Summary Table of the Measures Provided to Taxpayers Affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Measures
TAX CIRCULAR
NO: 2020/71
SUBJECT: Summary Table of the Measures Provided to Taxpayers Affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Measures
Numerous regulations have been issued to date in order to provide various forms of relief to taxpayers affected by the measures taken against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
In this circular, some of those regulations are summarized in the table below.
| A) TAX REGULATIONS | ||
| Measure | Description | Legal Basis |
| Extension of the filing and payment period for the Annual Income Tax Return | The filing periods for the Annual Income Tax returns for the 2019 calendar year, together with the payment periods for the taxes accrued on these returns, have been extended until 30 April 2020. | VUK General Communiqué No. 125 |
| Rearrangement of the filing and payment dates for the GEKAP Return | GEKAP Returns will be filed on a 6-month basis in 2020 and on a 3-month basis in subsequent years. As matters now stand, the filing and payment of the GEKAP returns, which had most recently been postponed to 30 March 2020, have been postponed to 4/8/2020. | GEKAP General Communiqué No. 3 |
| Postponement of February-period VAT returns | The filing periods for VAT Returns due to be filed by the end of 26/3/2020, together with the payment periods for the taxes accrued on these returns, have been postponed to 24/4/2020. | VUK Circular No. 126 |
| Postponement of February-period Ba-Bs notifications | The filing period for the "Form Ba" and "Form Bs" notifications due to be filed by 31/3/2020 has been postponed to 30/4/2020. | VUK Circular No. 126 |
| Postponement of the period for creating e-Ledgers and uploading e-Ledger Certifications | The period for creating and signing the e-Ledgers that must be created and signed by the end of 31 March 2020, together with the period for uploading the "Electronic Ledger Certifications," has been extended until the end of Thursday, 30 April 2020. | VUK Circular No. 126 |
| Postponement of the Withholding Tax Returns (including the Withholding and Premium Service Returns) and VAT Returns for March, April and May for taxpayers within the scope of force majeure | a) Taxpayers liable for income tax in terms of commercial, agricultural and professional earnings, b) Taxpayers directly affected by the coronavirus outbreak and operating, in terms of their main field of activity, in the following sectors: retail including shopping malls, healthcare services, furniture manufacturing, the iron, steel and metal industry, mining and quarrying, building construction services, industrial kitchen manufacturing, automotive manufacturing and trade as well as the manufacturing of parts and accessories for the automotive industry, vehicle rental, logistics and transport including storage activities, artistic services such as cinema and theatre, publishing activities for books, newspapers, magazines and similar printed products including printing, accommodation activities including tour operators and travel agencies, food and beverage services including restaurants and coffeehouses, textile and apparel manufacturing and trade, and event and organization services including public relations, c) Taxpayers operating in sectors that include workplaces whose activities have been temporarily suspended by decision under the measures taken by the Ministry of the Interior in terms of their main field of activity, The filing period for the withholding and VAT returns that the above must file in April, May and June has been extended until 27/7/2020; the payment periods for the taxes accrued on these have been extended to 27 October, November and December. |
Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 518 |
| Postponement of the March, April and May Form Ba-Bs notifications and e-Ledgers/Certifications for taxpayers within the scope of force majeure | The dates for the March, April and May Form Ba-Bs notifications, the creation of e-Ledgers and the uploading of e-Certifications for the taxpayers specified above have been postponed to 27/7/2020. | Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 518 |
| Postponement of the accommodation tax | The entry into force of the accommodation tax has been postponed from 1/4/2020 to 1/1/2021. | Law No. 7226 |
| Extension of the period for submitting Sworn-in CPA certification reports | The submission periods for Sworn-in CPA certification reports have been extended by 2 months, applicable to those whose final day falls on or before 30/6/2020. | CPA and Sworn-in CPA Law Circular No. 1 |
| B) SOCIAL SECURITY REGULATIONS | ||
| Continuation of minimum wage support in 2020 as well | It is intended that, in 2020, without distinction by sector and financed from the Unemployment Insurance Fund, minimum wage support of TRY 2.50 per day and TRY 75 per month be provided to employers, offset against the insurance premium they will pay. | Law No. 7226 |
| Easing of the conditions for benefiting from the short-time working scheme | The provision requiring a worker, in order to qualify for the short-time working allowance, to meet the unemployment insurance entitlement conditions (other than the termination of the employment contract) has been arranged to be applied as having worked as an insured person for 450 days within the last three years and having paid unemployment insurance premiums, among those subject to an employment contract during the last 60 days prior to the start date of short-time working. | Law No. 7226 |
