Dismissed civil servant found ineligible for tax reduction by Turkish authorities

A dismissed civil servant was deemed by Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance ineligible to benefit from a real estate tax reduction granted to those who have no income, T24 news portal reported.

The ministry justified its decision on the grounds that he had been dismissed from public office with an emergency decree in the aftermath of a 2016 failed coup and therefore failed in his duty of loyalty to the state

Turkey dismissed some 130,000 public servants with emergency decree laws (KHK in Turkish) following the coup, accusing them of ties to terrorist groups without providing any effective judicial avenue to challenge the dismissals. Many of them subsequently faced investigation and were put to trial and eventually imprisoned.

The former public official, who had been dismissed from his post with an emergency decree law, applied to his municipality to take advantage of a regulation that grants reduced real estate tax to low incomed households with a single residence less than 200 square meters.

The municipality refused his application after asking official opinion from the Ministry of the Treasury and Finance. In its refusal, the Municipality, referring to a letter it received from the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, declared that “the tax deduction is a public service from which the dismissed person cannot benefit since he failed to fulfill his obligation of loyalty to the state,” attaching letter of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance also.

In its letter, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance stated that those who were dismissed from the government positions on the grounds that they had been affiliated with terrorist organizations or active against the national security of the state are not entitled to the tax reduction.

The former civil servant took this rejection to the Ombudsman who found the decision of the Municipality unlawful saying that even if the applicant was a dismissed civil servant he is entitled to the tax reduction in the absence of a rule in the relevant legislation barring the applicant from the entitlement. Yet, the Municipality rejected to give effect to the opinion of the Ombudsman, citing the opinion of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance once again.

The decisions of the Ombudsman are not legally binding.

The applicant filed an administrative lawsuit against the decision of the Municipality this time. The Municipality defended itself in the administrative court arguing that the emergency measures were aimed at ensuring public order. The Municipality demanded the suspension of the case until the dismissal of the applicant is resolved by the relevant authorities.

Previously Turkey’s state-run Halkbank has admitted that it canceled a credit card last year because the owner of the card was dismissed from a state job in the aftermath of the failed coup.

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from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/dismissed-civil-servant-found-ineligible-for-tax-reduction-by-turkish-authorities/