Digital Services Tax In Turkey

Prof. Dr. Esra Ekmekci, 

Prof. Dr. Gülsen Güneş, 

Prof. Dr. Mahmut Kaşıkcı, 

Arş. Gör. Selin Ovalıoğlu

INTRODUCTION               1

1. MAIN CONCEPTS OF DIGITAL ECONOMY, AND HISTORICAL PROCESS OF ITS TAXATION 7
   1. Description and Layers of Digital Economy 7
   2. Basic Characteristics of Digital Economy 12
   3. Historical Development and Future of Digital Economy in Turkey and in the World 16
2. FACTORS IN THE ACCEPTANCE OF DIGITAL SERVICE

TAX, AND PROCESS           19

1. General Overview 19
2. Operations of OECD and EU within the scope of Taxation of Digital Economy 24
3. Some Countries in Which the Digital Service Tax has been Enacted 26
   1. France 26
   2. United Kingdom 29
   3. Italy 31
   4. Countries Having Laws Similar to Digital Service Tax 33
      1. India 33
      2. Hungary 35
   5. Practices of Other Countries in the Taxation of Digital Economy 36

VIII

1. Difficulties in Taxation of Digital Economy, and Final Status in Turkey 38

• ISSUES REGARDING LIABILITY AND EXEMPTION ON OF DIGITAL SERVICE TAX 40

1. Subject of Digital Service Tax, and the Incident Giving Rise

to Tax   43

1. Problems and Problematics regarding Exemption and Subject 52
   1. Acquiring or Losing the Status of Tax Exemption 57
   2. Documentation of Exemption 60
   3. Determination of Exemption of Consolidated Groups in terms of Financial Accounting 66
2. Conditions not Affecting the Tax Liability 74
3. SERVICES EXCEPTED FROM DIGITAL SERVICE TAX 84
4. TAX BASE, RATE, AND CALCULATION OF DIGITAL SERVICE TAX 92
5. APPLICABILITY OF DIGITAL SERVICE TAX 98
6. Legal Impossibility of Imposition and Collection of Digital Service Tax in the Calendar Year of 2020 98
7. The Regulations in DST Law, Authorizing the Ministry of Treasury and Finance for Establishing Procedures and Principles,

Are Rules which may Bypass the Principle of Legality of Tax

by the Comminiqués of the Ministry             101

• SANCTION OF BLOCKING OF ACCESS TO SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE DIGITAL SERVICE PROVIDERS 105

1. Legal Characteristic of Regulation with respect to Blocking Access to Service Provided by Digital Service Providers 105
2. Outline of the Systematic of Legal Regulation and Its Scope 109

IX

1. Breach Requiring the Sanction of Access Blocking to Digital Service 111
   1. Material element 111
   2. Offender 114
   3. Moral element 116
2. Other Legal Problematics and Suggestions regarding the

Sanction of Blocking Access to Digital Service          117

1. Warning and announcement in terms of content 117
2. Method of notification of warning 119
3. Form and procedure of warning to be served by Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTİK) 120
4. Period regarding the fulfillment of blocking decision 121
5. Circumstance of consolidation 121
6. Repetition 122
7. Problematics regarding jurisdiction 123

CONCLUSION 125

CHART OF ABBREVIATIONS  126

LAW REGARDING DIGITAL SERVICE TAX AND THE AMENDMENT OF VARIOUS LAWS AND STATUTORY DECREE NUMBER 375               135

REPORT ON TURKEY’S DIGITAL SERVICES TAX PREPARED IN THE INVESTIGATION UNDER SECTION 301 OF THE TRADE

ACT OF 1974  145