Law No. 6183 on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables

The provisions of this Law shall apply to principal public receivables of the State, the special provincial administrations and the municipalities, such as taxes, duties, fees, costs of proceedings relating to criminal investigation and prosecution, tax penalties and fines; to accessory public receivables such as late payment surcharges and interest; to other receivables of the same administrations arising from the performance of public services, other than those arising from contract, tort and unjust enrichment; and to the costs of pursuing them.

The provisions of the Turkish Criminal Code concerning the manner of collection of fines and their conversion into imprisonment are reserved.

Receivables whose collection is referred to the Law on the Collection of Public Revenues (Tahsili Emval Kanunu):

The provisions of this Law shall also apply to receivables of every kind which various laws state are to be collected in accordance with the Law on the Collection of Public Revenues.

Terms used in the Law:

In this Law, the term public receivable means:

receivables falling within the scope of Articles 1 and 2,

The term public debtor or debtor means:

natural and legal persons obliged to pay a public receivable and their legal representatives or heirs, as well as taxpayers, persons with tax liability, guarantors and representatives of foreign persons and entities,

The term creditor public administration means:

the State, the special provincial administrations and the municipalities,

The term collection office means:

the office, service, officer or officers of the creditor public administration charged with applying this Law,

The term property, where used alone, means:

movable and immovable property ("including ships"), and rights and receivables of every kind,

The term fines means:

judicial and administrative fines,

Added: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 1 The term uncollectible public receivable means:

public receivables that cannot be collected for reasons such as the absence of any attachable assets of the public debtor as a result of the asset investigation conducted under the provisions of this Law, or the sale proceeds failing to cover the public receivable even though the attached assets have been sold and converted into money,

Added: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 1 The term public receivable found to be uncollectible means:

public receivables which, at any stage of the enforcement proceedings conducted by the collection offices, prove to be uncollectible from the public debtor for reasons such as it becoming apparent that the values assessed under the provisions of this Law for the attached assets of the public debtor will not cover the public receivable, or that the public receivable claimed from a public debtor against whom a bankruptcy decision has been rendered cannot be collected from the bankruptcy estate,

The term enforcement costs means:

costs of every kind incurred in the course of operations arising from compulsory enforcement, such as the costs of use of force, announcement, attachment, transport and safekeeping.

Competent officers and their liability:

The duties of the officers of public administrations competent to apply this Law shall be determined by the laws on organisation and duties or by other laws or legislation relating to this matter, and their liability by the laws establishing such liability.

Collection office competent for enforcement proceedings:

Enforcement proceedings shall be carried out by the local collection office of the creditor public administration.

Where the debtor or his property is located in other places, the collection office shall have the proceedings to be conducted in the place where the debtor or his property is located carried out, on its behalf, by the collection offices of the public administration of the same kind in that place.

Obligation to assist:

The persons concerned shall be obliged to carry out immediately the notifications made and the orders given by the collection offices under this Law and to report the outcome to the collection office without delay.

Those who fail to fulfil this obligation without a valid excuse shall be prosecuted directly by the Office of the Public Prosecutor in accordance with the general provisions.

Death of the debtor:

In the event of the death of the debtor, the provisions of this Law shall also apply to heirs who have not disclaimed the inheritance. Proceedings commenced before the death of the debtor shall be continued. Cases requiring the liquidation of the estate by a court or a bankruptcy office fall outside the scope of this provision.

Where the inheritance is accepted on the basis of an inventory, the heir shall be liable for the public receivable, even if it has not been entered in the inventory, up to the amount of his share of the inheritance.

No sale may be made for as long as the inventory procedure continues.

Notifications and computation of time limits:

Unless otherwise provided, the provisions of the Tax Procedure Law shall apply to the computation of the time limits set out in this Law and to the making of notifications.

CHAPTER TWO

Protection of public receivables

I. Provisions on security

Requesting security:

Amended first paragraph: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 1 Where the procedures necessary for the assessment of a public receivable relating to cases requiring the imposition of a tax loss penalty under Article 344 of Tax Procedure Law No. 213, or to the cases listed in Article 359 thereof, have been commenced, the collection offices shall request security on the amount determined according to the initial calculations made by the officers competent to conduct tax audits.

Where the situation of a public debtor who has no domicile in Türkiye indicates that the collection of the public receivable is at risk, the collection office may request security from him.

Security and its valuation:

The following shall be accepted as security:

1. Cash,

2. Amended: 1/7/2022, Law No. 7417, Art. 24 Letters of guarantee without time limit and unconditional issued by banks, and surety bonds without time limit and unconditional issued by insurance companies,

3. Amended: 17/9/2004, Law No. 5234, Art. 7 Government domestic borrowing securities issued by the Undersecretariat of the Treasury, or documents issued in lieu of such securities (where they have been issued with interest included in the nominal value, the sale values corresponding to the principal shall be taken as the basis in these transactions),

4. National shares and bonds to be designated by the Government ("These shares and bonds shall be valued at 15% below the stock exchange quotations closest to the date of acceptance of the security."),

5. Amended: 13/6/1963, Law No. 251, Art. 1 Movable and immovable property offered by the persons concerned or by third parties on their behalf and attached by the creditor public administration on the basis of an attachment record.

If the security subsequently loses its value wholly or partly, or if the amount of the debt increases, the security shall be required to be supplemented or replaced by other security.

The debtor may exchange the security he has given, wholly or partly, for other security of the same value.

Personal suretyship:

Those who are unable to provide security under Article 10 may offer a creditworthy person as joint and several surety and joint and several co-debtor.

Personal suretyship shall be established by a contract certified by a notary, in conformity with the conditions to be determined.

The creditor collection office shall be free to accept or reject the personal suretyship and the person offered.

A surety who pays the public receivable shall be given a document to that effect.

Goods having the status of security:

Goods and materials located in bars, hotels, inns, guesthouses, places with music, cinemas, gaming and dance halls, beer houses, taverns and brothels shall, subject to the provisions of Articles 270 and 271 of Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004, have the status of security for public debts arising from the operation of these establishments.

Goods and materials recorded as fixtures of the owner of the immovable in a lease contract certified by a notary, and the personal belongings of guests and tenants in hotels, inns and guesthouses, are excluded from this provision.

Subject to the ownership claims which third parties may assert on the basis of Article 688 of the Civil Code and Article 222 of the Code of Obligations, ownership claims over the property in these premises shall not prejudice this right of security of the creditor public administration.

II. Precautionary attachment

Precautionary attachment:

Where any of the following circumstances exists, precautionary attachment shall be applied immediately, without being subject to any time limit, by decision of the highest local official of the creditor public administration, in accordance with the provisions on the manner in which attachment is to be carried out:

1. If circumstances requiring security to be requested under Article 9 exist,

2. If the debtor has no fixed domicile,

3. If the debtor has absconded, or there is a likelihood that he will abscond, remove his property or resort to fraudulent means,

4. If, although the debtor has been asked to provide security, he has not provided security or a surety within the specified time limit, or his offer of personal suretyship or the surety he has offered has not been accepted,

5. If the debtor called upon to make a declaration of assets has not made a declaration of assets within the specified time limit or has made an incomplete declaration,

6. If a public action has been brought on account of an act entailing a fine, whether or not a judgment has been rendered,

7. If circumstances exist requiring the application of Articles 27, 29 and 30 of this Law, to be applied in respect of the property constituting the subject of the transaction and disposition whose annulment is sought or, where such property has been disposed of, in respect of the other property of the person who disposed of it.

Security to be provided by the debtor in precautionary attachment:

Property attached as a precaution may be left with the debtor on condition that it is surrendered in cash or in kind whenever requested and, in order to secure this, that the value of the property is deposited or that a person domiciled in the place where the collection office is located is offered as joint and several surety; and where the property has been attached in the hands of a third party, it may be left with that third party upon obtaining a written undertaking.

Objection to precautionary attachment:

Persons against whom precautionary attachment has been applied may object to the ground for the precautionary attachment before the tax objection commission dealing with objections relating to the creditor collection office, within 15 days from the date of application of the attachment or, for attachments made in their absence, from the date of notification of the attachment.

The provisions of the Tax Procedure Law shall apply to the form and examination of the objection. These disputes shall be examined and decided by the objection commissions with priority over other matters. The decisions of the objection commissions on this matter shall be final.

Lifting of precautionary attachment:

Where the debtor provides security in accordance with Article 10, excluding the movable property referred to in subparagraph 5 of that Article, the precautionary attachment shall be lifted by the authority that imposed it.

III. Precautionary assessment

Precautionary assessment:

Amended first paragraph: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 2 Where any of the following circumstances exists, the chief provincial finance officer (defterdar) and/or the head of the tax office directorate may, upon the written request of the director of the tax office (in tax office directorates established and operating with the powers of a tax office under Law No. 5345, the relevant group director and/or director), give a written order for the immediate assessment of those of the taxpayer's not yet assessed taxes and duties which are to be determined and announced by the Ministry of Finance, together with their surcharges and penalties.

The director of the tax office (in tax office directorates established and operating with the powers of a tax office under Law No. 5345, the relevant group director and/or director) shall immediately implement this order:

1. If any of the grounds for precautionary attachment set out in subparagraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Article 13 exists,

2. If proceedings have been initiated against the taxpayer under Article 110,

3. If evidence has been obtained that the business is sham and in reality belongs to another person.

Consequences of precautionary assessment:

Those of the taxes, duties and penalties referred to in Article 17 of a taxpayer subject to proceedings under that Article whose tax base is known shall, whether or not objected to, be assessed immediately on the calculated amount.

The taxes, duties and penalties referred to in Article 17 relating to past years and to the elapsed months of the current year whose tax base is not yet known shall be calculated on the bases determined provisionally by way of estimation according to external indications. The taxes and duties so calculated, together with their surcharges and penalties, shall be assessed immediately.

Taxes and duties assessed on this basis, together with their surcharges and penalties, shall not be collected before their payment dates under the relevant laws arrive. However, precautionary attachment shall be applied immediately in respect of them. In cases falling under subparagraph 3 of Article 17, precautionary attachment shall be applied to the property of those who benefit, in terms of taxes and duties, from the sham business.

The provisional estimations under this Article shall be made by the assessment commissions within a maximum of one week from the date of the request.

Correction of precautionary assessment:

After the assessment of the receivable under its special law, the difference between the precautionary assessment and the assessment based on its special law shall be corrected in accordance with the assessment based on the special law.

For this correction to be made, in assessments based on a return, the return submitted must have been examined and accepted; in assessments subject to objection, finality must have been attained; and in cases where an application has been made to the Council of State, a final decision must have been rendered by the Council of State.

The return for the period that is the subject of the precautionary assessment must be examined within two months at the latest from the date of its submission. If the examination is not carried out within this period, the correction shall not be delayed for this reason.

Objection to precautionary assessment:

Persons against whom precautionary attachment has been applied following a precautionary assessment may object, in accordance with Article 15, to the grounds and the amount of the precautionary assessment.

IV. Other protective provisions

Priority right of public receivables:

If, before property attached by third parties is converted into money, an attachment is also placed on that property for a public receivable, this receivable shall also participate in the attachment and the sale proceeds shall be distributed among them pro rata. Additional provision: 30/3/2006, Law No. 5479, Art. 4 In attachments applied for taxes, duties and fees recorded as revenue of the general budget and for tax penalties and the surcharges and interest attached thereto, the provision of the last sentence of the first paragraph of Article 268 of Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 shall not apply.

The rights of pledgee creditors are reserved. Amended second sentence: 28/2/2018, Law No. 7101, Art. 47 Public receivables arising from the goods and immovable property themselves, such as customs duty and building and land tax, shall rank after pledge-secured receivables in their collection from the proceeds of those goods and immovable property.

Amended last paragraph: 30/3/2006, Law No. 5479, Art. 4 In cases of bankruptcy of the debtor, disclaimer of the inheritance and subjection of the estate to official liquidation, public receivables shall, as privileged receivables, be treated in the third rank under Article 206 of Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 together with all privileged receivables, including the receivables having priority within that rank.

Persons obliged to withhold and pay public receivables:

Where natural and legal persons obliged to withhold a public receivable from its debtor and pay it to the collection office fail to perform this duty within the times specified in their laws or in this Law, the unpaid receivable shall be collected from those natural and legal persons in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

Transactions that may not be carried out before payment of a public receivable, and liability of those carrying out transactions:

Added: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 2; Amended: 28/11/2017, Law No. 7061, Art. 7

The Minister of Finance shall be authorised, in the payments and transactions listed below, to require a document showing that there is no overdue debt to the collection offices attached to the Ministry of Finance and to make it mandatory that the public debts of the persons entitled be withheld from the payments to be made and transferred to the relevant collection office, and to set minimum amounts and rates for the withholdings; to determine, collectively or separately, the public receivables to be covered by type, amount, payment and transaction; and to determine in which cases this requirement shall not apply to the payments and transactions made subject to it, as well as the procedures and principles relating to implementation.

