Minister offers no explanation for 14.5 million lira tax fine on pro-opposition newspaper

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 Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Utku Çakırözer has submitted a parliamentary question to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance about a tax fine on a pro-opposition newspaper.

Estetik Yayıncılık, the parent company of daily Sözcü, was handed a tax fine of 14.5 million lira for the 2018 tax year (1.78 million USD) in December.

After the fine, the company stated that it paid 6 million lira in tax in 2018 and 10.5 million lira in 2019, which made it the highest tax-paying newspaper in the country.

It was later revealed that a four-member team of tax inspectors from Ankara, the capital, was assigned to inspect the newspaper although its headquarters is in İstanbul.

The inspectors issued a fine without revealing the Tax Technical Report to the newspaper in what was a "major procedural deficiency" according to tax experts.

While MP Çakırözer submitted seven questions, Minister Lütfi Elvan skipped some of them, only saying that "No special procedures are established on the basis of the taxpayers during the investigations carried out, the necessary attention and care is taken within the framework of the legislation."

He did not answer which newspapers had received tax fines in the last five years, how much they had paid in fines and which newspapers hadn't paid taxes after announcing losses.

"Unlawful fines"

"On the one hand, press outlets' most important source of revenue is destroyed with the unlawful fines by the Press Advertisement Institution and the RTÜK [Radio and Television Supreme Council, on the other hand, pressure is put on real reporters by the use of the tax issue as a weapon," said Çakırözer.

The Press Advertisement Institution (BİK), a state agency responsible for placing public ads and notices on newspapers, and the RTÜK, the regulatory body for the broadcast media, have extensively imposed fines on outlets critical of the government over the past few years.

The government has received criticism from journalism and rights groups for using these agencies as an instrument for taking punitive measures against critical news coverage.

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"The fines imposed on Sözcü and newspapers and televisions that pursue the truth both destroy freedom of the press and take away our right to information," said Çakırözer.

"Not only Sözcü, but also newspapers such as Cumhuriyet, Evrensel, Korkusuz, Birgün, Yeniçağ, Yeni Asya faced ad embargoes by the Press Advertisement Institution," he added. (HA/VK)