Constitutional Court Decision on Accommodation Tax
Summary: As per Article 9 of Law no. 7194, accommodation tax will be paid to the relevant tax office in terms of value added tax (for those who are not value added taxpayers, to the tax office of the place where the establishment is located). It was claimed that the article was contrary to Articles 90 and 127 of the Constitution. In consequence of its norm evaluation, the Constitutional Court concluded that the article did not conflict with the Constitution.
Our Explanations:
Constitutional Court Decision no. E.2020/11, K.2023/98 dated 18/05/2023
It was claimed that the rule contradicted with Articles 90 and 127 of the Constitution, stating that accommodation tax was included in the revenues of central administrations and not local administrations with the rule, the principle of autonomy of local administrations also covered financial autonomy, it was not possible to use accommodation tax to support tourism because of its regulation as a general budget revenue and lack of a direct collection mechanism, and the situation conflicted with international conventions stipulating that sufficient financial resources should be provided to local administrations and financial resources of local administrations should be proportionality with their responsibilities.
In consequence of its norm evaluation, the Constitutional Court concluded as follows:
The law may set the boundaries of duty between central administration and local administration in consideration of public interest and Constitutional limits. Accommodation tax that has recently started to be imposed in our country was included in central administration revenue, and accepted as one of the taxes, duties and charges subject to the levy, accrual and collection provisions stipulated in Law no. 213 and followed by the Revenue Administration. Local administrations are public legal entities established to fulfil local common needs of the relevant local community; therefore, the scope of the financial autonomy granted to them is limited to the assets in kind and in cash, allocated to the local services that they are obliged to provide as part of their duty. Within this framework, it cannot be concluded that the rule for inclusion of the revenues generated by the tourism sector into central administration budget constitutes an intervention in the financial autonomy of local administrations, as these revenues are not directly related to the fulfillment of the local services they are obliged to provide as part of their duties. For the explained reasons, the rule is not contrary to Articles 73 and 127 of the Constitution. The cancellation request should be rejected.
The decision was published on the Official Gazette dated 12 September 2023, accessible via the attached link. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2023/09/20230912-3.pdf
Regards,