1. In all kinds of payments to be made by public administrations subject to Public Financial Management and Control Law No. 5018 of 10/12/2003 and by the revolving fund enterprises attached to these administrations (including payments to be made upon court decisions and upon payment or enforcement orders of enforcement offices),

2. In payments to be made to the persons entitled by institutions falling within the scope of Public Procurement Law No. 4734 of 4/1/2002 and by institutions and organisations having public legal personality (excluding professional organisations and foundation higher education institutions) on account of procurement of goods or services and construction works,

3. In payments to be made on account of State aid, incentives and support provided in cash by Law (…) and other legislation,

4. In transactions subject to the following fees in the tariffs annexed to Fees Law No. 492 of 2/7/1964: registration and recording fees among the trade registry fees; fees charged on instruments, contracts and papers among the notary fees; fees charged for land registry transactions among the land registry and cadastre fees; ship and port fees; fees subject to Tariff (8) (excluding diploma fees); and traffic fees,

5. In transactions subject to the building construction fee and the building occupancy permit fee provided for in Municipal Revenues Law No. 2464 of 26/5/1981.

With respect to the payments made subject to the requirement under this Article, any transfer, assignment and change of hands, except for employees' wage receivables, shall have effect on the remaining portion after the portion covering the overdue debt to the collection offices attached to the Ministry of Finance has been set aside. However, in the application of this provision, where deductions must be made against receivables of other public administrations, the amount deducted shall be distributed pro rata.

An administrative fine of four thousand Turkish liras shall be imposed by the collection office competent for enforcement proceedings on those who make payments, and on institutions and organisations that carry out transactions, without requiring the document showing that there is no debt despite the requirement introduced under this Article. The administrative fine shall be paid within one month from the date of its notification to the person concerned. An action may be brought before the administrative court against the administrative fine within thirty days following the date of notification.

Set-offs on account of refunds to be made from collected public receivables:

Public receivables that have been collected and must be refunded for legal reasons shall be refunded by being set off against the due debts of the persons entitled to the public administration making the refund.

Of the amounts refunded from the general budget, the portions belonging to the special provincial administrations and the municipalities shall be withheld and set off by the Treasury from the shares to be allocated in the name and on account of these administrations in the year in which the refund and set-off is made.

Bringing an action for annulment:

Actions for the annulment of the dispositions and transactions of the public debtor referred to in Articles 27, 28, 29 and 30 of this Law shall be brought before the ordinary courts, and these actions shall be heard with priority over other matters in accordance with the general provisions.

Respondent to the request for annulment:

Annulment shall be sought against persons who have entered into legal transactions with the debtor or to whom payment has been made by the debtor, against their heirs and against other third parties acting in bad faith.

Limitation in respect of nullity:

No action may be brought under Articles 27, 28, 29 and 30 after five years have elapsed from the date on which the dispositions referred to in those Articles took place.

Nullity of gratuitous dispositions:

Gifts and gratuitous dispositions made, within the two years preceding the date on which the payment period began or after the commencement of the payment period, by those debtors who have not paid the public receivable and who have failed to make a declaration of assets within the time limit or despite coercive imprisonment, or who have declared that they have no property, or whose declared property is found to be insufficient to cover their debt, shall be null and void.

Dispositions deemed to be gifts:

For the purposes of applying Article 27, the following dispositions shall be deemed to be gifts:

1. Subparagraph annulled by Constitutional Court decision of 22/6/2023, E. 2022/134, K. 2023/116

2. Contracts in which the debtor has accepted, as consideration, a price far below the value of the property given by him at the time the contract was concluded,

3. Contracts by which the debtor has established an annuity or a usufruct for life for himself or for the benefit of a third person.

Other dispositions deemed null and void:

Of the dispositions made, within the two years preceding the date on which the payment period began or after the commencement of the payment period, by those debtors who do not pay the public receivable and who have failed to make a declaration of assets within the time limit or despite coercive imprisonment, or who have declared that they have no property, or whose declared property is found to be insufficient to cover their debt, the following shall be null and void:

1. Pledges made by the debtor to secure an existing debt, except where the debtor had previously undertaken to provide security,

2. Payments made against a debt otherwise than in cash or by customary means of payment,

3. Payments made for a debt not yet due.

Dispositions made for the purpose of preventing the collection of the public receivable:

Unilateral transactions made by the debtor for the purpose of preventing the collection of the public receivable in part or in whole where the debtor has no property or his property is insufficient to cover the debt, and all transactions made with persons who knew or ought to have known the debtor's purpose, shall be null and void, whatever their dates.

Rights and obligations of third parties:

Those who benefit from the dispositions and transactions referred to in Articles 27, 28, 29 and 30 are obliged, within the framework of the provisions of this Law, to surrender what they have obtained or, if they have disposed of it, its value as assessed. They may not make any claim against the creditor public administration on account of what they gave in return.

Persons with duties in the event of liquidation:

In the liquidation of legal persons, the obligations relating to the payment of the public receivables owed by them and to the application of the provisions of this Law shall pass to the liquidators; in the liquidation of partnerships without legal personality and of the branches, agencies and representative offices in Türkiye of foreign entities, their obligations shall pass to those conducting the liquidation.

Liability in the event of liquidation:

Liquidators or those conducting the liquidation are obliged to notify the relevant collection offices of the commencement of the liquidation within three days.

Liquidators or those conducting the liquidation may not distribute the proceeds obtained as a result of the liquidation, or dispose of them in any manner whatsoever, before paying or setting aside for payment all kinds of receivables of public administrations. Otherwise, the liquidators or those conducting the liquidation shall be personally and jointly and severally liable for the public receivables that have accrued and that will accrue. This liability may not exceed the amount of money represented by the dispositions made.

Their right of recourse, for the debts they have paid, against those to whom distributions were made before the public receivable was paid is reserved.

Request for dissolution of the partnership:

Where the debtor has no assets or the assets are insufficient to cover the public receivable, or where no security has been furnished under this Law by the debtor or the partnership, the dissolution of the partnership may be requested in accordance with the general provisions for the collection of the public receivable from the debtor's shares in partnerships whose capital is not divided into shares.

For the debts of the general partners of partnerships limited by shares (commandite companies whose capital is divided into shares), the provision of this Article shall also apply to such companies.

Amended: 22/7/1998, Law No. 4369, Art. 21

The partners of a limited liability company shall be directly liable, in proportion to their capital shares, for the public receivable that cannot be collected, wholly or partly, from the company or that is understood to be uncollectible from it, and shall be subjected to proceedings pursuant to the provisions of this Law.

Added paragraph: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 3 Where a partner transfers his or her capital share in the company, the persons transferring and acquiring the share shall be held jointly and severally liable, in accordance with the provision of the first paragraph, for the payment of public receivables relating to the period before the transfer.

Added paragraph: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 3 Where the shareholders at the time the public receivable arose and at the time it was due for payment are different persons, these persons shall be held jointly and severally liable, in accordance with the provision of the first paragraph, for the payment of the public receivable.

Liability of Legal Representatives

Repeated Article 35: Added: 25/5/1995, Law No. 4108, Art. 11

Public receivables that cannot be collected, wholly or partly, from the assets of legal persons, minors and persons under guardianship, or of organisations without legal personality such as foundations and communities, or that are understood to be uncollectible from them, shall be collected from the personal assets of the legal representatives and of those who manage the organisation without legal personality, in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

The provision of this Article shall also apply to the representatives in Türkiye of foreign persons or entities.

The fact that legal persons have entered into liquidation or have been liquidated shall not remove the liability of the legal representatives for the periods prior to the date of entry into liquidation.

Representatives, those who manage the organisation, or agents may have recourse to the principal public debtor for the amounts they have paid pursuant to this Article.

Added paragraph: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 4; Annulled paragraph: Annulled by Constitutional Court decision of 19/3/2015, E. 2014/144, K. 2015/29

Added paragraph: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 4; Annulled paragraph: Annulled by Constitutional Court decision of 19/3/2015, E. 2014/144, K. 2015/29

Cases of merger, transfer, division and change of form:

Amended: 20/6/2001, Law No. 4684, Art. 24

For the purposes of the application of this Law:

a) In the event of a merger of two or more legal persons, the newly established legal person,

b) In the event of a transfer, the acquiring legal person,

c) In the event of a division, the legal persons acquiring the assets of the divided legal person,

d) In the event of a change of form, the new legal person,

shall take the place of the merging, transferred, divided or former-form legal person or persons.

Restriction on leaving the country:

Article 36/A: Added: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 5; Repealed: 13/2/2011, Law No. 6111, Art. 165

CHAPTER THREE

Payment

Time of payment and early payment:

Public receivables shall be paid at the times specified in their special laws.

Public receivables for which no time of payment has been determined in their special laws shall be paid within one month from the notification to be made in accordance with the procedure to be specified by the Ministry of Finance.

The last day of this payment period is the due date of the public receivable.

The public debtor may, if he or she so wishes, pay his or her debt before the specified times.

Failure to pay instalments on time:

Repealed: 22/7/1998, Law No. 4369, Art. 82

Place of payment:

Public receivables for which no place of payment is indicated in their special laws shall be paid to the collection office of the place where the debtor's residence is located.

Whether or not a place of payment is indicated in their special laws, payment may also be made to other collection offices, provided that the debtor's account at the creditor collection office is stated. Payments to be made pursuant to this paragraph may not be made to collectors.

Form of payment, receipt:

Payment shall be made against a receipt to be issued by the authorised and responsible officers of the creditor collection office.

Added paragraph: 25/12/2003, Law No. 5035, Art. 3 The Ministry of Finance is authorised to make it compulsory for payment to be made by using special forms of payment. This authority may be exercised collectively or separately with respect to collection offices, the type of public receivable, the time of payment and the stages at which it stands.

Payments not made against a receipt and payments made to persons other than the authorised and responsible officers may not be set off against the public receivable.

The form of the receipts used in the collection of public receivables shall be determined by the relevant public administrations.

Debtors are obliged to keep their receipts until the end of the limitation period for the collection of the public receivable and to present them when requested by authorised officers.

In cases where the receipt must be sent to the debtor by post, the postage cost shall be borne by the creditor public administration.

The provisions of special laws concerning collections made in forms other than the issuance of a receipt are reserved.

Special forms of payment:

In places to be determined by the Ministry of Finance, public receivables of the types to be established by the said Ministry may be paid through the banks to be named by that Ministry or by means of post offices.

Where the Ministry of Finance opts for payment to be made pursuant to this Article, it shall be authorised to regulate the making of the payment:

1. By using a crossed cheque,

2. By transfer from the taxpayer's account to the account of the relevant tax office or of the Central Bank at the same bank,

3. By payment, on behalf of these offices, to banks in which the tax offices or the Central Bank hold accounts,

4. By means of post offices,

5. Added: 30/7/2003, Law No. 4962, Art. 2 By using bank cards, credit cards and similar cards,

in the foregoing manners.

Added: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 1; Amended: 24/3/1988, Law No. 3418, Art. 34 The period for transferring to the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye the moneys collected by banks or payable in consideration of the use of bank cards, credit cards and similar cards shall be at most 7 days from the date of their collection, and, for payments made by credit card, at most 20 days from the day following the transaction date; for payments made by means of post offices, the period for conveying the payments made to the relevant tax offices shall be at most 10 days from the date on which the payment was made.

Added: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 1; Amended: 30/7/2003, Law No. 4962, Art. 2 The Ministry of Finance is authorised to determine different periods, not exceeding this period, according to the types of receivables and/or banks.

Added: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 1; Amended: 24/3/1988, Law No. 3418, Art. 34 Where the moneys collected by banks or payable in consideration of the use of bank cards, credit cards and similar cards are not transferred to the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye within the period, or payments made through post offices are not conveyed to the tax offices within the period, the public receivable in question shall be collected from these institutions that made the collection by applying a late payment surcharge.

Added: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 1; Amended: 24/3/1988, Law No. 3418, Art. 34 Managers of bank branches that make the collection or that are required to make payment in respect of the use of bank cards, credit cards and similar cards shall be responsible for transferring the collected moneys to the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye within the specified periods, and managers of post offices or postal cheque centres shall be responsible for conveying payments made by means of post offices to the relevant tax offices within the specified periods.

Added: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 1; Amended: 24/3/1988, Law No. 3418, Art. 34; Annulled by Constitutional Court decision of 23/3/2004, E. 2001/119, K. 2004/37

Added: 30/7/2003, Law No. 4962, Art. 2 Banks may charge the public debtor a commission when public receivables are paid by credit card, bank card and similar cards. The Ministry of Finance is authorised, so that no commission is paid on payments to be made by using credit cards, bank cards and similar cards, to impose the condition that payment be made within a period to be determined up to at most 20 days before the due date of the public receivable (including that date), and to have payments made in one or both of the forms of payment without commission or against commission.

Special provisions on payment by cheque or transfer order:

Payments made by crossed cheque are subject to the provisions of the Commercial Code; however:

1. A cheque issued for the payment of a public receivable shall be drawn in the name of the relevant tax office, with the annotation that it is not to order, and on a bank. The Ministry of Finance is authorised to determine the information to be entered on the cheque for the purpose of identifying the receivable, provided that it is not contrary to the Commercial Code.