| Increase in the compensatory work period | The employer will be able to have compensatory work performed within four months for the periods not worked. | Law No. 7226 |
| C) JUDICIAL/LEGAL REGULATIONS | ||
| Suspension of enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings | It has been decided that, with the exception of enforcement proceedings relating to alimony receivables, all enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings being conducted nationwide from 22/3/2020 until 30/4/2020 be suspended, and that in this context no party or proceeding actions be taken, no new enforcement and bankruptcy proceeding requests be accepted, and no precautionary attachment decisions be enforced or executed. | Decision No. 2276 |
| Suspension of periods for filing lawsuits, initiating enforcement proceedings, making applications, etc. | a) All periods relating to the creation, exercise or termination of a right, including periods for filing lawsuits, initiating enforcement proceedings, making applications, complaints, objections, notices, notifications, submissions and statutes of limitations, peremptory periods and mandatory administrative application periods; the periods determined for the parties under Law No. 2577 on the Procedure of Administrative Justice, Law No. 5271 on Criminal Procedure and Law No. 6100 on Civil Procedure, as well as other laws containing procedural provisions, and the periods set by the judge within this scope, together with the periods at mediation and conciliation institutions, will be suspended from 13/3/2020 (this date inclusive), b) The periods determined under Law No. 2004 on Enforcement and Bankruptcy and other laws relating to enforcement law, and the periods set by the judge or the enforcement and bankruptcy offices within this scope; all enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings, party and proceeding actions, the acceptance of new enforcement and bankruptcy proceeding requests, and actions relating to the enforcement and execution of precautionary attachment decisions, with the exception of enforcement proceedings relating to alimony receivables, from 22/3/2020 (this date inclusive), until 30/4/2020 (this date inclusive). |
Law No. 7226 |
| SOME OTHER REGULATIONS | ||
| Granting the President the authority to defer electricity and natural gas bills for up to 1 year | The President has been granted the authority to determine the period and scope for the accrual and/or collection of electricity and/or natural gas consumption charges and to defer them for up to 1 year, and to cover, from the budget of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the financing cost relating to the amounts not collected from consumers (excluding principal) arising from such deferral for electricity and/or natural gas distribution and/or supply companies, provided it does not exceed the amount of the late payment penalty. | Law No. 7226 |
| Failure to pay workplace rent will not constitute grounds for termination of the contract or eviction | Failure to pay workplace rent accruing from 1/3/2020 until 30/6/2020 will not constitute grounds for termination of the lease contract or for eviction. | Law No. 7226 |
| Deferral of easement fees and unjust occupancy compensation (ecrimisil) | For investors and operators holding a certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to whom public land has been allocated for the construction of tourism facilities; regardless of whether an easement has been established or a usage permit has been granted, the payment periods for the rent, definitive permit, definitive allocation, easement, usage permit, utilization and additional utilization fees and revenue shares to be collected in the period between 1/4/2020 and 30/6/2020, together with the unjust occupancy compensation (ecrimisil) to be collected in the same period from investors and operators of tourism facilities certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for their unauthorized use of Treasury real estate due to these activities, have been deferred by six months without any application being required. | Law No. 7226 |
| Records of those who default on loans, credit cards, cheques and promissory notes will not be affected | The records held at the Risk Centre of the Banks Association of Türkiye relating to dishonoured cheques, protested promissory notes, credit cards and other loan debts of real and legal persons who default on payments of principal, interest and/or ancillary amounts of the cash and non-cash loans they have used, where the principal and/or installment payment date is before 24/3/2020, of real persons whether or not engaged in commercial activity, and of credit customers, will not be taken into account by credit institutions and financial institutions in financial transactions carried out with these persons, provided that the overdue portion of the debts in question is paid in full or restructured by 31/12/2020. | Law No. 7226 |
| Deferral of loan debts within the scope of the decisions on the provision of low-interest loans by Türkiye Halk Bankası Anonim Şirketi to tradespeople and craftsmen harmed by the COVID-19 outbreak | For tradespeople and craftsmen harmed by the COVID-19 outbreak, among the debts arising from the low-interest loans they used on or before 31/3/2020 within the scope of the decisions on the provision of low-interest loans by Türkiye Halk Bankası Anonim Şirketi, the loan debts due to fall due between 1 April and 30 June 2020 have been deferred interest-free for three months from the due date/installment due date/account period, with interest accrued in accordance with the relevant legislation on the due date/installment due date/account period. | Decision No. 2283 |