About Us

Dear Internet User,

As it is well-known, the informal economy consists of hidden and unregistered
activities.

That the citizens share the tax burden in accordance with their financial
capability is a compulsory element of the modern world so that the existence of
the state can be sustained and budget expenses can be covered. The informal
economy emerges as a major problem of underdeveloped and developing country
economies while it has been in the process of being followed up recently by
developed country economies.

The multidimensional nature of the informal economy led to its investigation
under various scientific disciplines. Consequently, not only tax officers and
economists but also sociologists, anthropologists, statisticians, politicians
and lawyers have shown interest in the informal economy.

The reduction of the informal economy will contribute to the improvement of many
macroeconomic factors such as economic stability, income distribution and
employment in the medium and long term, and lead to the increase in public
revenues, efficiency level and competitiveness in the economy.

As the informality decreases, the indirect-direct tax distribution will improve
and the citizen's confidence in tax justice will increase. Moreover, non-tax
areas will decrease, which will serve to integrate citizen-state. As tax losses
are reduced, the balance of public finances will have a healthier structure,
which will increase investment and employment opportunities. Eventually, public
services will be provided more effectively, and the improvement of the quality
of public services will increase the employment opportunities and the quality of
life of all people.

The Turkish Revenue Administration aims to increase taxpayer voluntary
compliance, encourage registered economy, increase tax awareness and the quality
of the services provided to taxpayers.

In our country, the fight against the informal economy is carried out under the
coordination of the Turkish Revenue Administration, in cooperation and under the
responsibility of public institutions and organizations. In this context, Action
Plans for Combating the Informal Economy of 2008-10 and 2011-13 have been
implemented successfully.

We continue to our fight against informal economy with the 2015-2017 Action Plan
that consists of 5 components and 62 actions taken by 15 responsible and 51
cooperating institutions, contributed by 79 institutions and organizations, 36
non-governmental organizations, in order to further the progress of the previous
Action Plans and carry out the fight in a more comprehensive framework.

Both the monitoring of the implementation period of this action plan and the
fight with informality in all areas are among the strategic goals and priorities
of our Administration. The Revenue Administration is working intensively to
reduce the informal economy in this framework.

The fight against informality is a dynamic process. In order to be successful in
the transition to the registered economy, it is a major pre-requisite that all
institutions and organizations support the process and cooperate effectively
with public institutions and organizations, associations, NGOs and all sectors
of society.

In order to succeed in the transition to the registered economy, I would like to
emphasize that we care for your support and intend to cooperate effectively with
you throughout this process. Therefore, I believe that this fight will reach its
goal with the total contribution of all of us.

Sincerely.

Adnan Ertürk

The Commissioner of Turkish Revenue Administration