2. Where a cheque or transfer order, or a payment made by bank card, credit card and similar cards, is not honoured for any reason, the public creditor's right of recourse against the debtor is reserved.

Where action is taken pursuant to paragraph 2, the non-acceptance of the cheque or transfer order shall be documented and this situation shall be notified to the person requesting the transfer, the drawer or their representatives, and the unaccepted cheque shall be returned.

Date of issue on cheques:

Amended: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 2

Cheques must be dated with the date on which they are delivered to the collection office, the post or the bank, or with a date at most one day earlier. Cheques bearing earlier dates shall not be accepted.

Date of payment in special forms of payment:

Amended first paragraph: 25/5/1995, Law No. 4108, Art. 12 In payments made under Article 41, payment shall be deemed to have been made on the day on which the cheque is delivered to the collection office or the bank, on which the money is deposited with the bank or the post office, in payments made by bank card, credit card and similar cards on which the transaction is carried out by card, and, upon a transfer order, on which the money is credited to the account of the collection office.

The provision of paragraph 2 of Article 42 is reserved.

Tax booklets:

Amended: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 4

Tax booklets shall be issued to show the public receivables accrued in the name of those who are continuously liable for a particular public receivable such as a tax or duty, and the collections made from them.

The Ministry of Finance and Customs is authorised to determine the price of tax booklets, the information they shall contain, the forms and principles for obtaining a booklet, the taxes in respect of which they shall be applied, to whom they shall be issued, and the time of application. Other public administrations may make changes in the form and manner of use of these booklets in accordance with the nature of their receivables.

Tax booklets shall be issued to taxpayers against payment of their price.

All information in tax booklets shall be written, signed and sealed by collection offices, while entries relating to collection shall be written, signed and sealed by collection offices, post offices or banks.

Entries made in tax booklets by collection offices, banks and post offices are exempt from stamp duty.

Proof of payment:

Amended first paragraph: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 5 Payment of a public receivable may be proved by receipts issued by authorised and responsible officers and by entries relating to collection written in tax booklets and signed and sealed by collection offices, banks or post offices.

The provision of paragraph 2 of Article 42 is reserved.

Receivables against which payment shall be set off:

Amended: 22/7/1998, Law No. 4369, Art. 22

Payments made voluntarily against a public receivable shall be set off, in the following order, against: the receivable whose payment period has begun but whose due date has not yet passed; the receivable that will become time-barred at the end of the current calendar year; in the case of receivables that will become time-barred on the same date, each of them proportionally; and the one whose due date comes first and which is unsecured or less secured. Where the payment does not cover the whole of the principal receivable and its accessories, the set-off shall be made proportionally against the principal and accessories of the receivable.

Moneys collected by compulsion against a public receivable shall be set off first against the principal and accessories of the receivable subject to proceedings of the office that collected the money and, if there is a surplus, proportionally against the principal and accessories of the receivables subject to proceedings of the other creditor collection offices of the same public administration that have joined the proceedings.

CHAPTER FOUR

Deferral, postponement, late payment surcharge

Deferral:

Amended first paragraph: 30/5/1985, Law No. 3209, Art. 1 If payment of a public debt on its due date, or the enforcement of attachment, or the conversion into money of attached assets would put the public debtor in a very difficult situation, the public receivable may be deferred, for a period not exceeding 72 months and with interest charged, by the creditor public administration or the authorities it authorises, provided that the debtor has requested it in writing and furnished security.

Added paragraph: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 6 However, where the total of the public debtor's deferred debts, by creditor collection office, does not exceed one million Turkish liras (this amount included), the condition of security shall not be required. In the deferral of public receivables above this amount, the amount of security that must be furnished is half of the portion exceeding one million Turkish liras. The President of the Republic is authorised to increase this amount up to ten times, to reduce it to half, to restore it to its statutory amount, and to determine different amounts between these limits according to creditor public administrations.19

Added paragraph: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 6 Where debtors who requested the deferral of their debts but whose requests were found inappropriate and rejected pay those debts within the payment period of up to 30 days that may be granted by the administration from the date of notification of the rejection, the public receivable shall be deferred with interest charged until the date of payment.

Those who shall exercise the deferral authority and delegate this authority are: the relevant ministers for public receivables of the State, governors for public receivables of special provincial administrations, and mayors for public receivables of municipalities.

Amended paragraph: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 6 If attachment has been made, the attached asset shall serve as security to the extent of its value. Attachments previously enforced in relation to deferred public receivables and having a value sufficient to cover the whole of the debt shall be lifted in proportion to the payments made, and the security corresponding to them shall be returned. However, where the value of the attached assets is less than the deferred debt amount and greater than the compulsory security amount, the enforced attachments shall not be lifted as long as the deferred debt amount remaining after the payments made in compliance with the deferral conditions does not fall below the value of the attached assets. Security taken against the deferred debt shall be released in proportion to the payments made if the deferred debt amount remaining after the payments made in compliance with the deferral conditions falls below the compulsory security amount.

Amended paragraph: 4/6/2008, Law No. 5766, Art. 6 The authorities that shall exercise the deferral authority and delegate this authority are authorised to determine the public receivables to be deferred by type and amount, to determine the receivables to be deferred on the basis of whether or not the public debtor continues its activity, to set the instalment dates and other conditions of deferral, and also to defer, without interest or at an interest rate lower than the rate in force, the public debts that public debtors falling within the scope of a force majeure situation announced by the Ministry of Finance under Law No. 213 are required to pay until the date on which the force majeure situation ends, as well as the public debts whose payment periods have been postponed due to force majeure.

The public receivable shall become due and payable immediately in cases where the deferral conditions are not complied with, where security or attached assets that have lost value are not supplemented, or where others are not furnished in their place. Added: 25/5/1995, Law No. 4108, Art. 13 Where the deferred public receivable is one to which no late payment surcharge is applied, the deferral interest paid shall not be refunded or set off.

Deferral of debts of tax-compliant taxpayers:

Added: 18/5/2017, Law No. 7020, Art. 7

Where payment on the due date of taxes, duties, fees and penalties which belong to the State, which are pursued by collection offices attached to the Ministry of Finance and which fall within the scope of Law No. 213, together with the default interest and late payment surcharge attached to these receivables, or the enforcement of attachment, or the conversion into money of attached assets, would place the public debtor in a very difficult situation, receivables whose due date has not passed by more than one year may be deferred by the Minister of Finance for a period not exceeding 36 months against interest and security, provided that the debtor so requests in writing and meets the conditions below.

For the debtor to benefit from the provisions of this Article, it is required that the debtor:

1. Has been, as of the date of application, a taxpayer of annual income tax or corporate tax for at least 3 years by reason of commercial, agricultural or professional activities,

2. Has filed, within the statutory time limits, the tax returns for the 3 years preceding the date of application (returns filed after the statutory time limit for the purpose of correction, or filed with voluntary disclosure, in respect of a return filed within the statutory time limit shall not be deemed a breach of this condition),

3. Has been unable to pay the debt falling within the scope of this Article whose due date has not passed by more than 1 year as of the date of application, despite having acted in good faith in paying the debt,

(these being the conditions). However, the existence of a debt deferred under this Article or under Article 48, or of a debt tied to a payment plan under special laws, shall not prevent benefiting from the provisions of this Article.

Interest at the rate determined under Article 48 shall be applied to receivables deferred within the scope of this Article.

Where the total of the public debtor's deferred debts, per creditor collection office, does not exceed five hundred thousand Turkish liras (this amount included), no security shall be required. In the deferral of public receivables above this amount, the amount of security that must be provided is 25% of the portion exceeding five hundred thousand Turkish liras.

The President of the Republic is authorised:

1. To reduce the amount eligible for deferral without security by up to one half and to restore it to the statutory amount, and to increase the mandatory security rate up to 50%, to reduce it down to zero and to restore it to the statutory rate,

2. To determine criteria, based on financial indicators grounded in assets, liabilities and cash flows and on other measures serving to determine the financial situation, to be used in establishing the debtor's very difficult situation, to grade the very difficult situation within the framework of the criteria so determined and, taking these grades into account:

a) To extend the deferral period up to 60 months,

b) To determine different interest rates,

3. To have the late payment surcharge to be deferred calculated on the basis of the monthly change rates of the Domestic Producer Price Index (D-PPI) determined for each month by the Turkish Statistical Institute,

4. To have the provisions of this Article applied by determining other creditor public administrations, types of receivables and the criteria for debtors who may fall within the scope of compliant debtors (including receivables pursued by collection offices other than those belonging to the State and attached to the Ministry of Finance).

Where the power under subparagraph (4) of this paragraph is exercised, the powers granted to the Minister of Finance by this Article shall be exercised by the authorities of the creditor public administrations empowered to grant deferral as defined in Article 48.

The Minister of Finance is authorised:

1. To determine the public receivable to be deferred by type and amount,

2. To determine the instalment dates in the deferral and the month in which payments are to begin, not exceeding 12 months starting from the month following the date of the deferral request, and to arrange payment periods so that payments are made at least once every six months,

3. To determine other conditions of deferral.

(These being the powers of the Minister.)

The Minister of Finance may delegate the power of deferral, in writing and provided that its limits are clearly specified, to deferral commissions to be established. The establishment of the commissions and their working procedures and principles shall be determined by the Minister of Finance.

The deferral of a public receivable that has become due by reason of failure to comply with the conditions of deferral may, upon request, be deemed valid a maximum of two times.

Where attachment has been made, the attached asset shall take the place of security up to its value. Attachments previously applied in respect of the deferred public receivables and having a value sufficient to cover the whole of the debt shall be lifted in proportion to the payments made, and the security corresponding thereto shall be returned. However, where the value of the attached assets is less than the deferred debt amount and greater than the mandatory security amount, the attachments applied shall not be lifted as long as the remaining deferred debt amount, following payments made in accordance with the conditions of deferral, does not fall below the value of the attached assets. The security taken against the deferred debt shall be lifted in proportion to the payments made where the remaining deferred debt amount, following payments made in accordance with the conditions of deferral, falls below the mandatory security amount.

The sale of the attached asset shall be permitted provided that the deferred public receivable does not exceed two million Turkish liras (this amount included), the attached asset is an asset listed in subparagraph (5) of paragraph 1 of Article 10, and 50% of the sale price, being not less than 50% of its value determined under this Law, is paid to the collection office. In this case, the attachment on the asset sold shall be lifted provided that there are attached assets and/or security covering the mandatory security amount for the remaining deferred debt amount. This provision shall apply, in respect of deferred debts exceeding two million Turkish liras, to attached assets with a value of up to two million Turkish liras.

Where the conditions of deferral are not complied with, the provisions of this Article may not be benefited from until 5 years have elapsed from the date of the deferral request, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 8.

The provisions of paragraph 7 of Article 48 shall apply to public receivables deferred within the scope of this Article, and where the deferred late payment surcharge has been calculated on the basis of the monthly change rates of the (D-PPI), the calculation of the late payment surcharge shall be corrected in accordance with Article 51.

References made to Article 48 within the framework of provisions in various laws containing conditions as to the absence of tax debt shall be deemed to have been made to this Article as well.

Stay of enforcement by judicial authorities:

Where a decision to stay enforcement has been rendered by judicial authorities in respect of a public receivable deferred by the administration: if the period of stay granted by the judicial authorities is shorter than the deferral period, the deferred receivable shall be collected by being re-arranged into instalments, together with the amount of debt not paid on time due to the stay by the judicial authorities, within the period from the end of the stay of enforcement until the end of the deferral period. If the period of stay granted by the judicial authorities is longer than the deferral period, the deferral previously granted shall be null and void.

Where the stay of proceedings by judicial authorities exceeds the statutory deferral period, the deferral period shall not be extended.

Postponement of proceedings in case of death:

Proceedings against a debtor whose wife or husband, or one of whose ascendants or descendants by blood or by marriage, has died shall be postponed for three days including the day of death.

In the event of the death of the debtor, proceedings for the debts of the estate shall be postponed for three days including the day of death. Upon the expiry of the three days, proceedings shall be continued for the debts of the estate.

Where the heirs have not accepted or renounced the inheritance, proceedings shall be postponed until the expiry of the specific periods laid down in the Civil Code in this respect.

Late Payment Surcharge, Rate and Calculation:

Amended: 25/12/2003, Law No. 5035, Art. 4

A late payment surcharge at the rate of 4% (3.7%) shall be applied separately for each month, from the date of expiry of the due date, to the portion of the public receivable not paid within the payment period. The late payment surcharge corresponding to fractions of a month shall be calculated on a daily basis.

The late payment surcharge may not be less than one million lira.

The late payment surcharge shall be applied at the rate determined under this Article to tax loss penalties imposed under Tax Procedure Law No. 213, and at half of this rate to public receivables imposed by courts which are in the nature of a penalty. No late payment surcharge shall be applied to other public receivables in the nature of a penalty.

