Considering the Wealth Tax in the Context of the Wealth Declaration Debates (1960-1984) in Turkey

Authors : Ebru Deniz Ozan

Pages : 1-16

Doi:10.26650/siyasal.2023.32.1374646

View : 95 | Download : 93

Publication Date : 2023-12-31

Article Type : Research

Abstract :Wealth tax, which has been off the agenda since the 1990s, has come back to the global political agenda with the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the economic and social problems caused by the pandemic, wealth taxes were introduced in some Latin American countries and in the USA. International organizations such as the UN and the IMF suggested that a wealth tax should be considered as a solution. These discussions also came to the fore in Turkey. As a result of the global crisis and pandemic, Turkey, like other countries, faced financial problems and growing inequality. Although there has never been a general wealth tax in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the practice that comes closest to a wealth tax is the “Annual Wealth Declaration” that was implemented between 1960 and 1984. Throughout its implementation, the declaration of wealth caused controversy and was opposed or defended by different representatives of social classes. The aim of this study is to examine these perceptions about the declaration of wealth, by following the discussions in the press during those years, to clarify the arguments for and against the wealth declaration. The study also asks what the practice of the wealth declaration can tell us today, even though it was criticised, discussed, and then abandoned, in what could be described as a more appropriate social context, that is before the 1980s. The study aims to contribute, within a historical framework, to the discussions on the applicability of the wealth tax in Turkey.
Keywords : Servet beyannamesi, Genel servet vergisi, Türkiye’de servet beyannamesi tartışmaları (1960-1984)