ANNOUNCEMENT OF FORCE MAJEURE FOR CERTAIN SECTORS DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK

The Revenue Administration, Ministry of Treasury (“Ministry”) published the General

Communiqué of Tax Procedural Law No. 518 (hereafter referred to as the “Communiqué”, in Turkish “Vergi Usul Kanunu Genel Tebliği (Sıra No: 518)”) at the Official Gazette on 24 March 2020 as to the announcement of force majeure for certain sectors due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As per the Article 3 of the Communiqué, the taxpayers who fall under such force majeure announcement who shall be deemed in force majeure state for the period between 1 April 2020 – 30 June 2020 (included) are determined to be those;

1. who have a tax liability as to commercial, agricultural or professional income,
2. who are directly influenced from the coronavirus outbreak and who are conducting activities in sectors of including retail, health services, manufacture of furniture, iron-steel and metal industry, mining and quarrying, property construction services, manufacture of industrial kitchens, automotive manufacturing and trade and manufacturing of parts and accessories for automotive industry, automotive rental services, logistics and transportation including storage activities, artistic services such as cinemas and theatres, publishing services including books, magazines, newspapers, journals and similar printing activities, accommodation services including travel agencies and tour operators, food and beverage services including restaurants and cafes, manufacturing and trade of textiles and confectionery and event and organization services including public relations,
3. those conducting activities in the sectors the business of which are suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak via decision of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

The aforementioned fields of activity shall be shall be attested via the records of the tax administrations as of the publication date of the Communiqué, i.e. 24 March 2020 for the relevant taxpayer to benefit from rights linked to the force majeure state.

Kindly note that, in case the taxpayer conducts such activities but does not appear as such in the tax administration records, it shall attest its de facto activities to the tax administration by presentation of the documentation as a proof thereof so as to be considered in force majeure state as detailed above.

Hence, pursuant to the Article 4 of the Communiqué, for the aforementioned taxpayers, submission, declaration and payment dates are revised for the below liabilities:

1. withholding tax returns (including withholding and premium service declarations (in Turkish “muhtasar beyannameler ve prim hizmet beyannameleri”))
2. VAT
3. Ba-Bs forms
4. e-ledgers to be issued/signed
5. E-Ledger Badges to be uploaded to the IT system of the Revenue Administration

For the dates applicable as to the above points, please consult to your accountancy experts.

Finally, please note that as per the Article 5, the taxpayers subject to curfew as per the measures against the spread of COVID-19, i.e. 65 year-old and older taxpayers or those with chronic illnesses, and the taxpayers whose accountancy consultants are subject to such curfew, are deemed in force majeure as of 22 March 2020 until the termination date of the curfew (included). In such case, for the relevant declarations and the payments the last due dates of which are within the curfew period, the last due dates are extended until the end of the 15th day after the end of the curfew period.

For the legal aspects of the issue, our Law Firm remains at your disposal for any further clarifications

you may need about the subject matter.