The President of the Republic is authorised to reduce the late payment surcharge rates, collectively by months or separately for each month, by up to ten per cent, to increase the late payment surcharge rate and the minimum amount of the late payment surcharge up to two times, and furthermore to determine the late payment surcharge rate differently by months and to have the late payment surcharge calculated by the compound interest method on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis.

Period of application of the late payment surcharge and other provisions:

Amended: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 8

The period of application of the late payment surcharge is the period until the day on which, in the case of deferral of the public receivable, the deferral is granted, in the case of bankruptcy, the bankruptcy is opened, and in the case of insolvency, this situation is established.

The late payment surcharge need not be notified to the debtor in advance.

Payment of the principal shall not prevent the pursuit and collection of the late payment surcharge.

Late payment surcharge in villages:

Amended paragraph 1: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 5 Where public receivables collected by collectors in villages outside municipal boundaries, excluding taxes to be determined and announced by the Ministry of Finance, are not paid within the payment period, only a 10% late payment surcharge shall be applied to them.

For debtors in villages to which the collectors have been unable to go although the payment period has passed, this surcharge shall be applied where they do not pay their debts at the time of the collector's first visit.

PART TWO

Compulsory collection of public receivables

CHAPTER ONE

Principles of compulsory collection and proceedings

Compulsory collection and its forms:

A public receivable not paid within the payment period shall be collected compulsorily by the collection office. Compulsory collection shall be carried out by applying any of the following forms:

1. Where the public debtor has provided security to the collection office, conversion of the security into money or pursuit of the surety,

2. Attachment and conversion into money of assets of the public debtor sufficient to cover the debt,

3. Where the necessary conditions exist, requesting the bankruptcy of the debtor.

Payment order: (1)

Those who do not pay a public receivable on its due date shall be notified, by means of a “payment order”, of the requirement to pay their debts or to make a declaration of assets within 15 days.(1)

The payment order shall state the nature and amounts of the principal and accessories of the debt, where it is to be paid, that if the debtor does not pay within the period or does not make a declaration of assets the debt shall be collected compulsorily and the debtor shall be subjected to coercive imprisonment not exceeding three months until making the declaration of assets, and that if the debtor makes a declaration contrary to the truth the debtor shall be punished with imprisonment. In addition, the debtor's duties under Article 114 and the penalty to be applied to the debtor in case of failure to fulfil these duties shall be notified to the debtor in this payment order.

Payment orders to debtors residing in villages outside municipal boundaries shall be served by the village headman's office. Where service is not effected within 15 days from the date of delivery of the payment orders to the headman's office, the names of the debtors to whom the payment orders have not been served shall be entered in a “payment schedule” having the effect and nature of a payment order, and the debtors shall be called upon to pay their debts and to make a declaration of assets. The payment schedule shall be served by being posted for 10 days on the door of the village council of elders, with a copy at a public place in the village where everyone can see it, and shall be announced by a town crier by the village headman's office where the schedule is posted. When the schedule is posted and taken down, this fact shall be recorded by the headman's office in a report. Compulsory collection and proceedings shall be deemed to have commenced on the date of service of the payment order or of the taking down of the payment schedule.

Third persons holding assets belonging to those who do not pay their debts on the due date shall be requested to declare these assets within 15 days.

Proceedings in respect of secured receivables:

Where a public receivable against which security has been provided is not paid on its due date, the debtor shall be notified that the debt must be paid within 15 days, failing which the security shall be converted into money or compulsory collection shall be continued by other means. If the debt is not paid within 15 days, the security shall be converted into money in accordance with the provisions of this Law and the public receivable collected.

Proceedings against sureties and representatives of foreign persons or institutions:

Sureties and representatives of foreign persons or institutions shall be pursued in accordance with the provisions of this Law and by exactly the same procedures to which the principal debtors are subject.

Objection to the payment order:

A person to whom a payment order has been served may, within 15 days from the date of service, file an objection with the tax objection commission dealing with objection matters of the creditor collection office, on the ground that he or she has no such debt, or has partly paid it, or that it is time-barred by limitation. The provisions of the Tax Procedure Law shall apply as regards the form of the objection, its examination and the return of objection examinations.

A debtor objecting to part of the debt must clearly indicate the grounds and amount of that part; otherwise, the objection shall be deemed not to have been made.

Repealed paragraph 3: 28/1/2010, Law No. 5951, Art. 1

The objection commission is obliged to decide on these objections within 7 days at the latest.

Annulled paragraph: Annulled by Constitutional Court decision of 21/4/2022, E. 2021/119, K. 2022/48

The decisions of the objection commissions on this matter are final.

Where objections made under this Article against the whole of the debt are rejected wholly or partly, the debtor is obliged to make a declaration of assets within 15 days from the date of service on him or her of the rejection decision.

Objections made under this Article against part of the debt may not extend the period for making a declaration of assets.

Declaration of assets:

A declaration of assets is the notification by the debtor to the collection office, in writing or orally, of the type, nature, characteristics and value of such of the assets, receivables and rights held by the debtor or in the hands of third persons as are sufficient to cover the debt, and all kinds of income, or that there are no attachable assets or income, and of the sources of livelihood according to the debtor's way of life and, in view thereof, how the debtor can pay the debt.

Amended: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 6 In villages, the declaration of assets may also be made to the village headman's office for public debts other than taxes to be determined and announced by the Ministry of Finance.

In the case of oral declaration, the matter shall be recorded in a report. In both cases, the public debtor shall be given a receipt free of stamp duty stating that the declaration has been made.

Those who do not make a declaration of assets:

Amended: 13/6/1963, Law No. 251, Art. 2

Where the debtor to whom a payment order has been served does not pay the debt within the 15-day period and does not make a declaration of assets either, the debtor shall be subjected to coercive imprisonment, once only and not exceeding three months, until making the declaration of assets.

The decision for coercive imprisonment shall be rendered by the judge of the enforcement review authority upon the written request of the collection office following the service of the payment order and the expiry of the 15-day period.

These decisions shall be executed forthwith by the Office of the Public Prosecutor.

Decisions for coercive imprisonment rendered by the judge of the enforcement review authority are exempt from all kinds of fees and duties.

Acquisition of assets and increases in assets:

A debtor who has shown in the declaration of assets that he or she has no assets, or who has not shown assets sufficient to cover the debt, is obliged to notify the collection office of assets subsequently acquired and of increases in income within 15 days from the date of acquisition or increase.

Attachment:

Out of the debtor's movable and immovable property, receivables and rights shown in the declaration of assets or determined by the collection office, whether in the hands of the debtor or of third persons, an amount sufficient to cover the public receivable shall be attached by the collection office.

Added paragraph: 16/7/2004, Law No. 5228, Art. 12 The Ministry of Finance is authorised to determine the form, field and scope of the asset investigation to be carried out for the purpose of identifying the assets to be attached in the pursuit of public receivables, as well as the type and amount of the public receivables for which the investigation is to be carried out. This power may also be exercised per creditor public administration.

The attachment of assets declared by the debtor to belong to another person, or in respect of which a precautionary attachment or ownership claim has been asserted by a third person, shall be left to the very last.

However, if, before the attached immovable is put up for auction, the debtor shows movable property or a matured sound receivable sufficient to discharge the debt, the movable property or receivable shown shall also be attached, with the attachment on the immovable remaining in force.

Provided, however, that the collection office shall not interfere with the administration and operation, or with the proceeds and benefits, of the immovable remaining attached in this manner.

The collection office is under a duty to reconcile, as far as possible, the interests of the creditor public administration and those of the debtor.

Conversion of other rights into money:

The collection office, by exercising all the powers held by the debtor for the purpose of liquidating the debtor's rights, shall ensure, within the framework of the general provisions, that assets such as a usufruct right, an undivided inheritance or a share in property held in joint ownership become convertible into money. The provisions of this Law shall also apply to assets that have become convertible into money in this manner.

Attachment form:

Amended paragraph 1: 25/5/1995, Law No. 4108, Art. 14 Attachment transactions shall be carried out on the basis of attachment forms drawn up by the collection offices and approved by the highest local official of the creditor public administration or by the official he or she authorises.

The form of these forms and the information they are to contain shall be specified by the Ministry of Finance.

Attachment in villages:

In villages and in sub-districts where the Village Law is applied, the attachment of movable property shall be carried out by the village councils of elders on the basis of the attachment form.

Amended: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 7 In these places, where deemed necessary, the highest finance official of that locality is authorised to have the collection office carry out the attachment of movable property, for taxes to be determined and announced by the Ministry of Finance, in the presence of the headman or one of the members of the council of elders.

Ownership claims against assets attached in the hands of the debtor:

Where the debtor indicates that an asset in his or her hands is the property or pledge of a third person, or where a right of ownership or pledge over that asset is claimed by a third person, the official carrying out the attachment shall enter this in the attachment report. The matter shall be notified to the third person if the claim is made by the debtor, and to the debtor if it is made by the third person.

If the collection office does not reject the claim within 7 days from the date on which it receives the attachment report, it shall be deemed to have accepted the ownership claim. If the third person does not object within 7 days from the date of service, the ownership claim shall not be heard.

If the ownership claim is not accepted by the collection office or is objected to by the debtor, the collection office shall notify the third person of the requirement to apply to the court within 7 days. If an action is not brought within the period, the ownership claim shall be deemed to have been waived.

Ownership claims against assets attached in the hands of third persons:

Where the attached asset is not in the hands of the debtor but in the hands of a third person claiming a right of ownership or pledge over the asset, the matter shall be entered in the attachment report by the official carrying out the attachment. The collection office, claiming that the asset belongs to the debtor, shall notify the matter to the creditor public administration. If the creditor public administration does not bring an action within 15 days from the date of notification, the ownership claim shall be deemed accepted.

Where an ownership claim is asserted by persons residing together with the debtor, the asset shall be deemed to be in the hands of the debtor.

Other provisions relating to ownership claims:

The court of the place where the collection office that carried out the attachment is located shall have jurisdiction to hear ownership actions. Ownership actions shall be heard with priority over other matters.

Where the claimant requests a stay of proceedings, the court may decide to stay the proceedings according to the nature of the evidence in the claimant's possession and by taking sufficient security against possible damage.

Where a stay of proceedings is ordered upon an ownership action and the action is ultimately dismissed, compensation in the amount of 10% of the value of the attached asset forming the subject of the action shall be awarded.

Participation in attachment among public administrations:

Each public administration may participate in attachments made by another public administration, provided that its public receivable accrued before the date of that attachment, until any of the attached assets is converted into money.

In the case of participation in attachment, the receivable of the office that made the attachment shall first be collected from the proceeds of the attached asset. The remainder shall be paid to the offices participating in the attachment, to be set off against their receivables in the order of the dates of participation in attachment.

Assets that cannot be attached:

The following property shall not be attached:

1. Amended: 4/5/1994, Law No. 3986, Art. 16 State property, excluding the property of state economic enterprises, public economic organisations, their establishments, subsidiaries and affiliates subject to the provisions of Decree-Law No. 233 on State-Owned Enterprises, and the property of local administrations; and property declared non-attachable by their special laws.

2. Clothing and effects necessary for the person and profession of the debtor, bedding necessary for the debtor and his family, and books and articles dedicated to worship,

3. Indispensable kitchen utensils and highly necessary household goods,

4. If the debtor is a farmer, the land, draught animals, vehicles and other accessories and agricultural implements indispensable for the livelihood of himself and his family; if he is not a farmer, the tools, equipment and books necessary for his trade and profession; for owners of small vehicles such as carters, boatmen and porters, the means of transport which merely provide their livelihood,

5. If necessary for the livelihood of the debtor or his family, one milk-giving water buffalo or cow, or three goats or sheep, to be chosen by the debtor, together with their fodder and litter for three months,

6. Food and fuel of the debtor and his family for two months, and;

a) If the debtor is a farmer, in addition, the seed necessary for the next crop,

b) If the debtor is a grower of vineyards, gardens, or fruit and vegetables, the vineyard and garden indispensable for the livelihood of himself and his family and the tools, equipment, materials, seedlings and seeds necessary for such work,

c) For a debtor whose livelihood consists exclusively of raising animals, animals in the quantity indispensable for the livelihood of himself and his family, together with the fodder and litter of such animals for three months,

7. Retirement pensions granted to those disabled in the military and police services of the country, pensions granted to the widows and orphans of such persons, and flight and diving bonuses paid to the air and submarine personnel of the armed forces,

8. Pensions granted by a relief fund or association in cases such as illness, necessity and death,

9. Sums paid or payable, as a lump sum or in the form of an annuity, to the injured person himself or his family as compensation for damage caused to body and health,

10. War disability supplements paid to military disabled persons and orphans of martyrs, and monopoly sales licences granted under Law No. 1485,

11. The debtor's house appropriate to his circumstances "however, if the value of the house is high, it may be attached and sold, provided that an amount out of its price sufficient to acquire a place appropriate to his circumstances is left to the debtor",

12. Amended: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 8 Payments made under the Travel Allowance Law,

13. Added: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 8 Pensions granted under Law No. 2022.

Partially attachable income:

Amended: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 9

Salaries, allowances, wages of all kinds, rights of usufruct and their proceeds, maintenance payments not based on a court judgment, retirement pensions, and income granted by insurance and pension funds may be partially attached. However, the amount to be attached may not be more than one third nor less than one quarter thereof.

