The Ministry of Treasury and Finance is launching a massive investigation following the investigations of exorbitant prices, hoarding and unregistered money traffic in the automotive industry in recent years.

The Tax Inspection Board Presidency sends official letters to citizens who purchased zero kilometer vehicles, especially between 2021 and 2024, which coincides with the global chip crisis and pandemic period.

In this process, which covers approximately 4 million vehicles, it is being scrutinized whether the dealers are selling essential accessories by going beyond the legal corridors and whether they are taking cash from hand under the name of air money.

The ministry, which asks vehicle owners to declare their payment documents and invoices, aims to solve the tax tricks of dealers who commit irregularities.

The Traces of the Pandemic and Chip Crisis in the Automotive Industry are Being Examined

The chip crisis and logistics disruptions that emerged in the global market in 2021 create a long-lasting supply-demand imbalance in the Turkish automotive market.

In that period when it became almost impossible to find a vehicle at dealerships, threatened that some businesses demanded additional uninvoiced prices from consumers in order to advance the vehicle delivery queue or allocate a vehicle frequently come to the public agenda.

Tax inspectors are going after these cash-in-hand payments that cannot be tracked through digital financial networks. With official letters sent to citizens, it is officially questioned how much money was actually paid at the time of leaving the dealership.

Required Documents and 15-Day Critical Period

The Ministry of Finance provides a clear data list to vehicle owners to detect irregularities and requests that all documents be delivered to the relevant inspectorate within 15 days, accompanied by a signed petition. Within the scope of the review, citizens are expected to submit the following documents:

• Bank receipts, money transfer and EFT records

• Credit card slips and cash payment details

• All official receipts issued during shopping

Mandatory Accessories and Additional Services Under the Spotlight

Compulsive accessory sales, which is one of the issues that consumers complain about most when purchasing new vehicles, is at the center of this tax audit.

It is known that many dealers tend to sell the vehicle with additional equipment priced well above the market value, rather than selling it at its bare price.

Inspectors; It examines in detail at what stage applications such as side steps, parking sensors, fog lights, navigation, paint protection and pool mats are installed on the vehicle.

Accessories are checked one by one whether they are in the vehicle at the time of leaving the dealer or whether they are installed later in the services.

Criminal Sanctions are at the Door

The Ministry enforces strict rules against individuals who remain silent against these official letters sent or disrupt the process.

Vehicle owners who do not return within the specified 15-day legal period, provide incomplete information or make deceptive statements are subject to special irregularity fines.

If information is not shared again after the first warning, the fine is doubled.

For this reason, experts recommend that all citizens who bought a new vehicle in that period regularly check their mailboxes and e-government notifications.