The Position of Municipal Economic Enterprises Against Stamp Duty

Abstract

Although the number of state-owned enterprises has decreased with the privatizations in Turkey today, economic enterprises established by municipalities are constantly increasing. These companies, which are established by the municipalities and whose capitals are also provided by the municipalities, employ a large number of personnel and realize a significant economic transaction volume. Stamp duty is a legal transaction tax that comes to the fore due to the papers issued for legal transactions. In the Stamp Duty Act, no 488, government offices, including the municipalities, are exempted from this duty and it was regulated that the stamp duty of papers to be issued between government offices and individuals would be paid by the persons who are the other party of the transaction. Whether municipal economic enterprises are also within the scope of this exemption and who will pay the stamp duty on the documents regarding the economic transactions they carry out are a matter of debate from time to time both in practice and in judicial decisions. This study tries to explain the position of municipal economic enterprises against stamp duty.