Turkish Treasury denies increase in VAT on restaurants and cafes

In a statement, Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, affirmed that the government has not raised the tax rates, indicating that necessary measures have been taken to prevent any violations in this regard.

He explained that the amendments made to the general statement of VAT relate to the application of the tax on food and beverages, rather than directly on services in restaurants and cafes.

Under these changes, the VAT rate on food and beverage services in restaurants and cafes is set at 10%, in line with the overall tax policy.

The minister emphasized that this step aims to prevent exploitation of the tax gap resulting from the reduction of the tax rate on food items and ensure the fair application of the tax across all sectors, without any actual increase in taxes on services in restaurants and cafes.

According to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance statement, the low VAT rate on food items is being exploited by other sectors.

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance reduced the VAT rate, which was previously 8% on food and restaurant services and food items, to 1% in 2022.