MP Accuses Gov’t of Mismanaging Public Funds

Devrim Barçın - CTP
[Devrim Barçın – CTP]
Member for the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Devrim Barçın, has accused the government of mismanaging public funds in a way that benefits certain wealthy groups rather than the wider economy of the country, Yeniduzen reports.

He gave the following examples:

Year 2022
Collected Corporate Tax: 1.354 billion TL
Collected Price Stability Fund: 1.676 billion TL

Year 2023
Collected Corporate Tax: 2.981 billion TL
Collected Price Stability Fund: 2.830 billion TL

He said, “In 2022, the amount collected from the Price Stability Fund (FIF), which primarily comes from fuel and is paid by citizens, exceeded the total corporate tax declared by 5,781 companies. In 2023, the figure was just below the corporate tax total.

“Approximately 55% of the corporate tax collected comes from banks and insurance companies, while nearly half of the remainder is paid by hotels with casinos.

“In no part of the world, including Turkey, is it normal for a fund mainly formed from fuel payments by citizens to equal or exceed the corporate tax collected. Normally, the corporate tax collected is many times more than the amount gathered in such funds“.

Disproportionate Use of Public Funds: He argues that public funds, which should support tradespeople, producers, and small- and medium-sized businesses, are instead being used to benefit large companies or certain privileged groups. He believes this is unfair and inefficient, as it enriches a few instead of helping the broader economy grow.

Informal Economy: Barçın points out that the large amount of money collected from citizens through the Price Stability Fund (mostly from fuel payments) either exceeds or comes close to the total corporate taxes paid by businesses. This suggests that many companies are underreporting their earnings and contributing less to taxes than they should, meaning a large portion of the economy is operating informally (off the books or underreported).

Unfair Distribution of Burden: He said that the government turns a blind eye to the flourishing informal economy and takes no action to regulate it. Instead, they place the financial burden on regular citizens, who pay taxes and contribute to funds like the Price Stability Fund (FIF). At the same time, the government is pressured by certain groups to stop subsidising critical sectors like farming and production and instead funnel more incentives to these privileged groups.

Barçın believes this approach is unfair and harmful to the country’s economy.

Yeniduzen

Other Stories