A Socioeconomic Investigation and Evaluation of Tax Facilities for the Agricultural Sector in Türkiye in the Context of Food Security
Murat Çak, Erdem YavuzCountries that cannot provide an adequate food supply due to global warming, climate change, and/or environmental pollution and that have a low import capacity may see their food security suffer. When considering the risk factors regarding the global food supply, one can argue importing to not be an easy or cheap method. Therefore, expanding agriculturally produced products suitable for the new climatic conditions and improving animal breeds so they can adapt to the geographical region can be discussed on a national scale. In order to achieve all of these, governments are recommended to turn to effective agricultural policies in the national context and within the framework of international cooperation. From this point of view, agriculture will be able to benefit from tax expenditure regulations as a fiscal policy instrument. This study analyzes tax facilities for the agricultural sector in Türkiye from a socioeconomic perspective in the context of food security. After examining the relationship between tax expenditures and the GDP from a functional point of view in this context, the study will evaluate tax facilities for the agricultural sector that are handled in the Turkish Tax System in line with Income Tax Law No. 193 and Value Added Tax Law No. 3065 by taking into account animal production statistics and plant production statistics. The study will then discuss possible solutions for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in Türkiye in the line with the findings.
Türkiye’de Tarım Sektörüne Yönelik Vergisel Kolaylıkların Sosyo-Ekonomik Açıdan İncelenmesi ve Gıda Güvencesi Bağlamında Değerlendirilmesi
Murat Çak, Erdem YavuzKüresel ısınma, iklim değişikliği ve çevre kirliliği sebebiyle yeterli gıda arzının sağlanamadığı, ithalat yapabilme kapasitesinin düşük olduğu ülkelerde gıda güvencesi zarar görebilmektedir. İlaveten küresel gıda arzındaki riskli faktörler dikkate alındığında ithalatın kolay ve ucuz bir yöntem olmadığı ileri sürülebilmektedir. Kimi ülkeler yüksek sıcaklık ve kuraklık sorunlarıyla karşılaşabilirken kimi ülkelerde de düzensiz ve aşırı yağış rejimleri oluşabilmektedir. Ayrıca özellikle tarımsal üretime zarar verebilen çeşitli organizmaların kontrolsüz biçimde çoğaldığına şahit olunabilmektedir. Anılan sebeplerle gerek tarımda gerekse hayvancılıkta azalan verim kaybı ithalata dayalı önlemleri zorunlu kılabilmektedir. Bu kapsamda ulusal ölçekte, yeni iklim koşullarına uygun tarım ürünlerinin üretiminin yaygınlaştırılması ve hayvan ırklarının coğrafi bölgeye uyum sağlayabilecek biçimde ıslahı tartışılabilmektedir. Tüm bunların gerçekleştirilebilmesi amacıyla hükümetlerin, uluslararası iş birliği çerçevesinde, ulusal kapsamda etkin tarım politikalarına yönelimi önerilebilmektedir. Bu açıdan değerlendirildiğinde maliye politikası araçları arasında yer alan vergi harcaması niteliğindeki düzenlemelerden yararlanmak olasıdır. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye’de tarım sektörüne yönelik vergisel kolaylıklar sosyo-ekonomik açıdan incelenmiş olup gıda güvencesi bağlamında araştırılmıştır. Bu kapsamda fonksiyonel açıdan vergi harcamaları ile GSYH arasındaki ilişki incelendikten sonra Türk Vergi Sisteminde; 193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu (GVK) ile 3065 sayılı Katma Değer Vergisi Kanunu (KDVK) özelinde ele alınan tarım sektörüne yönelik vergisel kolaylıklar, hayvan üretim istatistikleri ve bitkisel üretim istatistikleri göz önüne alınarak değerlendirilmiştir.
A society’s food security refers to its capacity to provide all its citizens with sufficient food to function efficiently and carry out other normal daily activities. Countries that cannot provide a sufficient food supply due to global warming, climate change, and environmental pollution and that has a low import capacity may see their food security suffer. When considering the risk factors in the global food supply, one can also argued importing as a method to be neither easy nor cheap. Moreover, when evaluating food security holistically, global warming, climate change, and environmental pollution problems are seen to be able to negatively affect the entire planet, from the polar circles to the Himalayas and countries in the temperate and equatorial zones. While some countries may encounter problems such as high temperatures and drought, other countries may experience irregular and excessive precipitation regimes. Various organisms that are able to harm agricultural production can also be seen to be able to multiply uncontrollably. For these reasons, the decreasing yield loss in both agriculture and animal husbandry requires policies be prioritized based on imports. However, one can also argue these policies to already be unsustainable. Even though international tax proposals for combatting global environmental problems such as global warming and climate change have been mentioned, no example of an international environmental tax can be found today, the most important reason for this being the difficulty assumed in transferring a taxation authority that is to be accepted as part of the sovereignty of world states to a higher organization. Therefore, the suggestions international organizations, especially the United Nations, have offered in the fields of global warming and climate change can gain weight. Disseminating agriculturally produced products suitable for new climatic conditions and breeding animal breeds so that they can adapt to the geographical region can be discussed at the national scale in this context. In order to realize all these, governments are recommended to turn to effective agricultural policies within the framework of international cooperation. However, the issue that needs to be carefully considered is the localization capability advisory policies have. This study socioeconomically examines and investigates tax facilities for the agricultural sector in Türkiye in the context of food security. After examining the relationship between tax expenditures and GDP in terms of functionality in the Turkish Tax System, the study evaluates the tax benefits for the agricultural sector as specifically addressed in Income Tax Law No. 193 and Value Added Tax Law No. 3065 in this context by taking into account animal and plant production statistics. The study then discusses possible solutions for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in Türkiye in line with the determinations that have been made. The limited contribution of subsidies and various monetary incentives to agricultural production, along with tax relief can be mentioned in this context for the agricultural sector in Türkiye. When considering the climate, pasture availability, and grass productivity in terms of the livestock sector, the study can also suggest focusing on policies for the development of small cattle breeding in Türkiye in order to reduce dependence on imported feed. The study is also able to discuss how to prioritize products suitable for regional climatic conditions and precipitation regimes with regard to agricultural production.
