Minister Şimşek gave the signal: Notifications started to be sent to tenants for 4.5 million houses.

Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek stated in the past weeks that real estate owners were under scrutiny to ensure that rental income was declared correctly in March.

Minister Şimşek said that approximately 4.5 million residences with the potential to generate rental income were analyzed, and actual determinations would be made at the addresses determined to be used for rental.

In the letter sent, it was stated that ‘they wanted to discuss the rent payment’. Before coming to the meeting, tenants were asked for their rental agreement, bank payment receipt, and real estate agent information, if available.

Mediator Lawyer Umut Metin’s statements are as follows: “Currently, a study is being carried out in all provinces across Turkey to determine whether the rental income obtained from residences is declared correctly or not. Although invitation letters are sent for a meeting and it is noticed that the payments seen through the bank are under- or over-declared, the tenants’ permission can also be sought to find out the truth of this matter.

What the tax office wants to do here is not to take a wrong step, because a penalty of 1 times the tax loss can be imposed here. Citizens are invited to meetings to encourage accurate and honest statements.

IS IT NECESSARY TO GO TO THE INTERVIEW?

Do I need to go to an interview? There is no obligation here. However, it would be in his own interest to leave, and the tenant can make a written statement before leaving. My advice is that it is necessary to accept such an invitation. There may have been a deficiency in the rental declarations. There may be fraudulent rental agreements. The important thing is for the citizen to go to an interview against the notification made to him through the tax office, and if there are any deficiencies in his tax declaration, he should make it correct.

Access to information that can ensure full taxation rather than a punitive method is desired. If you do not go to that meeting, your tax problem will not be solved. Even if the citizen is a tenant, he/she must agree to the meeting and express the actual rental price.

It will be important to submit the correct lease agreement. The system does not have this approach: ‘Let’s find the tenants and property owners who made false statements and punish them all’. What is intended to be done is to discipline the culture of making accurate declarations regarding rental income throughout the country.