Conclusion

Our study focuses on determining how, in particular, the economic measures taken to combat the pandemic are perceived by the citizens and how an important crisis such as a pandemic affects tax perception of taxpayers.

Another important point we have determined is that a significant proportion of taxpayers are aware of the recent customs duty and SCT increases. However, the awareness rate is not the same for both taxes, while 93% of the taxpayers are aware of the increase in SCT, this rate is 78% for the customs duty. We think that this difference can be explained by the higher sensitivity of the citizens to the changes in taxes which are more regularly encountered in life.

Again, there is a similar difference in the support rates given to the increase of these two taxes. Although the support for the increase in both taxes was low, the support given to the increase in customs duty was 15% higher. We think that one reason for this can be explained by the difference in being aware of the increase in taxes mentioned above, as well as the fact that the SCT is more visible in daily life than customs duty.

The ratio of those who support the government to increase other taxes to combat the pandemic remains at a seriously low point, i.e., 3.5%. This can be explained by the unwillingness of the taxpayers for a new tax, depending on their high subjective tax burden, or it can be evaluated as a taxation close to the peak of the Laffer curve in total taxation.

In the questionnaire, the answer to the question of “Which taxes would you prefer to be increased?”, a two-option question, in the form of either one or the other, was the direct taxes, expressed as Income and Corporate Income Tax, amounting to the rate of 75%. The rate of those who preferred indirect taxes expressed by SCT and Value Added Tax (VAT) remained at 25%. Thus, instead of taxes on spending, which are likely to create a general cost of living, considered unfair in terms of tax justice and difficult to avoid, they have preferred direct taxes that are more appropriate in terms of tax justice and have no direct effect on the general cost of living. It is also possible to interpret this situation as taxpayers will prefer the increase in the share of direct taxes in total tax revenue, as happened in developed countries.

While 94% of the respondents stated that the budget deficit increased during the pandemic period, 90% stated that their purchasing power decreased compared to the pre-pandemic period. When we evaluate these two statements together, taxpayers who think that public expenditures are made in order to combat the pandemic and that this increases the budget deficit also think that these public expenditures do not increase their purchasing power and even do not ensure that their purchasing power remains constant. This can also be read as the citizens’ wishes for some measures taken in a way to increase their purchasing power affected by the pandemic.

Which profession groups differ from the general is examined in the relevant sections. The point we especially want to emphasize in the conclusion is the existence of a general non-support for tax increases. This can also be evaluated as the need for tax deductions, being taking into account by the legislator and as a requirement of the opposition that is especially concentrated in taxes on spending. This will also serve to the need to increase the share of direct taxes in all taxes, similar to developed countries (Ay and Tala§lt 2008).

As for increasing the tax compliance, it may be beneficial to ensure that citizens, especially those with lower compliance, are represented at a higher rate and their requests are voiced through non-governmental organizations from the point of the legislative commission regarding taxes to the end of the legislative process and in the processes related to collection. Similarly, we think that reducing the high rate of taxes on spending within the collected taxes may increase tax compliance, provided that it is supported by policies such as increasing tax inspections. In order for the tax reporting lines, already established in many developed countries, to become operational and to ensure that the citizens realize that tax evaders steal from their own pockets and to make them report the evaders to the tax administration and also to ensure that the citizens understand that it is very different from spying and it is an important way to broaden the tax to the base and reduce the tax burden on individuals, explaining it to the media and through social media will also have a positive effect on tax compliance. The last and most important issue is the opinion of the taxpayers about the efficient use of taxes. Considering that the budget deficit has reached very serious levels, the taxpayers’ expressing their demands during the budget preparation process through non-governmental organizations and the transparency will have positive effects on tax perception.

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Burhanettin Onur Kireftepe was born in 1988 in Erzurum. After high school, he continued his undergraduate education at Eastern Mediterranean University, Faculty of Law. He graduated as an Honour Student in 2009. After that, he also graduated as a High Honour Student from Anadolu University, Department of Public Finance in 2017. He gets his LL.M degree at the University of Aberdeen in 2019 with the dissertation “How could Turkey’s EIA Procedure Improve with the Help of Aarhus and Espoo Conventions?”

Burhanettin Onur Kireftepe has articles and papers on different areas of tax law. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Public Law at Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University, and He is working as a research assistant at Tokat Gaziosmanpaga University Law School.

Bernur Afikgoz was born in 1979 in Ankara. After attending Ankara Finance High School, she continued her undergraduate studies at Dokuz Eylul University, Department of Finance. She received her master’s degree in Financial Law from Dokuz Eylul University. In 2006, she was awarded her Ph.D. degree from Dokuz Eylul University Department of Public Finance. Her Ph.D. thesis covered the topics of poverty and development. In 2006, she won the Harvard University Project scholarship and worked as a visiting professor at Harvard University. In 2009, she received a scholarship from the Swiss Government for a post-doctorate degree in economics at the Univer­sity of Neuchatel/Switzerland, and taught courses at Bern Universities. She then began to work in the fields of experimental economics and game theory, and for three consecutive years as a guest lecturer in the economics laboratory of the Montpellier University in Montpellier, France. Afterwards, she went to Missouri University, Indiana University and Arizona University with a scholarship from Missouri University. She then worked as a visiting professor at the University of East Anglia and took some courses from Exeter Universities in the UK with a Tubitak scholar­ship. Professor Dr. Bernur Afikgoz has books, articles and papers on foreign direct investments, economic growth, panel econometrics, experimental economics and game theory. She is currently working at the Department of Public Finance and Financial Management at Izmir Katip ζ⅛lebi University/Turkey. In addition, Afikgoz teaches at the Department of International Trade and Finance at Izmir University of Economics/Turkey and the Department of Economics at University of Life Sciences in Poznaii (Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy w Poznaniu)∕Poland.