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That's interesting but Turkey has found a solution to the problem. Having one of the highest tax rates in the World[0], the country had to be creative, thus inv
by mrtksn 5y ago
That's interesting but Turkey has found a solution to the problem. Having one of the highest tax rates in the World[0], the country had to be creative, thus invented the "Special Consumption tax" or SCT , which is determined by the size of the engine and price bracket of the car.
When you buy a car in Turkey, on top of the import duties(if any) a SCT is added(anywhere from %45 to %150), on top of that a VAT is added(yes, VAT is calculated over the final price with SCT), on top of that other smaller taxes are also added(radio tax, stamp tax etc) and you end up with ridiculously expensive cars and you have no way out because you can't drive an unregistered car and you can't register your car without paying everything you have to pay. Also, the used car imports are tightly controlled to prevent undercutting the local market, to the point that it doesn't make any sense to import. Bringing your car from a neighbouring country is something you can do but for most it doesn't work out because you are limited to 2 years(it was 6 months till a few years ago).
This also inflates the second hand market, often making cars an investment because they barely loose value. Once you buy a car you are in the club now, you drive it for a year or two then sell it at a high price, put a bit more of your savings on top of it and buy yourself even better car.
[0] https://jalopnik.com/why-this-150-000-porsche-costs-600-000-in-turkey-1847572799 https://jalopnik.com/why-this-150-000-porsche-costs-600-000-...
- fifticon 5y agoDenmark functions similar to this, i believe (i am danish).
- jacquesm 5y agoSame in NL. BPM.
- tragomaskhalos 5y agoTurkey has always had creative taxation schemes - as a British holidaymaker visiting in the 90s, everyone had to pop a fiver (sterling) into a hat at passport control.
- Jenk 5y agoIt was a tenner in 2011.
- eatplayrove 5y agoWait until you hear Turks have to pay 120 euros for a tourist visa to Europe...
- mrtksn 5y agoOr that Turks have to pay 50 liras each time they exit the country.
- mellavora 5y agoHey, that's even better than turning houses into investments, creating a house price bubble!!
- ab_testing 5y agoDon't worry, houses are still an investment in Turkey - just as everywhere else in world.
- onlyrealcuzzo 5y agoIf the taxes are THAT high - wouldn't it make sense to just buy cars in Greece and ship/drive them to Turkey? When the 2 year period is up - what happens? Can you sell the car?
- mrtksn 5y agoJust to be able to bring the car with you from abroad(but not import the car), you need to spend at least 185 days abroad. Once you are in Turkey, only you are allowed to use the car(you may let someone else drive but you must be present in the car). So you can't just go to Greece, buy a cheap car and bring it to Turkey. The laws are designed to allow the Turkish diaspora or foreign visitors to come for work and a holiday in Turkey but to block any attempts of the citizens buying cheap cars from a neighbouring country and use them in Turkey. When the 2 year period is up, you obviously start building up fines. Turkey sucks at collecting taxes, there are a few areas where the country is effective at collection of taxes and automobiles is one of them and they are damn serious about it. Another original Turkish tax collection method is on cellphones. Like the cars, taxes are very high on cellphones and to block bringing phones from abroad all the foreign devices need to be registered within 90 days of the first time the device picks up signal in Turkey(once the 90 days expire, the phone can no longer connect to the GSM network until registered). The registration price is hefty, making it not worth it. You are also allowed to register 1 device every few years and you need to register within the first 90 days of your arrival from abroad.