Tax statute period

Prescription is regulated as a reason that eliminates tax debt. In Article 113 of the Tax Procedure Law No. 213, the nature of the statute of limitations is stated as "Prescription is the termination of the tax receivable through the passage of time." He defined it with his expressions. The reason for regulating the statute of limitations in tax law is public interest. The statute of limitations serves purposes such as making the tax administration more careful in monitoring taxes and eliminating long-term debt relationships.

On the other hand, VUK No. 213 states that the tax will be eliminated after the statute of limitations expires. Therefore, the taxpayer does not need to claim any statute of limitations. The statute of limitations must be observed ex officio by the tax administration. The taxpayer does not need to apply.

There are two types of statute of limitations in tax law: assessment and collection statute of limitations.

DATE STATEMENT PERIOD

Article 20 of the Tax Procedure Law defines tax assessment as "an administrative procedure that determines the amount of the tax receivable by calculating it by the tax office based on the base and proportions specified in the law."

Assessment limitation is the type of limitation that occurs if the tax is not assessed and notified to the taxpayer within the specified period, despite the occurrence of the event giving rise to the tax. According to Article 114 of the Tax Procedure Law, the limitation period for assessment is 5 years from the beginning of the year following the calendar year in which the tax receivable arises. As determined by the law, it is also mandatory to notify the taxpayer of the assessment made in terms of the statute of limitations. In other words, the tax administration must both make the assessment and notify the taxpayer of the assessment within the limitation period. Otherwise, the tax debt will expire due to statute of limitations.

We have stated that statute of limitations is regulated as one of the situations that terminate tax debt. However, if the taxpayer pays the expired tax debt voluntarily, the debt will be deemed to have been collected. On the other hand, if a tax debt that has expired is still requested from the taxpayer and the taxpayer makes the payment without knowing the situation, this payment will not be deemed to have been made voluntarily.

As a rule, the limitation period for assessment is valid for all tax types. However, different limitation periods are regulated in the Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law and the Real Estate Tax Law.

STATEMENT OF TAX PENALTY

According to Article 374 of the Tax Procedure Law, the statute of limitations for tax loss penalties is 5 years, while this period for irregularity penalties is 2 years. However, if the irregularity is combined with tax loss, as a rule, a 5-year statute of limitations will apply. For tax loss penalties, the statute of limitations begins to run from the beginning of the year following the period that gave rise to the tax event.

In case of irregularity, the statute of limitations begins to run on the first day of the year following the year in which the irregularity was committed. In the case of such penalties, notification of the penalty to the taxpayer will interrupt the statute of limitations. What should be understood from the concept of interruption is the situation in which the statute of limitations no longer comes to the fore after the notification is made.

For smuggling crimes, the statute of limitations specified in the Turkish Penal Code applies. Since the upper limit of penalties for smuggling crimes is 5 years, an 8-year statute of limitations period will be applied in accordance with the Turkish Penal Code.

CORRECTION STATEMENT PERIOD

According to the Tax Procedure Law, taxpayers may request correction of errors in tax transactions. The correction must be made within the 5-year statute of limitations. Errors that occur after the statute of limitations have expired cannot be requested to be corrected. However, Article 126 of the Tax Procedure Law provides some exceptions regarding the limitation period.

According to the relevant article;

a) An error was made in the taxes assessed and notified within the last year of the statute of limitations;

b) The order to pay the accrued taxes is notified to the taxpayer without being notified by announcement and being subject to a lawsuit in the tax court;

c) Taxes notified by notice and payment order announcement are subject to seizure in accordance with Law No. 6183;

It cannot be less than one year from the date.

As can be understood from the article, in case of exceptions, an additional period of 1 year will be on the agenda.

CASES THAT SUSPEND THE STATEMENT OF DATE

1-If the tax administration applies to the assessment commission for base assessment, the statute of limitations will stop.

"However, applying to the assessment commission for tax base assessment by the tax office stops the statute of limitations. The suspended statute of limitations continues to run from the day following the submission of the said commission decision to the tax office. However, the idle period cannot exceed one year in any case." VUK 114/2.

