Industrialists conveyed their demands to Şimşek! VAT legislation should be completely reconsidered

The first ordinary meeting of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) Assembly in 2024 was held with the main agenda of "The Importance of Financial Policies Required by Investment and Production for a Qualified, Sustainable, Highly Competitive New Generation Industry".

The meeting, where Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek was the guest and made a presentation about the Turkish and world economy, was attended by Alpaslan Çakar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Banks Association of Türkiye (TBB), Osman Arslan, General Manager of Halk Bank, and Mustafa Gültepe, President of the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TİM). attended.

In particular, industrialists who wanted regulation in the VAT legislation, access to cheap credit, incentives, improvements in tax legislation and a gradual reduction in the obligation to exchange foreign currency obtained from exports, also wanted the establishment of a new generation development bank.

What the industrialists demand from Şimşek is;

*Establishment of a new generation development bank that has the capacity to finance a real industrial policy.

Simplification of tax legislation, which has become increasingly complex with numerous regulations over the years.

*VAT legislation should be completely reconsidered and transformed into a form that will not impose a burden on industry and production.

* Accumulated VAT receivables, which have turned into 'industrialist taxes', can be shown as collateral in public transactions, especially Türk Eximbank loans.

*A tax system should be created that reveals the past performance of companies in every respect. This system should be used as the main reference source for additional benefits to be provided to companies, from incentives to tax amnesties, from visas to financing.

*A healthy workforce planning should be implemented.

*There is a need for serious reform in our investment incentive system. Flexible models should be created according to each sector's own deficiencies, opportunities and needs.

*Reviewing Eximbank loans in terms of limit, maturity and guarantee titles.

*The obligation to exchange 40 percent of exporters' foreign currencies will be gradually reduced and reset to zero within a reasonable period of time.

*Increasing the upper limits of the tax brackets on wage income, especially the first two brackets, at higher rates.