No more than one tenth of monthly income not exceeding the minimum wage may be attached.

Attachment of unripe crops:

All kinds of unripe soil and tree crops may be attached within the two months preceding their time of ripening. The transfer to another person by the debtor of crops so attached shall be null and void as against the collection office that made the attachment and shall not prevent the continuation of the proceedings.

This provision shall not abolish the right which a creditor whose claim is secured by a mortgage on immovable property holds over the unripe crops of the immovable as integral parts thereof. However, the creditor must have requested proceedings for the realisation of the mortgage before the crops ripen.

Consequences of attachment:

The debtor may not dispose of attached property without obtaining the consent of the creditor public administration. The collection office that imposed the attachment shall warn the debtor that acting contrary to this entails a penalty.

Rights acquired in good faith by a third party over the attached property on the basis of the provisions on possession are reserved.

Rights acquired by a third party over attached property contrary to the rules of good faith shall be declared null and void by the court to the extent that they infringe the rights of the creditor relating to that property arising from the attachment.

Conversion into money:

all kinds of property obtained shall be converted into money by sale.

From the price obtained from the sale, after deduction of the costs of proceedings and the public receivable being pursued, the remaining portion shall be set off against the debts of the debtor that have fallen due or become payable, and the surplus shall be paid to the debtor if no other office has participated in the attachment; if another office has participated in the attachment, the balance shall be paid to the debtor after the receivables of such offices have first been set aside from the surplus.

If it is known with certainty that the price to be obtained from the sale will not exceed the debts that must be paid before the public receivable and the costs of proceedings, the collection office may postpone the sale of the attached property. However, the rights of pursuit of those whose receivables rank ahead of the receivable of the public administration are reserved.

Added: 21/3/2018, Law No. 7103, Art. 2

Attachments imposed on property by the collection offices attached to the Ministry of Finance shall be lifted if the following conditions are met.

1. The attached property is among the property listed in subparagraph (5) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law.

2. The value assessed for the attached property plus 10% thereof is paid to the collection office that imposed attachment in first rank (provided that the amount to be paid within the scope of this article may not exceed the total of the debts owed to the collection offices attached to the Ministry of Finance that have fallen due, been deferred or become payable.).

3. The costs of proceedings relating to the attached property are paid separately.

4. No action is brought against the attachment, or any actions brought are withdrawn.

The value of the attached property shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Law. However, for movable property, the collection office shall in any case have the value assessed by an expert.

Where an attachment is lifted within the scope of this article, no attachment may be imposed on the same property by the collection offices attached to the Ministry of Finance for a period of three months from the date on which the attachment was lifted, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 13 of this Law. Where the property whose attachment is lifted is property furnished by third parties as security in favour of the public debtor, this provision shall not apply in respect of the debts of the third party falling within the scope of this Law.

Actions brought by a debtor who has applied to benefit from the provision of this article and withdrawn the actions he brought against the attachment, relating to the property whose attachment is lifted, shall not be examined by the courts; if they are examined and decided for any reason, such decision shall be deemed null and void.

The sums collected shall be set off against the motor vehicle tax arising from the property itself, the accessory receivables attached to that tax and tax penalties, and against the receivables of the offices that imposed attachment on the attached property, in order, that are subject to proceedings, have become payable, have fallen due but have not yet matured, and have been deferred, according to the order of attachment; thereafter, the remainder shall be distributed pro rata among the receivables specified in this paragraph of the offices that have not imposed attachment.

The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this article shall be determined by the Ministry of Finance.

State of insolvency:

If, at the end of the proceedings, the debtor has no attachable property or the sale price of the property found does not cover his debt, the debtor shall be deemed to be in a state of insolvency.

The state of insolvency shall be established by showing the stages of the proceedings carried out and the amount of the remaining debt in a certificate of insolvency.

Consequences of insolvency:

The provision of Article 48 may be applied to an insolvent debtor without requiring security and interest.

The creditor collection office shall continuously monitor the financial situation of the insolvent debtor within the limitation period.

CHAPTER TWO

Attachment and Sale of Movable Property

Attachment of movable property:

Movable property of all kinds shall be attached by recording in the attachment report its kind and type, characteristics, marks, number and quantity, and estimated value.

Added paragraph: 16/6/2009, Law No. 5904, Art. 24 The attachment of movable property recorded in an official register shall also be effected by notification to the office keeping the register for entry in the register. Attachment notices issued by collection offices may be served electronically instead of by post, by the creditor collection offices or through the creditor public administration, and such service may be responded to electronically. The Ministry of Finance is authorised to determine the procedures and principles regarding service to be effected electronically and the submission of responses electronically.

Persons to be present during attachment and the attachment report:

During the attachment, the debtor or the possessor, or one of their representatives, employees, servants or family members, shall be present to represent them. If they are not present at the place of attachment or their presence cannot be secured at that time, the attachment shall be made in absentia. In attachments made in absentia, a police officer, or the mukhtar, or one of the members of the council of elders, or two neighbours of the debtor or the possessor, shall be caused to be present.

The attachment report drawn up shall state the date and number of the attachment warrant on which the attachment is based, the place, day and hour of the attachment, what the attached property consists of, its estimated value, the persons present during the attachment, the claims of third parties, if any, and other necessary matters, and the attachment shall be completed upon signature by those present. Added sentence: 27/12/2023, Law No. 7491, Art. 4 The attachment report may be drawn up electronically. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance is authorised to determine the procedures and principles regarding attachment reports to be drawn up electronically.

In attachments made in absentia, a copy of the report shall be served immediately on the debtor or the possessor.

No attachment may be made between sunset and sunrise or on holidays. Attachment of proceeds at places where work is carried out on holidays or at night, and cases where it is understood that the debtor is smuggling away property, are exempt from this provision.

Attachment of movable property, receivables and rights held by third parties:

Amended: 30/3/2006, Law No. 5479, Art. 5

The attachment of receivables not based on an instrument payable to bearer or transferable by endorsement, of rights of all kinds such as salaries, wages, rent and the like, and of movable property held by third parties which cannot be attached by actually drawing up a report, shall be effected by serving notice of the attachment on the natural and legal persons and institutions that are the debtor or the possessor or that are obliged to pay the receivables and rights. By the attachment notice to be served by the collection office, the third party shall be notified that henceforth he may pay his debt only to the collection office and that payment made to the public debtor shall not be valid, or that he may deliver the movable property in his hands only to the collection office and that the property must not be given to the public debtor, failing which he shall be obliged to pay to the collection office the payments made to the public debtor and the value of the property, and shall be notified of the provisions of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this article. Attachment notices issued by collection offices may be served electronically instead of by post, by the creditor collection offices or through the creditor public administration, and such service may be responded to electronically. The Ministry of Finance is authorised to determine the procedures and principles regarding service to be effected electronically and the submission of responses electronically.

Attachment notices issued by collection offices may be served on the branches of banks where the rights and receivables of the public debtor may be found, directly or through the local collection office, and, for receivables above the amount to be determined by the Ministry of Finance, may also be served directly on the head offices of banks. If the attachment notice has also been served on the head office of the bank, the obligation to make a declaration covering all of its branches rests with the head office of the bank.

A third party on whom an attachment notice is served who claims that he owes no debt, or that the property is not in his hands, or that before service of the attachment the debt was paid or the property was consumed or perished without his fault, or that the receivable was delivered to the debtor or to the place ordered by him, shall notify the situation in writing to the collection office within seven days from the service of the attachment notice on him. If the third party does not object within the time limit, the property shall be deemed to be in his hands and the debt to be owed by him, and the provisions of this Law shall be applied to him.

If the objection period is missed for any reason, the third party shall bring an action for a negative declaration before the courts of general jurisdiction within one year from the service of the attachment notice and shall prove that, as of the date of service of the attachment notice, he was not indebted to the public debtor or the property was not in his hands. Where an action for a negative declaration is brought, the court may order the suspension of the proceedings against security of the kind listed in Article 10 of this Law. The security shall be given to the creditor collection office and shall be attached on the basis of the attachment warrant. Disputes arising between the parties concerning the security shall be resolved by the court that ordered the suspension of the proceedings. Against a third party who loses his action, denial compensation amounting to 10% of the amount in respect of which he was unsuccessful shall additionally be awarded.

In respect of a third party who brings an action against the payment order served on him under this Law and whose objection proves wholly or partially unjustified, the provision of paragraph 5 of Article 58 of this Law shall not apply if the action for a negative declaration is decided in his favour or the principal public debtor has paid in full the public receivable subject to proceedings.

If the third party objects to the creditor collection office within seven days upon the attachment notice, the creditor public administration may, within one year, by proving the contrary of the objection made by the third party in an action to be brought before the courts of general jurisdiction, request that the third party be punished under paragraph 1 of Article 338 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law and that payment of the amount owed by him be ordered.

Where delivery of movable property in kind is not possible, its value shall be paid. The rights of recourse of third parties against the principal debtor under general provisions are reserved.

Use of force:

When an attachment is carried out, it is mandatory, if so requested, to open locked and closed premises and to show all kinds of articles.

If necessary, these places shall be opened by force, and locks and all kinds of devices may be broken. In taking attached property by force, any force required by the circumstances may be resorted to.

If the debtor has attachable valuables on his person and does not deliver them voluntarily or conceals them on his person, force shall also be used against his person.

Valuation in attachment:

The attached property shall be valued by the officer making the attachment; upon the application of the debtor or where the collection office deems it necessary, the value shall be assessed anew by an expert.

Safekeeping of attached movable property:

Attached movable property such as money, precious metals, jewellery, commercial papers, shares and bonds shall be kept by the collection offices, taking measures to prevent their loss and substitution.

Other movable property shall be placed in safekeeping at a suitable place, or left with a trustworthy person, or left with the debtor or the possessor himself under the guarantee of a trustworthy person.

Obligations and liabilities of those keeping movable property:

Debtors, possessors and trustworthy persons are obliged to return the property left with them under Article 82 immediately upon the first request of the creditor public administrations and in the condition it was in when delivered to them.

Those who fail to fulfil this obligation shall, in addition to the criminal proceedings to be brought against them, unless they prove that such property perished or was lost due to a cause not attributable to them, be deemed indebted in the amount of the value of the property not returned and shall be pursued in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

Sale of movable property:

Movable property shall be put up for sale by the collection offices, and in villages by the councils of elders, within three months from the third day following the date of attachment.

The conversion into money of property which cannot be preserved due to deterioration, rotting and similar causes, or which is likely to suffer a significant decrease in value if kept, may be commenced immediately.

Form of sale, auction and announcement:

Amended first paragraph: 22/7/1998, Law No. 4369, Art. 23 Movable property shall be sold by public auction and for cash, electronically or at the sale premises of the collection offices. If deemed appropriate by the collection office, the auction may also be held at the location of the property. Property put up for sale by public auction shall be awarded to the highest bidder after being announced aloud three times at the end of the auction. Property which cannot be preserved due to deterioration, rotting and similar causes or which is understood to suffer a significant decrease in value if kept, and property whose safekeeping is dangerous or costly, may be sold by negotiation at the most suitable place, and property having an exchange may be sold on the relevant exchange. The second auction of property not sold in the first auction may be held in another province or district.

Added second paragraph: 15/4/2021, Law No. 7316, Art. 1 A cash deposit equal to 5% of the value assessed for the movable property shall be taken as security from those who will participate in the auction. Creditor public administrations are authorised to determine the cases in which no security will be taken, on the basis of the type or value of the movable property and the form of sale, and to decide that the securities listed in subparagraph (2) of paragraph 1 of Article 10 be taken instead of cash.

Where necessary, the place, day and hour of the auction and the type and qualities of the property to be sold shall be announced in advance.

The form of announcement and the manner, place and day of the auction shall be determined by the creditor public administration, taking into account the form most suited to the interests of the creditor public administration and the debtor.

The property sold shall not be delivered before its price is received. The collection office may grant a period of three days from the day following the day of the award for payment of the price of the property.

If the public receivable is covered by the sale of part of the property, the sale of the remaining property shall be abandoned and the attachment on it shall be lifted.

Withdrawal of the purchaser from purchasing the property:

Amended: 15/4/2021, Law No. 7316, Art. 2

If the purchaser withdraws from purchasing the property or fails to pay the full price within the period granted, the property shall be put up for a second auction and awarded to the highest bidder. From the person to whom the property was awarded the first time, the difference between the two awards and other damages, together with interest at the rate of deferral interest calculated on the difference, or, where no award could be made because no bidder appeared in the second auction, the first award price and other damages, together with interest at the rate of deferral interest calculated on the first award price, shall, without the need to obtain a separate judgment, first be set off against the security and the balance shall be collected in accordance with the provisions of this Law, and the property shall be left to him upon collection of all kinds of expenses incurred by the administration for that property.

