The Directorate of Communications announced that the claims that "VAT will be increased to 10 and 20 percent in places where food and beverages are sold" are nothing but disinformation.
In the statement, it was underlined that there is no increase in VAT rates with the draft communiqué prepared by the Revenue Administration, and said: "While the VAT rate in food items is 1 percent, the VAT rate in the food and beverage sector is 10 percent. However, it has been determined that some restaurants in the food and beverage sector exploit the difference in rates and disrupt competitive equality. While the restaurants or cafes in question were supposed to calculate 10 percent VAT for food and beverage services, it was observed that instead of this service, they issued receipts or invoices by calculating 1 percent VAT by showing that they sold products such as meat, water and fruit juice, just like a market. In order to prevent wrong practices and abuses and to eliminate the hesitations of the parties on this issue, the Revenue Administration has prepared the draft Communiqué that clarifies the issue and published it on its website. "VAT rate changes can only be made by the Presidential Decision within the framework of the authority given by the Law, and cannot be made by any Communiqué."
