 İşbank is now ranked among leading Turkish companies that have received tax demands from the Finance Ministry. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL |
İşbank, Turkey’s biggest listed bank by assets, has said it received a demand from the tax authorities to pay 632 million Turkish Liras ($407 million) in back taxes and charges, and has won an initial court case to overturn it.
The case has now been referred to Turkey’s top administrative court in Ankara, İşbank said in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange after markets closed Thursday.
“I was surprised to see the statement about the tax bill as İşbank is a conservative bank and I wouldn’t have thought it would be the kind of bank to have tax issues,” Funda Afacan, an analyst at BGC Partners in Istanbul, said in an interview. “The feeling I’ve gotten from the management is that they think they’ve won the case. If they don’t win, then they’ll probably benefit from a government tax-restructuring plan.”
İşbank is now among leading Turkish companies that have received tax demands from the Finance Ministry in Ankara. Others include oil refiner Tüpraş and the Doğan Media Group.
İşbank, which was responding to an unidentified media report, said accounting standards did not require it to include the tax demand in its balance sheets and footnotes, according to Thursday’s filing.
The tax bill includes 254 million liras in back taxes and 378 million liras in charges, İşbank said.
The government will likely waive some tax fines or reduce them under a restructuring plan announced Nov. 15 and now before a Parliament committee.
İşbank may end up paying between 100 million and 150 million liras should it lose the court case and settle with the government, Afacan said.
The case has now been referred to Turkey’s top administrative court in Ankara, İşbank said in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange after markets closed Thursday.
“I was surprised to see the statement about the tax bill as İşbank is a conservative bank and I wouldn’t have thought it would be the kind of bank to have tax issues,” Funda Afacan, an analyst at BGC Partners in Istanbul, said in an interview. “The feeling I’ve gotten from the management is that they think they’ve won the case. If they don’t win, then they’ll probably benefit from a government tax-restructuring plan.”
İşbank is now among leading Turkish companies that have received tax demands from the Finance Ministry in Ankara. Others include oil refiner Tüpraş and the Doğan Media Group.
İşbank, which was responding to an unidentified media report, said accounting standards did not require it to include the tax demand in its balance sheets and footnotes, according to Thursday’s filing.
The tax bill includes 254 million liras in back taxes and 378 million liras in charges, İşbank said.
The government will likely waive some tax fines or reduce them under a restructuring plan announced Nov. 15 and now before a Parliament committee.
İşbank may end up paying between 100 million and 150 million liras should it lose the court case and settle with the government, Afacan said.
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