Where, in the second auction held because no award could be made in the first auction as no bidder appeared, or because the person to whom the property was awarded in the first auction withdrew from purchasing the property or failed to pay the full price within the period granted, the person to whom the property is awarded withdraws from purchasing the property or fails to pay the full price within the period granted, the second award price and other damages, together with interest at the rate of deferral interest calculated on the second award price, shall, without the need to obtain a separate judgment, first be set off against the security and the balance shall be collected from that person in accordance with the provisions of this Law, and the property shall be left to him upon collection of all kinds of expenses incurred by the administration for that property.

As long as the price of the property cannot be collected from the person to whom it was awarded, the principal debtor shall retain the capacity of debtor.

Unsold movable property:

If the price offered for the attached movable property is less than 75% of the value determined under Article 81, or if no buyer appears, such property shall be put up for sale again at times deemed appropriate within 15 days from the date of the first auction. In this second auction, the sale shall be made whatever the price offered.

If the movable property is again not sold at its location or when taken elsewhere, or if taking it elsewhere is not deemed appropriate due to the high cost of transport, it shall be sold by negotiation within 6 months from the expiry of the above 15 day period. If it cannot be sold in this manner either, the attached property may be returned to the debtor.

CHAPTER THREE

Attachment and Sale of Immovable Property

Attachment of immovable property and ships:

Attachment of immovable property of every kind and of ships shall be effected by notifying the fact of attachment to the land registry or to the office where the ship registers are kept, for entry in their registers. Added sentences: 16/6/2009, Law No. 5904, Art. 25 Attachment notices drawn up by collection offices may be served electronically instead of by post, by the creditor collection offices or through the creditor public administration, and replies to such notifications may be given electronically. The Ministry of Finance is authorised to determine the procedures and principles relating to service to be made electronically and to the giving of replies electronically.

Attachment of immovable property shall also extend to its proceeds and benefits. However, if the debtor has no other income, an appropriate quantity of the produce sufficient for the subsistence of the debtor and the debtor's family, or, as the produce is sold, an appropriate portion of its price, shall be left to the debtor.

The creditor collection office shall take the measures necessary for the administration and operation of the attached immovable property and ships and for the collection of their benefits and proceeds.

Notification of attachment to pledgee creditors:

In the case of attachment of immovable property, the land registry office shall inform the creditors to whom the immovable property has been pledged of the attachment.

Sale and sales commissions:

Amended: 15/4/2021, Law No. 7316, Art. 3

Immovable property shall be sold by sales commissions by public auction, physically or electronically. The composition of the sales commission shall be determined by the creditor public administrations. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance is authorised to determine the working procedures and principles of the commission.

Valuation of immovable property:

The market value of immovable property to be put up for sale shall be determined by the sales commission upon obtaining the opinion of an expert.

Terms of sale of immovable property:

The collection office shall draw up, for the immovable property to be sold, a specification of terms containing the following particulars:

1. The name, surname and address of the owner of the immovable property,

2. The neighbourhood, street and door number where the immovable property is located, its condition and its special characteristics,

3. The market value of the immovable property assessed as the basis for the auction,

4. The amount of the security at the rate of 7.5%,

5. The necessary information concerning pledges on the immovable property that have not yet fallen due, and a statement that the sale shall be made together with the easements, land charges, mortgages, mortgage bonds and annuity bonds on the immovable property,

6. A statement that, if there are matured debts secured by pledge of the immovable property, they shall not be transferred to the purchaser but shall be paid preferentially out of the sale price,

7. Which expenses shall be borne by the buyer.

Announcement in the sale of immovable property:

The creditor collection office shall announce the sale of immovable property, provided that the announcement begins at least 15 days before the auction date. The general principles concerning the place, duration and forms of announcements shall be determined by the Ministry of Finance.

The announcement shall indicate the place, day and time at which the sale will take place and the condition and characteristics of the immovable property to be sold.

A copy of the announcement shall be served on the debtor, on the debtor's attorney or representative, and on those persons whose rights are registered in the land register of the immovable property and whose addresses are known.

Auction and award of immovable property:

Security of the kinds listed in items 1 to 4 of Article 10 shall be taken from those who will participate in the auction, at the rate of 7.5% of the market value assessed for the immovable property.

At the end of the auction, after the bid has been called out three times, the immovable property shall be awarded to the highest bidder. However, the bid must reach 75% of the value assessed for the immovable property. If other receivables having priority over the public receivable are secured by this immovable property, the bid must exceed the total amount of the receivables so having priority and must also cover the expenses incurred and to be incurred.

Matured debts secured by pledge of the immovable property shall not be transferred to the buyer but shall be paid out of the sale price.

Where the attached immovable properties are divisible and the price of a part of them suffices to cover the public receivable, the remaining part shall not be sold unless the debtor so requests in writing. If necessary, the part to be sold shall be separated through the land registry office.

A copy of the award decision shall be served on the debtor or the debtor's attorney or representative and on those persons whose rights are registered in the land register of the immovable property and whose addresses are known.

Extension of the auction:

If the amount specified in the preceding article is not obtained in the auction, the auction shall be extended for a further 7 days, provided that the commitment of the highest bidder remains in force. On the 7th day, at the same hour, the immovable property shall be awarded to the highest bidder. These matters shall be stated in the announcement made beforehand. However, where there is a creditor with priority, the award price must exceed the priority receivable together with the expenses; if it does not, the sale shall not take place.

Failure to make an award:

Where no bidder comes forward in the auctions, or the price offered does not exceed the priority receivable and the expenses as specified in Article 95, the attachment on the immovable property shall continue until the property is taken over (teferruğ) by the public administration.

If any bidder applies to the collection office during this period, then, provided that the application is deemed appropriate by the creditor public administration, a 7-day announcement for the sale shall be made and the immovable property shall be awarded to the highest bidder in accordance with the provisions of Article 95. If no bidder comes forward until the immovable property is taken over, the collection office may put the attached property up for sale at such times as it deems appropriate. In that case, the above provisions shall apply to the sale and the announcement, and the provisions of Article 95 shall apply to the award.

Collection of the sale price of immovable property:

If the person to whom the immovable property has been awarded does not pay the money immediately or within the period granted, the award decision shall be rescinded and the immovable property shall immediately be put up for auction by the sales commission for a period of 7 days. There is no need to notify the interested parties of this auction; announcement alone shall suffice, and the property shall be awarded to the highest bidder.

Amended first sentence: 15/4/2021, Law No. 7316, Art. 4 The person who causes the rescission of the award by failing to pay the full award price shall be liable for the difference between the price he or she offered and the subsequent award price, for other losses, and for interest at the rate of deferral interest calculated on the difference. Amended second sentence: 15/4/2021, Law No. 7316, Art. 4 This amount shall, without the need for a separate judgment, be set off against the security, and the balance shall be collected by the collection office. Repealed third sentence: 15/4/2021, Law No. 7316, Art. 4 The office shall issue a document to the public debtor whose property was sold, so as to enable the debtor to collect, from the person liable therefor, the portion of the difference exceeding the public receivable.

Added third paragraph: 15/4/2021, Law No. 7316, Art. 4 After the necessary set-off is made from the security taken from persons liable under this Article and Article 86, the remaining amount of the security shall be recorded as revenue.

Sale of movable and immovable property electronically:

Added: 15/4/2021, Law No. 7316, Art. 5

Movable and immovable property may be sold electronically by public auction in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

The public auction shall be conducted by the submission of bids within the day and time range stated in the announcement. In all cases a sale announcement shall be made for movable property to be sold electronically. Where there is a discrepancy between the texts of announcements of the sale made in different media and the announcement made electronically, the announcement made electronically shall prevail. The result of the auction relating to property offered for sale electronically shall be announced electronically on the first following business day. Movable property that cannot be sold electronically may be sold by negotiation, physically or electronically, in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance is authorised to determine the receipt of bids before the auction date, the minimum bid increment in bids, the bidding periods, the type of security to be taken, the matters to be included in the announcement stating the auction result, and other procedures and principles relating to sales to be made electronically.

Taking over and return of immovable property:

If, within one year from the date of the second auction, the immovable property has been put up for sale at least once more but it has not been possible to sell it, the immovable property may be taken over by the public administration upon the request of the creditor public administration and by decision of the sales commission. The takeover price shall be 50% of the assessed market value of the immovable property.

Following completion of the takeover procedure, the amount remaining after deduction of the enforcement and takeover expenses shall be set off against the debt. Immovable property taken over may not be put up for sale for a period of one year from the date of the takeover decision.

If the debtor pays the public receivable together with the late payment surcharges within one year from the date of the takeover decision of the sales commission, the immovable property shall be returned to the debtor. The conveyance costs shall be borne by the debtor.

If, before the takeover decision is made, an outside bidder comes forward offering 75% or more of the assessed market value, the creditor public administration shall abandon the takeover.

Effect of the award, rescission and registration:

The buyer to whom the immovable property has been awarded by the sales commission acquires ownership of that immovable property. Rescission of the award may be requested by way of complaint to the enforcement review authority (icra tetkik mercii) of the place where the immovable property is located. The date of service of the award on the persons concerned shall be deemed the start of the 7-day period prescribed for complaint. The decision of the review authority may be appealed within 10 days. The appeal shall be examined by the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Chamber of the Court of Cassation. Where the value of the property awarded exceeds 50,000 New Turkish Liras, an oral hearing may be requested. No application may be made to any other court or to administrative judicial authorities concerning rescission of the award or rectification of the registration. The notification to be made to the land registry office for registration shall be made after the expiry of the period prescribed for complaint and, if a complaint has been made, after the complaint has been finally disposed of.

Chapter Four

Enforcement by way of bankruptcy and composition with creditors

Enforcement by way of bankruptcy:

For the collection of public receivables, the bankruptcy of the public debtor may be requested in accordance with the provisions of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law.

In order to ensure that public receivables are entered in the bankruptcy estate, the bankruptcy office is obliged to notify in due time the public administrations in its locality of the persons against whom bankruptcy has been opened and of which of the summary or ordinary liquidation procedures will be applied.

Composition with creditors:

A composition with creditors that has been approved shall not be binding in respect of public receivables, even if a bankruptcy request has been made by the public administration.

Part Three

Limitation, cancellation, prohibitions and penalties, and final provisions

Chapter One

Limitation and cancellation

Limitation of collection:

A public receivable shall become time-barred if it is not collected within 5 years from the beginning of the calendar year following the calendar year in which it fell due. The provisions on limitation in the special laws relating to fines are reserved.

Payments voluntarily made by the taxpayer after the limitation period shall be accepted.

Interruption of limitation:

The limitation period for collection shall be interrupted in the following cases:

1. Payment,

2. Execution of attachment,

3. Collections of every kind made as a result of compulsory collection and enforcement proceedings,

4. Service of a payment order,

5. Declaration of assets, and notification of acquisitions of assets and increases in assets,

6. The application of any of the procedures listed in the above 5 items to a guarantor or to the representatives of foreign persons and institutions, or the performance of such procedures by them,

7. The issuance of a reversal decision by judicial authorities in disputed public receivables,

8. The securing of the public receivable by a guarantee,

9. A decision by judicial authorities to stay enforcement,

10. A written application by the creditor public administration to the debtor public administration for payment of a debt existing between two public administrations.

11. Added: 25/12/2003, Law No. 5035, Art. 5 An application to pay the public receivable under special laws and/or the binding of the public receivable to a payment plan.

The limitation period shall begin to run anew from the beginning of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the interruption occurred. Where the limitation is interrupted by a reversal decision, the beginning of the limitation period shall be the first day of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the new due date falls; where the public receivable is secured by a guarantee or enforcement is stayed by judicial authorities, the beginning of the limitation period shall be the first day of the calendar year following the calendar year in which falls the date on which the guarantee is released or the period of the stay ends.

Suspension of limitation:

If enforcement proceedings cannot be taken against the debtor because the debtor is abroad, has gone fraudulently bankrupt, or because of the liquidation of the debtor's estate, the limitation shall not run for as long as these circumstances continue.

The limitation shall begin from the end of the day on which the causes of suspension cease, or, if it had begun before the suspension, shall continue to run.

Cancellation due to natural disasters:

Public receivables assessed in the name of persons who have lost at least one third of their assets and crops which suffered damage as a result of fire, earthquake, landslide, flood, drought, frost, invasion of harmful animals and insects and similar disasters, and relating to the sources of income damaged by the disasters, shall be cancelled in part or in full by decision of the President of the Republic.

In order to benefit from the provision of this Article, it is necessary to apply in writing to the relevant public administration within 6 months from the date of occurrence of the disaster.

Whether damage falling within the scope of this Article exists shall be determined by the local provincial or district administrative boards, and the degree of the damage shall be determined by the relevant public administrations within the principles to be specified generally by the Ministry of Finance.

With respect to public receivables falling within the scope of the Tax Procedure Law, the provisions of Article 105 of that Law shall apply.

