There is no omnibus law! New ‘Tax’ surprise in housing loans

AKP continues its preparations for the new omnibus law. Important regulations on issues that fall within the scope of activity of many ministries, especially the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, will be included in the omnibus law. The regulation that will increase the “tax” burden on housing loans will make a splash.

Halk TV writer Olcay Aydilek made the following statements about these regulations and the important issues included in the omnibus law:

“Banking and Insurance Transactions Tax (BSMV) and Resource Utilization Support Fund (KKDF)… Two important financial transaction taxes… BSMV aims to tax all financial transactions, especially banking and insurance.

BSMV provisions are regulated in the Expense Taxes Law. In the law, transactions falling within the scope of BSMV, events giving rise to tax, and transactions to be exempted are listed one by one.

According to the law, housing loans are exempt from BSMV. There is no exemption provision for bank loans other than housing.

With the Presidential Decree published in the Official Gazette on July 7, the BITT rate in consumer loans was increased from 10 percent to 15 percent. The decision entered into force on the date of its publication to be applied to consumer loans to be extended as of July 7, 2023.

BSMV AND SINGLE RESIDENCE EXCEPTION

In the studies on the omnibus bill proposal, the focus is on “limiting” the BSMV exception. Accordingly, the BSMV exemption in housing loans will be limited to a single residence. There will be no BSMV exemption for second and subsequent homes.

If this regulation is included in the final version of the omnibus bill and becomes law, the citizen will pay BITT if he uses a housing loan to buy his second and subsequent homes. Citizen’s tax burden will increase. The state will collect more taxes.

In their statement to Halktv.com.tr, sources stated that work on the issue continues and said, “Incentives and exceptions will continue in the first house. However, there are some preparations to ensure that the BSMV exception will not be applied for subsequent houses,” he said.

So, how is BSMV calculated?

Prof., who was in the top management of Ziraat Bank and Halkbank for many years. Dr. Şenol Babuşcu said that BSMV is calculated based on the interest of the loan taken by the citizen.

Babuşcu said, “Let’s imagine that the citizen took out a loan of 1 million TL. Let’s say there is an interest of 100 thousand TL. BSMV rate was increased to 15 percent by Presidential Decree. BSMV of 15 thousand TL will be collected from this citizen. “This amount will then be transferred to the state,” he said.

IT WILL AFFECT CREDIT DEMAND

Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) announced housing sales statistics for October last week. Housing sales decreased by 8.7 percent in October compared to the same month of the previous year, falling to 93 thousand 761. In the January-October period, it decreased by 14.3 percent compared to the same period last year, falling to 993 thousand 835.

There was also a significant decrease in credit sales. Mortgaged house sales across Turkey decreased by 58 percent in October compared to the same month last year, reaching 5,577. The share of mortgage sales in total housing sales was recorded as 5.9 percent.

Mortgaged house sales in the January-October period also decreased by 31.2 percent compared to the same period last year, falling to 166 thousand 461.

It is thought that the possible regulation regarding BSMV will further reduce the rapidly declining loan demand in housing.

VAT REFUND AND NEW REGULATION

It is expected that the omnibus law will also include some provisions regarding VAT. Accordingly, some new steps will be taken regarding VAT refunds. The President will be authorized to show the amounts subject to refund as expenses.

“The omnibus bill, which includes dozens of articles, is aimed to be passed by the Parliament towards the new year after it is finalized.”