawing attention to the burden the current system places on low-income groups.
Current budget data reveals an unequal distribution of the tax burden in Turkey.
The share of indirect taxes within total tax revenues has reached 62 percent, while the share of corporate tax remains at 11 percent.
This situation indicates that the tax burden is largely concentrated on the shoulders of low and middle-income citizens through consumption expenditures.
Tax Reform Proposals from DİSK Arzu Çerkezoğlu, President of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), stated that data from the last 12 years proves tax injustice.
DİSK demands the following concrete steps to ensure tax justice: Increasing income tax tariff brackets in line with the revaluation rate.
Reducing the first tax bracket rate for wage earners to 10 percent.
Applying the 5-point premium support currently provided to employers to employees as well.
The complete abolition of stamp duty.
Public Resource Utilization and Social Justice Ahmet Karagöz, Co-Chair of the Confederation of Public Employees' Unions (KESK), emphasized that the issue is not limited to the method of tax collection, but that how the collected resources are spent is also of critical importance.
Karagöz argued that unless sufficient taxes are collected from high-income groups, the quality of public services will decline and society will enter a permanent cycle of poverty.