Cancellation due to impossibility of collection:

Amended: 26/11/1980, Law No. 2347, Art. 10

Amended first paragraph: 25/5/1995, Law No. 4108, Art. 15 Public receivables of up to 10 Turkish Liras (10 Turkish Liras included) in the case of public receivables falling within the scope of Law No. 213, and of up to 20 Turkish Liras (20 Turkish Liras included) in the case of other public receivables, which are found, at the end of the enforcement proceedings, to be impossible to collect or whose collection would cost more than the receivable, may be cancelled by those authorised to cancel in the public administrations without waiting for the expiry of the limitation period for collection. The President of the Republic is authorised to increase these amounts, collectively or separately, up to tenfold.

Added: 3/12/1988, Law No. 3505, Art. 25 The Minister of Finance and Customs is authorised to determine the amount of public receivables to be cancelled under the provision of the preceding paragraph.

Those authorised to cancel may delegate all or part of this authority to local authorities.

Chapter Two

Prohibitions and penalties

Disclosure of secrets:

Amended first paragraph: 23/1/2008, Law No. 5728, Art. 160 Persons charged with the implementation of this Law who disclose secrets learned by reason of such duties concerning the persons, professions, business, transactions and account status of the public debtor and of persons connected with the public debtor, or other matters that must remain confidential, shall be punished under Article 239 of the Turkish Penal Code.

Repealed second paragraph: 23/1/2008, Law No. 5728, Art. 578

Third, fourth and fifth paragraphs repealed: 22/7/1998, Law No. 4369, Art. 82

Added paragraph: 30/7/2003, Law No. 4962, Art. 3 The provision of information relating to the collections to be made to institutions authorised to collect public receivables under Article 41 of this Law, and the provision of debt information concerning the parties to payments and transactions to institutions and organisations obliged under Article 22/A to seek a document showing that there is no debt, shall not be deemed disclosure of secrets; persons employed in these institutions and organisations who disclose the information they have obtained shall be punished in accordance with the provision of the first paragraph. The procedures and principles relating to the provision of such information shall be determined by the Ministry of Finance.

Persons who may not participate in auctions or purchase property at auctions:

Persons charged with the implementation of this Law may not participate, either in their own name or in the name and on behalf of others, in auctions of property to be converted into money under this Law, nor purchase property at such auctions; nor may they purchase such property through third parties, or by having third parties purchase it and then acquiring it from them by conveyance within a period of five years. This prohibition also extends to their spouses and to their relatives by blood and by marriage up to the third degree (that degree included). Rescission of awards made in breach of this prohibition may be requested under Article 99.

Amended second paragraph: 23/1/2008, Law No. 5728, Art. 161 Those who act in breach of the provision of this Article shall be punished with imprisonment from three months to three years.

Persons who may not participate in assessment procedures and decisions:

The chairperson and members of the sales commission and experts in the implementation of this Law, and likewise the chairpersons and members of objection commissions in deciding on matters referred to them in connection with the implementation of this Law, may not participate in matters relating to:

1. Themselves, their fiancés or fiancées, and their spouses even if divorced,

2. Their ascendants and descendants by blood or by marriage, their adopted children or the persons who adopted them, or their collateral relatives up to the third degree (that degree included) by blood and up to the third degree (that degree included) by marriage, even if the marriage establishing such relationship by marriage has ended,

3. Persons whose legal representatives or attorneys they are,

as regards the assessment procedures of such matters and the decisions to be taken on such matters.

Persons preventing the collection of public receivables:

A debtor against whom enforcement proceedings have been initiated for the collection of a public receivable who, with the intent of preventing collection in whole or in part or of rendering collection more difficult, as to some or all of his or her property:

1. In actual fact, by disposing of it, destroying it or reducing its value,

2. Amended: 23/1/2008, Law No. 5728, Art. 162 Or in a manner contrary to the truth, by concealing it, smuggling it away, transferring it to another person by way of a simulated transaction, acknowledging debts that have no basis, or issuing receipts, destroys or diminishes its existence, shall, if the remaining property is insufficient to cover the debt, be punished with imprisonment from six months to three years.

Persons making false declarations:

Amended: 23/1/2008, Law No. 5728, Art. 163

Persons who make the declaration of assets required under this Law in a manner contrary to the truth, and persons whose lifestyle does not correspond to their declaration of assets, shall be punished with imprisonment from three months to one year.

Persons failing to declare acquisitions of and increases in assets:

Amended: 23/1/2008, Law No. 5728, Art. 164

Persons who, after making a declaration of assets in accordance with the procedure, have prevented or rendered more difficult the collection of a public receivable by failing to declare in due time, in accordance with the provisions of Article 61, the property acquired and the increases in their property of every kind and in their earnings and income, shall be punished with imprisonment of up to one year.

Persons failing to declare property of the public debtor in their possession:

Amended: 23/1/2008, Law No. 5728, Art. 165

Persons who fail to declare property of the public debtor in their possession, despite a request made under the last paragraph of Article 55, shall be punished with imprisonment of up to six months.

Persons failing to provide information requested:

Public debtors on whom a payment order has been served and who declare that they have no property are obliged, together with that declaration or within 15 days from the date of the declaration:

1. To declare their latest legal residence and business addresses,

2. To declare, if any, the other collection offices and public administrations with which they have continuing tax liabilities and their account and registration numbers therein, and to provide a copy of their civil registry record.

Amended second paragraph: 23/1/2008, Law No. 5728, Art. 166 Those who fail to perform this duty in due time without a valid excuse shall be punished with a judicial fine of up to fifty days.

Prosecution of offences:

The offences specified in Articles 110 to 114 shall be prosecuted by the Office of the Public Prosecutor upon denunciation by the highest-ranking official of the creditor public administration in that locality.

If these offences are committed in the course of the management and conduct of the affairs of a legal person, the penalty shall be imposed on those among the partners, representatives and attorneys, liquidators, chairperson and members of the board of directors, auditors and inspectors, or employees of the legal person who carried out the transaction.

Chapter Three

Final provisions

Repealed laws and provisions:

The following laws and provisions are repealed:

1. The Law on the Collection of Public Revenues (Tahsili Emval Kanunu) dated 5 August 1325,

2. The law dated 18 Kanunusani 1331 concerning the paragraphs appended to Articles 11 and 17 of the Law on the Collection of Public Revenues dated 2 Şaban 1327,

3. Article 57 of the Mines Regulation (Maadin Nizamnamesi) dated 26/6/1332,

4. The law dated 19 Teşrinisani 1336 and numbered 48,

5. The law dated 1 Teşrinievvel 1337 and numbered 156, and Article 2 of the law dated 26/1/1939 and numbered 3586,

6. The law dated 20/5/1933 and numbered 2184,

7. The law dated 23/12/1934 and numbered 2656,

8. Article 2 of the law dated 4/7/1934 and numbered 2560,

9. Article 12 of the law dated 4/7/1934 and numbered 2566,

10. The last paragraph of Article 6 of the law dated 23/12/1935 and numbered 2871,

11. The law dated 21/8/1940 and numbered 3911, and the law dated 12 Kanunusani 1331 concerning imposts and dues whose methods of collection are not specified by a special law, which was repealed by Article 3 of that law,

12. The provision ("Tax payments to be made by the taxpayer shall not be accepted") of the last paragraph of Article 103, Article 352, and the provisions of Article 377 relating to property to be taken as security, of the Tax Procedure Law dated 7.6.1949 and numbered 5432,

13. The provisional law dated 27 Rebiulevvel 1331 on the collection of rents and fixed dues (icarat ve mukataat) of pious foundations together with taxes, and the laws dated 16 Ramazan 1332 and 26 Temmuz 1330 amending that law,

14. The provisions of laws relating to the late payment surcharge on the collection of taxes, duties and fees and to the limitation on collection.

Added: 29/8/1996, Law No. 4179, Art. 1

Where a public receivable is paid before the statutory payment period, the discount and principles set out below shall apply:

1. In early payments, the discount shall be applied at a monthly rate of 4% for each day from the payment date until the last day of the statutory payment period.

2. Amounts remaining at the end of the statutory payment period shall be deemed early payments and shall be processed in accordance with item (1) until they are set off against other public receivables. No discount shall be applied to cash refunds.

3. In calculating the periods to which the discount is to be applied, one month shall be taken as 30 days, and the day on which the payment is made shall not be taken into account.

4. The President of the Republic is authorised to reduce the rate set out in item (1) down to zero, to increase it up to 8%, and to determine different rates according to the type and maturities of public receivables.

5. The Ministry of Finance is authorised to limit the public receivables that will benefit from the provisions of this Article by their types and periods, to have it applied exclusively to public receivables that have been assessed, and to determine the manner and timing of the discount and other procedures and principles.

6. Added: 30/7/2003, Law No. 4962, Art. 4 In payments made without commission by using credit cards and similar cards pursuant to Article 41 of this Law, the payment date to be taken as the basis for applying the discount under this Article shall be the day on which the money is transferred to the account of the creditor collection office.

Proceedings commenced under the Law on the Collection of Public Revenues:

Subsequent transactions relating to proceedings commenced under the Law on the Collection of Public Revenues (Tahsili Emval Kanunu) before the date on which this Law enters into force shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

Public receivables not subject to late payment surcharge on the date of publication of this Law:

The late payment surcharges in Article 51 of this Law shall also apply to those matured public receivables currently not subject to late payment surcharge which have not been paid on the date of publication of this Law and which are not paid within six months from the date of publication.

Foundation fixed dues (mukataa) and deferred rents (müeccele) to be pursued under this Law:

The provisions of this Law shall also apply to foundation fixed dues (mukataa) and deferred rents (müeccele) assessed by the Directorate of Foundations and served on the persons liable personally or, where they cannot be found, by public notice, which are not paid within 10 days from the date of service.

Added: 6/3/1962, Law No. 40, Art. 1

The latest situation of those who had debts overdue as at 1/1/1962 in respect of income tax, corporate tax, domestic production tax, transport tax and banking and insurance transactions tax, whose requests for deferral made under Article 48 were rejected before the entry into force of this Law, and of those to whom the same Article has been applied (excluding State Economic Enterprises), shall be re-examined, on condition that they apply in writing to the collection office within one month from the date of entry into force of this Law.

As a result of this examination, the remaining debts of those found to be in difficult circumstances (where collection has been made, compulsorily or voluntarily, between 1/1/1962 and the date of entry into force of the Law in respect of debts falling within the scope of this Law, the amount to be deferred by instalments is the remaining balance of the debt) may be deferred by the Ministry of Finance, on a one-off basis, for an appropriate period by way of instalments, without being bound by the two-year restriction in Article 48 and in such a way as not to exceed the end of the 1962 budget year.

The provisions of the Law relating to requiring security, charging interest, attached property taking the place of security, substitution of security and supplementation of security that has lost its value are reserved.

The Ministry of Finance may delegate the deferral power granted by this Article, in part or in whole, to its local organisation.

The public receivable shall become due in cases of failure to comply with the conditions of deferral, or failure, upon written notification served by the collection office, to supplement the security or attached property that has lost its value, or to provide others in their place, within 15 days.

Added: 23/10/1962, Law No. 85, Art. 1

The latest situation of debtors operating industrial enterprises with debts overdue as at 1/1/1962 in respect of income tax, corporate tax and domestic production tax (excluding State Economic Enterprises), whose requests for deferral made under Article 48 were rejected before the entry into force of Law No. 40, of those to whom the said Article has been applied, of those whose requests for deferral made under Provisional Article 4 were rejected, and of those to whom the said Article has been applied, shall be re-examined, on condition that they apply in writing to the tax collection offices of the Ministry of Finance within one month from the date of entry into force of this Law.

Where the examination reveals that the debtor cannot pay its debt without selling the existing industrial facility or without resorting to measures that would make the continuation of the activity of the industrial facility impossible or seriously disrupt it, the debts of those whose remaining debts are up to (500) thousand lira (including 500 000 lira) may be deferred by the Ministry of Finance, and the debts of those whose remaining debts exceed (500) thousand lira may be deferred by the Council of Ministers, for up to (5) years, on a one-off basis. Where necessary, the collection of instalments shall begin at the latest at the end of the third year.

The benefit of this provision for industrial establishments which were previously in operation but which, on the date of entry into force of this Law, have suspended their activities due to financial impossibilities, is conditional upon their resuming activity within (6) months at the latest from the completion of the deferral transaction.

The provisions of the Law relating to requiring security, charging interest, attached property taking the place of security, substitution of security and supplementation of security that has lost its value are reserved.

The Ministry of Finance may delegate the deferral power granted by this Article, in part or in whole, to its local organisation.

The public receivable shall become due in cases of failure to comply with the conditions of deferral, or failure, upon written notification served by the tax collection offices, to supplement the security or attached property that has lost its value, or to provide others in their place, within (15) days.

Added: 31/1/1984, Law No. 2975, Art. 9

The amended provisions of Articles 51 and 52 of this Law shall also apply, as from 1/3/1984, to public receivables that fell due before 1/3/1984 but have not been paid.

Added: 26/12/1993, Law No. 3946, Art. 5

The collection of receivables deemed principal pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 51 of this Law, as amended by Article 24 of Law No. 3505, before the date of entry into force of this Article shall continue, and late payment surcharge shall be applied to these receivables for the period from the date on which they were deemed principal until the date on which they are paid.

