Evaluation of Tax Amnesties in the Context of Empirical Studies Devoted to Turkey

Abstract

Governments often resort to tax amnesties for political, economic, fiscal and administrative reasons. However, tax amnesties adversely affect fairness and equality principles, while negatively affecting tax compliance and reducing obedience to tax laws. Due to the amnesty laws, which are often accepted, the increased forgiveness expectation induce taxpayers to not to pay their due on time, but sends them to pay with a new payment plan at a later date. This situation negatively affects the planned tax revenues to be collected on the basis of general and persistent tax legislation.This situation negatively affects the planned tax revenues to be collected on the basis of general and persistent tax legislation.The obligation to resort to the tax amnesty law for tax collection is becoming a vicious cycle when it is combining with political and economic justifications. The accuracy of all these discourses has been subject do different studies. In this study, the arguments advocated by supporters and opponents to tax amnesties will be evaluated based on the results of empirical studies in Turkey.