Turkey intends to increase state revenues by raising indirect taxes, fines and fees. An announcement by the Council of Ministers of Turkey on 1 January 2014 will increase purchase taxes on cars, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and mobile phones, as well as stamp taxes and government fines and fees.
The council introduced a new tax on cigarettes, raising the minimum tax on a packet of cigarettes by 16 percent, to 3.75 lira ($1.75), or about 40 percent of the price per pack.
While the resolution allowed the special consumption tax (SCT) on mobile phones to remain unchanged at 25 percent, it increased a one-time tax on mobile phones by 20 percent, to 120 lira ($55.32).
Financial analysts predicted that the higher taxes will push car prices up by an average of 3.5 to 4 percent, increase the price of alcoholic beverages by 8 to 15 percent and raise cigarette prices by 3 to 17 percent.
Value added tax, (which varies from 1 percent to 18 percent depending on the type of purchase), was also increased by an average of 3.93 percent.
