Turkish President's Tax Veto Likely To Be Overruled

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

31 January 2003

It emerged on Wednesday that Turkey's President, Ahmet Necdet Sezer has vetoed a draft tax reform law which is seen as crucial to the government's plans to meet IMF-approved budget targets.

According to a Reuters report, President Sezer objected to moves to convert the penalty for tax evasion in certain situations from prison terms to monetary fines, arguing that this could be viewed as a tax amnesty.

However, Mr Sezer, a former chief justice in Turkey's top court has something of a reputation for stalling legislation passed by parliament on legal technicalities, according to Reuters, and his veto is often overriden by passing the legislation a second time.

Given that the government is set to raise 2,400 trillion lira ($1.45 billion) in additional revenue from outstanding tax disputes if this piece of reform legislation becomes law, it appears likely that parliament will override the President's decision on this issue, although the Turkish authorities made no immediate comment on the veto.

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