Turkey clarifies details of 2% tax on residence of foreigners

Russians planning to spend the New Year holidays in Turkey are excited: from January 1, the residence tax comes into force in the country. So far, all that is known about him is that he concerns foreigners – both tourists and relocators. Will it increase the cost of already expensive vacation packages? And also the already expensive rental housing for migrants?

According to the version that exists today (Turkish tax authorities have just begun to deal with the accounting algorithm), the wording of the new tax is: “Taxation of 2% on accommodation in hotels, tourist villages, motels, boarding houses, hotels, campsites and other accommodation facilities” .

I turn to the Istanbul travel agency for clarification. Before starting the conversation, its Russian-speaking representative offers to look into the main government press organ of Turkey, quoting the country’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, who said the day before that by the end of 2022, the Turkish Republic received 51.5 million tourists, having received $ 46 billion in income from its tourism industry. dollars. And in the coming year, Turkish resorts are counting on at least 60 million tourists.

– Do you think that with such grandiose plans, our country will want to scare away tourists with unnecessary expenses? – the manager of the travel agency answers the question about the new tax with a question.

– Some people do this just from a good life: penny to penny. The profits are exorbitant, so why not rip off the tax from the tourist ?! The Russians will come anyway, they will not go anywhere, we have little choice.

– This tax was planned to be introduced back in 2019, when everyone had a great choice, but the pandemic prevented it. Take a look at the same newspaper, here, it says that this tax is addressed to “merchants in accommodation and related services.”

It turns out that the name confuses tourists – a tax on accommodation in any rented Turkish accommodation, whether it be a hotel or a private apartment. But it is not the guest who is subject to it, but the Turkish owner, who rents out any of his areas from hotel complexes to chicken coops in the yard.

The newspaper explains that from January 1, 2023, all accommodation facilities in Turkey, including ski chalets, roadside motels, guest houses and apartments, are required to transfer to the state 2% of the amount received for a tourist staying with them. That is, absolutely all places that allow guests to spend the night. The only exception is made for young students and “important international missions”.

Apparently, foreign students, as well as employees of international organizations – or rather, those who provide them with accommodation and “related services” – will be exempt from paying the tax. That is, the owners of dormitories, campsites that host summer youth camps, and real estate leased from diplomatic missions and other international institutions of “state importance.”

– Then I’m even embarrassed to ask, what are “accompanying overnight services”?

– A 2% tax is levied not only on the cost of an overnight stay (accommodation), but also on services that are sold or advertised by virtue of this overnight stay. Well, for example, if you check into a hotel with a pool, then you probably want to swim in it. And if you live on the other side of the city, it would never have occurred to you to go to this pool. That is, the pool service is attached to your accommodation, which means that the hotel owner pays a tax on it. Also with drinks and snacks from mini-bars, with hotel restaurants, with entertainment, health and sports programs – everything that is offered to guests on the territory of the hotel is subject to a 2% tax, which is paid by the owner of the establishment.

– And if I live in a private apartment, how will the tax authorities prove that I, as a service attached to the overnight stay, ate the owner’s breakfast and now the owner owes the treasury for this?

– Well, a large hotel can argue like this: but prove that all our guests swam in our pool! Or ate in our restaurants! Therefore, the tax authorities made it simpler and more cunning. The tax is imposed on all services that are offered to the guest on the territory of the owner, and no one will find out whether you used them or not. But the treasury always assumes that the taxpayer will be cunning, so deduction algorithms are still being developed and have not yet been disclosed.

– I’m not strong in the hotel business, but even then I guessed: these 2% should be included in the cost of living and still tear them from tourists.

You guessed it right, they all did it. Well, except for those who have already sold blocks of rooms to tour operators for early booking at old prices. Such, however, are not satisfied, so now this issue is being resolved.

– Do I understand correctly that because of this, from January 1, any type of recreation in Turkey will rise in price at least a little?

– Yes, but 2% is such a drop in the ocean that you won’t even notice.

But experts of the domestic tourism industry have a different opinion: the most optimistic of them predict an increase in prices for holidays in Turkey in 2023 by 15-20%, and the rest, most of them, by 30-50%. Well, in comparison with this, the two percent tax is indeed a drop in the ocean of profits for the Turkish treasury.