While the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, upon request from the sector, included the change in the taxation procedure of tip income and motor courier activities in the tax package preparations, no new taxes will be created in these areas.
According to the information obtained by the AA correspondent from the Ministry, the demands of the sectors that want ease in taxation are also evaluated in the package being prepared.
In this context, upon the application of the relevant sectors, work was carried out to facilitate the taxation procedure in these areas without creating a new tax on tip income and income obtained from motor courier activities.
THE SECTOR ASKED FOR EASES BECAUSE TIPS ARE SUBJECT TO VAT
According to the Income Tax Law, if the tips collected in businesses providing food and beverage services are distributed to employees by the employer, these payments are considered as a part of the wage received from the employer and are added to the wage base and taxed by withholding according to the income tax tariff.
With the widespread use of debit cards, credit cards and other payment systems, customers began to pay their tips by card in addition to food and beverage costs. In this case, since it cannot be shown separately, the payment made as a tip is considered an element included in the base of the food and beverage service and is subject to VAT.
The Ministry, which took action upon the sector representatives’ request for convenience, worked with other ministries that are parties to the issue. In this context, while examining world examples, it was determined that tip payment by debit and credit card is very common and these amounts are shown separately in the payment documents and are not included in the VAT base.
ALL WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO EMPLOYEES
According to the draft study, tip payments will be shown separately from this fee in the payment documents, provided that they do not exceed 10 percent of the service fee. These incomes, which are wages, will be collected in the bank account and distributed entirely to employees. Money distributed to employees up to the monthly gross amount of the minimum wage will not be associated with normal wage income and will be subject to only 10 percent income tax withholding instead of the tariff.
Provided that tip payments are shown separately from the service fee, these payments, which are wages, will not be included in the service fee by the employer and therefore will not be subject to VAT.
SECTORS TO BE COVERED HAVE BEEN DETERMINED
The regulation will cover businesses operating in the food and beverage sector and businesses that provide service to customers, including those that offer takeaway and other forms of food.
Units of hotels and similar accommodation establishments that provide food and beverage services will also be covered, provided that invoices and invoice-like documents are issued for these services.
Studies are also being carried out on the labor and social security legislation to support the practice in terms of insurance premiums and severance pay.
THE MOTORCOURIER WILL NOT HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO KEEP BOOKS
It is envisaged to switch to a simple taxation procedure in which the earnings arising from motorcycle courier activities and taxed as commercial income will be given by withholding method.
If couriers work for an employer within the scope of a service contract, the income they earn is taxed as wages. If they work independently on their own behalf, the income generated is considered as commercial income and delivery services are subject to VAT. There are 126 thousand 112 motor couriers operating as commercial income taxpayers.
Upon the requests from motorcycle couriers and professional associations, studies have been completed to make arrangements for easy taxation instead of their obligations such as keeping books, preparing documents, submitting temporary and annual declarations.
Motor couriers, who are taxpayers of commercial income, will be subject to a certain amount of withholding from the payments made for these services. If the income they earn within a calendar year does not exceed the 4th slice of the tariff (3 million lira for this year), the withholding will be the final tax.
Those who adopt this practice will not have obligations such as keeping books, preparing documents, and submitting temporary and annual returns. In addition, their service performance will be exempt from VAT.
