A warning message about rental tax debt was sent to millions of people by the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry considered all payments made through banks under the “other” option as rental income. What should those who receive a message from the Ministry do? Sworn Tax Adviser Abdullah Tolu wrote for ntv.com.tr. As for those who earned over 33,000 TL in rental income in 2024, they must declare this income with their annual income tax return between March 1 and April 2, 2025. The income tax due on these declarations can be paid in two equal installments, either in full, or in two installments, one in March and the other in July. Everything is fine up to this point! A serious informal inspection was carried out in 2024! Especially within the scope of combating the informal economy, 1.1 million “informal inspections” were carried out in the field in 2024. In these inspections, fines totaling 7.4 billion TL were imposed, and explanations were requested from taxpayers for 132.5 billion TL of informal revenue. 425 thousand inspections were made in rented apartments! Hold tight, the inspections in rented apartments will continue in 2025! Yes, the inspections conducted in rented apartments in 2024 will continue in 2025 as well, in which those who earn rental income but do not submit an income tax return will be identified, and various penalties will be applied to ensure that they submit their returns. Information messages started to come with the arrival of March! The Ministry, by sending informative messages to thousands of citizens who were found to have earned rental income in 2024, warned them that they must declare their rental income between March 1 and April 2, 2025.

The message received is as follows: “Dear Taxpayer, According to our Presidency’s data, it has been determined that you earned taxable income from housing rent in 2024. Income tax returns for 2024 will be submitted between March 1 and April 2, 2025. You can declare your annual income tax return for rental income quickly, easily, and reliably through the Digital Tax Office (dijital.gib.gov.tr) or Ready Declaration System (hazirbeyan.gib.gov.tr) and pay your tax with a bank or credit card.” The warning message from the Ministry created panic! This rental tax message that came from the Ministry caused panic among all recipients. The reason for the panic is that the majority of those who received the message did not earn rental income despite receiving this message! Citizens are quite sensitive about this issue and have been, since the message arrived, reaching out to the Ministry, professionals, and the media, stating that they do not have such rental incomes, trying to find out how to proceed and where to appeal.

Why did the Ministry send an SMS message?

Based on its observations and inspections in 2024, the Ministry used the banking system to extract wire transfers and EFTs that exceeded the exemption amount set for 2024, which is 33,000 TL, without “rent payment,” “other rental payment,” or description on the receipt, and warned these individuals via SMS! What should those who receive this warning message from the Ministry do? First, the citizen will access the data in the message from the Ministry and verify its accuracy. But where and how should they appeal? How to appeal to the Ministry’s message? First Way: If the citizen has a user code and password, they will directly log in to the digital tax office with these; if not, they will log in with the e-government password. Then, by selecting the Ready Declaration System – My Revenues and Withholdings – Rental Payments Made to Me and Deductions section, they will select the year 2024 and view the list to access the Ministry’s observations. If there is an error in this information, i.e., if the incoming payment is not rental income, then in the same menu, they should select My Transactions – Add Explanation – Enter and View an Explanation – Select the Year for which you want to add an explanation (pick 2024) – Explanation about Payments Made to Me for Rent – Check the box stating the amount sent to my account is not a Rent Payment – Write the appropriate explanation in the section provided – Click the save button, and the system will automatically send it to the tax office. Second Way: If this method is difficult, through the digital tax office, by selecting Petitions – Create a New Petition – General Purpose Petition, a detailed explanation will be made, and an application will be made through the system. Or the citizen can choose to do nothing, wait for a letter from the tax office after the declaration period in March, and after receiving the letter, provide an explanation and submit the necessary information and documents within the given time frame. Why did the Ministry send an SMS message? Regarding the bank transfers, the Ministry treated the “other” option used for transfers as rental income. Unfortunately, some of the mistakes that led to these messages were due to the citizens themselves. Because some citizens, to avoid bank charges, label some payments outside of rent as “rent payment” or “other rent payment” on the banking system and send them. One of the reasons that led the Ministry to make mistakes is this. Some people also mistakenly write “rent payment” in the description section. Additionally, due to our society’s liking for encrypted phrases, the Ministry also considers “daily pay,” “debt,” “transfer,” “other,” etc., explanations as part of rental payment. How to submit an objection letter to the Ministry? It is expected that thousands of citizens who received the warning message will submit an objection letter to the Ministry. If the transaction is due to rental income or another commercial activity, the citizens must declare through the website of the Tax Administration Presidency as described by the Ministry, and if it is not possible to transact via the internet, they must go to the tax offices to declare their income. These objections and declarations must be made between March 1 and April 2, 2025. Do not lose your exemption right! Let’s make it clear immediately; if rental incomes obtained from houses are not declared on time or are underreported, the 33,000 TL exemption set for 2024 cannot be used. However, before an official determination is made by the authorities, those who declare rental incomes that were not declared on time or not included in the timely submitted income declarations can still benefit from this exemption.