The Effect of the Tax Policy Applied in the Period of Atatürk on the Economic Sectors
Kader Akdağ SarıThe insufficient economic opportunities in the first years of the Republic and the crisis environment created by the 1929 World Depression affected the tax policy of the young state. Compensation for the effects of the current conditions was only possible by levying many new taxes or expanding the scope of existing taxes. The subject of this study is to examine the effects of the basic taxes on the economic sectors in the period from the beginning of the Turkish Republic to the mid-1930s. The development target, which was emphasized with the concept of “economic struggle”, was shaped by the influence of two contrary factors. While taxes were required to finance development, the negative impact of taxes was an obstacle to achieving this goal. It is hoped that this study, which is mostly based on periodicals and parliamentary minutes of the period, will contribute to the literature.
Atatürk Dönemi’nde Uygulanan Vergi Politikasının İktisadi Kesimler Üzerindeki Etkisi
Kader Akdağ SarıCumhuriyet’in ilk yıllarında iktisadi olanakların yetersizliği ve 1929 Dünya Buhranı’nın yarattığı kriz ortamı; genç devletin vergi siyasetini etkilemiş, mevcut koşulların yarattığı etkilerin telafisi ancak birçok yeni verginin alınması ya da var olan vergilerin kapsamının genişletilmesiyle mümkün olmuştur. Cumhuriyet’in başlangıcından 1930’ların ortalarına kadar olan dönemde uygulanan temel vergilerin, iktisadi kesimler üzerindeki etkilerinin incelenmesi bu çalışmanın konusunu oluşturmuştur. “İktisadi Cidal” kavramıyla vurgulanan kalkınma hedefi birbirine muarız iki gelişmenin etkisiyle şekillenmiştir. Kalkınmanın finansmanı için vergiler ihdas edilirken vergilerin yarattığı olumsuz etki ise bu amacın gerçekleşmesinin önünde bir engel idi. Çoğunlukla dönemin süreli yayınlarına ve meclis tutanaklarına dayanan bu çalışmanın, literatüre katkı sağlayacağı umulmaktadır
The tax structure inherited from the Ottoman Empire was tried to be rebuilt many times in the first years of the Republic. However, an effective functioning tax system has never been implemented. After the wars, fiscal discipline and equivalent budget became the main target of the Republican administration. As Mustafa Kemal stated on March 1, 1923, it was necessary to benefit from the country’s income sources without resorting to external sources. In addition, the state had to create a source of income not only for the basic functions of the state, but also for funds required for railway investments and public spending such as the construction of the new capital Ankara and expropriation.
The Republican administration tried to carry out a kind of tax reform with a series of new tax laws, the majority of which coincided with the years 1926 and 1927, after the Aşar Tax (Tithe) was abolished in 1925. The removal of aşar, an important income item that provided 22% of the budget revenues, was aimed to reduce the burden of the agricultural sector. However, the state turned to indirect taxes to compensate for the declining revenues. Faced with a serious financial crisis after 1930 with the effect of the world depression, the government introduced new taxes to be applied to civil servant salaries and workers’ wages. The fact that the added taxes were independent from the changes in income increased the tax burden of the public. In addition to taxes, goods consumed by large masses such as tobacco, alcohol, cigarette paper, salt, matches, sugar, and oil were taken to the state monopoly. Thus, with the monopoly prices added to most goods, the state went to increase its revenues. Indirect taxes on consumer goods led to an increased tax burden as they were collected regardless of income. In addition, due to the decrease in the purchasing power of the public, tax revenues decreased since the mid-1920s. In the following years, a regular tax system could not be developed, and the use of state monopoly revenues and extraordinary taxes during the crisis affected the commercial and social life negatively.
According to the census made in 1927, the industrial basis of the economy in the first years of the Republic was lagging behind. Even in order to maintain a very low consumption level, the country had to import from sugar to cotton weaving, cotton yarn and woolen weaving. Taxes, regardless of profit or loss, had an adverse effect on industrial activities, in the industrial sector, which needed government protection. By the 1930s, removing some tax exemptions granted to the industrialists increased the costs and the increased costs were reflected in the market prices. The possibility of the industrialists to compete with foreign goods at home and abroad became difficult.
While market-oriented agriculture, which was dependent on commercial loans, declined with the decrease in prices, many producers returned to production at subsistence level due to the bankruptcy of commercial companies. On the one hand, while wheat prices were falling, the state imposed customs and sales taxes on a small number of goods purchased by small and medium-sized producers from the market. At the same time, new taxes were introduced to the agricultural sector and the burden of old taxes increased as agricultural prices fell below their pre-1929 levels. With falling grain prices and rising taxes, many peasants had to work as partners by abandoning or selling their land and animals.
With the impact of the 1929 world crisis, the tax burdens of all segments increased, from rural producers to civil servants and workers in the city. While the purchasing power of a large segment of the society decreased, the cost of living made it very difficult to live by. With the reflection of the increasing taxes on the market prices, the cost of living gradually increased and the purchasing power decreased considerably in this period. With the decrease in production and consumption, the collection rates of the taxes levied by the state over the years decreased. The government found the remedy by imposing new taxes or expanding the scope of existing ones. This situation created a vicious circle that negatively affected the economic activities.