As can be understood from the text of the article, the limitation period in case of application to the appraisal commission will continue from where it left off as of the delivery of the decision to the tax office. However, the stopping period should under no circumstances exceed 1 year.

2- In case of force majeure, the limitation period stops.

Article 15 of the Tax Procedure Law reads as follows: "If there is any force majeure stated in Article 13, the periods do not start until this reason disappears. In this case, the assessment is extended as long as the periods for which the statute of limitations does not apply.".

Again, in Article 13, force majeure situations;

"1. Severe accident, serious illness and detention that prevents the fulfillment of any of the tax duties;

2. Disasters such as fire, earthquake and flood that will prevent the fulfillment of tax duties;

3. Compulsory absences that occur outside the person's control;

4. The books and documents are lost from the owner's possession due to reasons beyond his/her will; "These are situations like this." In such cases, the statute of limitations will remain valid for the duration of the force majeure event.

CASES THAT INTERRUPT THE TIMELINE OF DATE

Interrupting the statute of limitations means deleting the periods before the interruption. If there is an interruption within the statute of limitations, the periods processed before the interruption date will be eliminated with all its consequences. There is no regulation other than the notification of the penalty notice regulated in Article 374 of the Tax Procedure Law in terms of interrupting the limitation period. According to the law, if the penalty notice is notified to the taxpayer, the statute of limitations will be terminated.

COLLECTION STATEMENT PERIOD

Unlike the limitation period for assessment, the limitation period for collection is regulated in the AATUHK numbered 6183, not in the Tax Procedure Law. The regulations in Law No. 6183 apply to all public receivables.

In Article 102 of the Law, the collection limitation period is determined as 5 years. The limitation period starts on the first day of the calendar year following the year in which the public receivable is due. Receivables that cannot be collected within 5 years become statute barred.

If the collection statute of limitations expires, the possibility of collecting the tax will be eliminated. However, even if the statute of limitations expires, payments made consensually are considered collections.

CASES THAT INTERRUPT THE COLLECTION TIMELINE

As we stated above, the termination of the statute of limitations means that all periods until the termination date are deemed not to have processed, that is, they are reset to zero. Circumstances that interrupt the statute of limitations for collection are listed one by one in the law. In the following cases, the statute of limitations will be interrupted and the periods will start from the beginning.

ARTICLE 103 :

"The statute of limitations for collection is interrupted in the following cases:

1. Payment,

2. Seizure application,

3. All kinds of collections made as a result of forced collection and follow-up transactions,

4. Payment order notification,

5. Property declaration, notification of property acquisition and property increases,

6. Application of any of the transactions shown in the 5 rows above to or carried out by the guarantor or representatives of foreign individuals and institutions,

7. Reversal decision by the district authorities in disputed public receivables,

8. Securing public receivables as collateral,

9. Deciding to postpone the execution by the district authorities,

10. For an existing debt between two public administrations, the creditor public administration applies in writing to the debtor public administration for the payment of the debt.

11. Applying for the public receivable to be paid in accordance with special laws and/or connecting it to a payment plan. The statute of limitations starts to run again from the beginning of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the interruption occurs. If the statute of limitations is interrupted by an annulment decision, the start of the statute of limitations coincides with the new maturity date; In cases where public receivables are secured or enforcement is suspended by the jurisdictional authorities, the statute of limitations begins on the date when the security is removed and the suspension period ends; It is the first day of the calendar year following the calendar year."

CASES THAT SUSPEND THE COLLECTION STATEMENT:

If the collection statute of limitations stops, the accumulated periods until the stop will not be deleted. From the day the reason for the suspension ceases to exist, the statute of limitations continues to run on top of the period until the moment of suspension. Situations in which the statute of limitations will cease in the law:

-Fraudulent discharge by the debtor,

-The taxpayer is in a foreign country,

-It is not possible to prosecute the debtor due to the liquidation of his estate.

It is counted as follows.