No late payment surcharge shall be applied to smuggling, gross negligence and negligence penalties imposed under Tax Procedure Law No. 213 whose maturity falls before the date of entry into force of this Article.

Added: 17/9/2004, Law No. 5234, Art. 7

To be applied until 31/12/2028, in respect of the debts owed to the State and falling within the scope of this Law of state economic enterprises and public economic organisations subject to the provisions of Decree Law No. 233 dated 8.6.1984, including organisations taken within the scope of privatisation, and their establishments, subsidiaries and affiliates, public banks continuing their activities subject to Law No. 4389 dated 18.6.1999, metropolitan municipalities, municipalities, special provincial administrations and legal persons belonging to them, or organisations affiliated to them having a separate budget and public legal personality, those immovables owned by these administrations and free of any encumbrance which are needed by public administrations within the scope of central government, and those to be utilised within the scope of Law No. 4706 dated 29/6/2001 on the Utilisation of Immovable Property Belonging to the Treasury and on Amendments to the Value Added Tax Law, may be purchased by the Ministry of Finance, at their value to be appraised by the commission to be established pursuant to Article 6 of Law No. 4734 dated 4.1.2002, after obtaining the favourable opinion of the debtor institution, without being associated with the revenue and expenditure accounts of the budget.

Debts of these administrations owed to the State and falling within the scope of this Law, in an amount equal to the value of their purchased immovables, determined in the manner set out above and serving as the basis for the land registry transactions, shall be written off.

The provision of this Article may also be applied to the immovables of other taxpayers, other than the organisations listed above, who have been determined by an examination report to be in great difficulty in paying their debts and who have debts falling within the scope of this Law owed to tax offices (including immovables belonging to the partners of those having legal personality).

The principles and procedures for the implementation of this Article shall be determined by the Ministry of Finance.

Added: 30/3/2006, Law No. 5479, Art. 6

Third parties who did not object in due time to a garnishment notice served under Article 79 of this Law before the date of entry into force of this Article, but for whom the one-year period for bringing an action provided for in Article 79 has not yet expired from the service of the garnishment notice, may bring an action for a negative declaratory judgment within the remaining period.

As at the date of entry into force of this Article, the collection of the unjustified objection surcharge calculated under the fifth paragraph of Article 58 of this Law and not yet collected shall be waived in respect of those third parties who have objected to a payment order issued under this Law and whose objection was rejected in part or in whole, who either do not have the right to bring an action for a negative declaratory judgment or whose status as debtor has ended because the public receivable subject to the proceedings has been paid by the principal public debtor.

Entry into force:

This Law shall enter into force on 1 January 1954.

Those charged with execution:

The provisions of this Law shall be executed by the Council of Ministers (İcra Vekilleri Heyeti).

PROVISIONAL ARTICLES THAT COULD NOT BE INCORPORATED INTO

THE PRINCIPAL LAW NO. 6183 DATED 21/7/1953

1. Provisional Article of Law No. 251 dated 13/6/1963:

Provisional article: Decisions which, before the entry into force of this Law, had been perfected by the approval of the highest civil administrative officer or the person delegated by him under Article 60 then in force, and whose execution has not yet begun, shall be taken anew under the amended Article 60. The execution of those whose execution has begun shall be stopped.

2. Provisional Article of Law No. 3505 dated 3/12/1988:

If taxes which, up to the date of entry into force of this Law (including that date), do not exceed 500,000 lira per tax type, taxation period and tax office and have fallen due but have not been paid, and taxes not exceeding 500,000 lira which have been made subject to dispute as at that date or for which the time limit for bringing an action has not yet expired, are paid with a 30% increase by the end of 31.12.1988, on condition that no dispute is raised and that any dispute raised is withdrawn, the collection of the late payment surcharge, late payment interest and tax penalties attributable to the taxes so paid shall be waived.

If 30% of the late payment surcharge, late payment interest and tax penalties not exceeding 500,000 lira per tax type, relating to taxes whose principal amounts were paid in part or in whole per tax type, taxation period and tax office before the date of entry into force of this Law, is paid by the end of 31.12.1988, the collection of the remaining 70% shall be waived.

The procedures and principles for the implementation of this Article shall be determined by the Ministry of Finance and Customs.

3. Provisional Article of Law No. 4369 dated 22/7/1998:

For taxation periods prior to 1/1/1999, the provision of Article 9 of Law No. 6183 on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables as in force before the amendment of its wording shall apply.

Late payment surcharge under Article 51 of Law No. 6183 on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables shall be applied, for the period from the maturity date until the date of payment, to smuggling, gross negligence and negligence penalties imposed under Tax Procedure Law No. 213 which fell due before 1/1/1999 and remain unpaid as at that date, and to those which became final after 1/1/1999 but have not been paid.

4. Provisional Articles and Article 27 of Law No. 5766 dated 4/6/2008:

Annulled by Constitutional Court decision of 28/4/2011, E. 2009/39, K. 2011/68.

To be applied to applications made up to 30/6/2008 (including that date): the debts of sports clubs registered with the General Directorate of Youth and Sports, the Turkish Football Federation and the autonomous sports federations and active in the field of sports in Türkiye, which are payable to tax offices affiliated to the Ministry of Finance and pursued under Law No. 6183 on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables dated 21/7/1953, together with their debts consisting of insurance premiums, social security support premiums, unemployment insurance premiums and administrative fines and the related late payment surcharge and late payment penalty, and the contribution to education collected under Law No. 4306 dated 16/8/1997 and the related late payment surcharges, which have fallen due as at the date of entry into force of this Article (including receivables whose payment period has begun but whose maturity has not passed) but have not been paid as at the date of entry into force of this Article, may be deferred without security, within the framework of the conditions required in Article 48 of Law No. 6183 on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables, for a period not exceeding 10 years from the date of application, by taking into account 1/6 of the deferral interest rate applied for the maximum deferral period.

Where, among receivables falling within the scope of this Article that were deferred before the date of entry into force of this Article under Article 48 of Law No. 6183 or Provisional Article 6 of Law No. 5228 dated 16/7/2004 and are being paid in accordance with the deferral conditions, the debtors wish to benefit from the provision of the first paragraph for the remaining instalment amounts, the deferral shall be deemed valid for the instalment amounts paid in accordance with the deferral conditions. The first deferral date shall be taken into account in calculating the period to be granted for the remaining instalment amounts.

If sports clubs that apply to benefit from the provision of this Article and whose debts are rescheduled into instalments under this Article fail, during the period in which the deferral and instalment arrangement continues, to pay in full on their due dates, more than three times within a calendar year, the income (withholding) tax, value added tax and insurance premiums accruing from the date of the deferral application, excluding those deferred under Article 48 of Law No. 6183 upon applications made on their due dates, or, where such failure has not occurred more than three times, fail to pay such taxes and insurance premiums not paid in due time within the calendar year, together with the late payment penalty, late payment surcharge, late payment interest, related tax penalties and related administrative fines, by the end of the calendar year, the deferral and instalment arrangement made under this Article shall become null and void.

The Minister of Finance is authorised, upon the proposal of the Minister of Transport, to write off by way of set-off, without being associated with the revenue and expenditure accounts of the central government budget, the debts of the General Directorate of the Turkish State Railways (T.C. Devlet Demiryolları İşletmesi) and its subsidiaries consisting of all kinds of taxes, funds and shares and tax penalties, and the related late payment surcharge and late payment interest, which fell due up to 31/12/2007 (including that date) but have not been paid as at the date of entry into force of the Article and which are pursued and collected by tax offices affiliated to the Ministry of Finance, against the receivables of this General Directorate from the Ministry of Transport as at 31/12/2007 in consideration of road maintenance and repair expenses, as determined by that Ministry. No late payment surcharge shall be calculated after 31/12/2007 on debts to be subject to set-off within the scope of the Article.

Where, from the invoice amounts issued before 31/3/2008 (including 31/3/2008) by university hospitals (excluding foundation universities) for treatment services provided to persons whose treatment expenses are covered by public administrations within the scope of the general budget and to persons whose treatment assistance is covered under Law No. 3816 on the Coverage by the State of the Treatment Expenses of Citizens Without Ability to Pay by Issuing Green Cards, 85% of the receivables determined to be uncollected within the framework of a reconciliation to be reached with the Ministry of Finance within two months from the date of entry into force of this Article is paid by the Ministry of Finance within one month from the date of reconciliation, the remaining portion shall be written off. No claim for any receivable or right may be made for the portion written off, and public administrations within the scope of the general budget shall not make any further payment to university hospitals for the invoice amounts covered by this Article and paid directly by the Ministry of Finance. The principles and procedures for the implementation of this paragraph shall be determined by the Ministry of Finance.

Where, from the invoice amounts issued before 31/3/2008 (including 31/3/2008) by university hospitals and health institutions and organisations affiliated to the Ministry of Health for treatment services provided to personnel whose treatment expenses are covered by municipal budgets, the amount to be determined by protocols, out of the receivables determined to be uncollected through protocols to be concluded with the relevant municipalities within three months from the date of entry into force of this Article, is paid by the debtor municipalities within one month from the date on which the protocol is concluded, the remaining portion shall be written off. The receivable amount to be written off in this manner may not exceed 25% of the total uncollected receivable amount determined in the protocol. No claim for any receivable or right shall be made by university hospitals and health institutions and organisations affiliated to the Ministry of Health for the portion written off.

Where third parties who have been brought within the scope of electronic service of attachment notices pursuant to Article 79 of Law No. 6183 on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables, and who failed to object within the period laid down in that Article to the attachment notices served by tax offices attached to the Ministry of Finance from 30/9/2007 until the date on which this Article enters into force, even though no property, rights or receivables of the public debtor were held by them or such property, rights or receivables did not amount to the sum stated in the attachment notice, notify the relevant tax office, by the end of the month following the date on which this Article enters into force, of the status of the property, rights and receivables of the public debtor held by them on the date on which the attachment notice was served, such notifications shall be deemed to have been made in due time pursuant to Article 79 of the said Law.

Where the administration establishes that the notifications made by third parties under this Article are contrary to the truth, the public receivable notified by the attachment notice shall be pursued and collected from such persons in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 6183, without the action provided for in the sixth paragraph of Article 79 being brought. The provision of this Article shall also cover, without the need for a new notification, responses submitted after the expiry of the time limit to attachment notices served between 30/9/2007 and the date on which this Article enters into force.

For notifications under this Article to have legal effect, it is a condition that the actions brought in respect of the attachment notices falling within the scope of this Article, or of the payment orders issued on the basis of those attachment notices, be withdrawn. The Minister of Finance is authorised to determine the procedures and principles for the implementation of this Article.

Of this Law;

a) Article 6, subparagraph (a) of Article 8, the provision of provisional Article 72 added to Law No. 193 by subparagraph (ç) of Article 8, and Article 19 shall enter into force at the beginning of the month following its publication,

b) subparagraph (b) of Article 7 shall enter into force on the date of its publication, to take effect as of 31/12/2007,

c) the provisions of provisional Articles 73 and 74 added to Law No. 193 by subparagraph (ç) of Article 8, and the provision of paragraph (37) added by subparagraph (g) of Article 10 to section IV- Papers relating to commercial and civil matters of Table No. 2 annexed to Law No. 488 shall enter into force on the date of its publication, to take effect as of 1/1/2008,

ç) Articles 20, 21 and 22 shall enter into force on the date of its publication, so as to apply also to earnings of the year 2008,

d) Articles 5 and 16 shall enter into force on the date of its publication, to take effect as of 6/6/2008,

e) subparagraph (b) of Article 12 shall enter into force on the day following its publication,

f) Amended: 30/7/2008, Law No. 5795, Art. 1 subparagraph (a) of Article 12 and Article 25 shall enter into force at the beginning of the second month following its publication, and subparagraph (a) of Article 18 on 1/1/2009,

g) subparagraph (ç) of Article 9 shall enter into force on 1/7/2008,

h) the other provisions shall enter into force on the date of its publication,

as set out above.

The Minister of Finance is authorised, upon the proposal of the Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, to have written off by way of set-off, without associating them with the revenue and expenditure accounts of the central government budget, against the receivables of the General Directorate of the Turkish State Railways (T.C. Devlet Demiryolları İşletmesi Genel Müdürlüğü) owed by the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications as of 30/4/2012 as consideration for road maintenance and repair expenses and determined by that Ministry, the debts of this General Directorate and its affiliated companies consisting of all kinds of taxes, funds and shares, as well as tax penalties and the late payment surcharges and default interest attached thereto, which fell due up to 30/4/2012 (inclusive) but remained unpaid as of the date of publication of this Law and are pursued by the collection offices attached to the Ministry of Finance (including debts falling within the scope of Law No. 4749 of 28/3/2002 on the Regulation of Public Finance and Debt Management which were transferred to the collection office for pursuit until the date on which this Article enters into force). No late payment surcharge shall be calculated, after the date of publication of this Law, on debts subject to set-off within this scope. The Ministry of Finance is authorised to determine the procedures and principles for the implementation of this Article.