Voluntary disclosure (Pişmanlıkla beyan) is a route that can prevent a tax loss penalty where a violation in a self-assessed tax is reported to the administration on the taxpayer's own initiative and the other conditions are met. It does not remove the tax itself. After the notice, the 15-day period for completing the return and paying the overdue tax together with the voluntary disclosure surcharge is important. The electronic system accepting the return does not by itself show that all the conditions for voluntary disclosure have been legally met. [1]
The Legal Nature of the Procedure and How It Differs from Other Obligations
Voluntary disclosure is not a general amnesty that removes all the consequences of a late return. The absence of the initial legal obstacles is required, and the return and payment must be completed on time after the notice.
Which Taxes and Persons Are Covered?
The taxpayer, the tax liable person and persons who took part in the act are assessed under their own conditions. Income tax, corporate tax, value added tax (KDV), special consumption tax (ÖTV), withholding (stopaj), accommodation tax, the tax on high-value housing (değerli konut vergisi), inheritance and transfer tax, and stamp duty payable by return may fall within scope. Fees such as the land registry fee (tapu harcı), which are not handled through a classic annual return but are based on a declaration, are also examined separately.
Property tax (emlak vergisi) and taxes that are not based on a declaration are not subject to the same voluntary disclosure route. The similarity between the names of property tax and the tax on high-value housing does not show that they follow the same procedure. Causing an unjustified tax refund is also assessed under the tax loss penalty (vergi ziyaı) rules; only the emergence of an additional tax base is not required.
What Changes with Notice, Audit and Referral for Assessment?
The notice must be made before the official authority is informed of the act by a third party, and before the audit or referral for assessment stage set out in the law. The tax type of the matter reported matters. Following Law No. 7338, an audit running on a different tax type does not in every case block a voluntary disclosure that meets the other conditions.
For example, a VAT audit and a deficiency in the withholding return are not the same tax type. However, it cannot be said that every act may freely be brought within voluntary disclosure merely because "another tax is under examination". The third-party report (ihbar), the detection of smuggling and the connection between the events are checked separately. Where an invitation to explain (izaha davet) has been served on the matter, its relation to Article 370 should also be examined.
Notice, Return and Payment Schedule
The notification petition must be entered in the official record; in an electronic return, the voluntary disclosure request is shown in the relevant way. Where no return has been filed at all, it is filed within 15 days of the notice; an incomplete or incorrect return is completed within the same period. The full amount of the overdue tax and the voluntary disclosure surcharge is also paid within 15 days.
A partial payment is not enough to preserve the voluntary disclosure condition. An application should not be made on the assumption that deferral (tecil) will generally be granted for the tax and the surcharge. A separate deferral assessment may be possible for later installments that are not yet due. Before applying, the ability to pay and the amount that must be settled in this short period should be calculated.
Calculating and Paying the Voluntary Disclosure Surcharge on Time
The surcharge is calculated on the delay between the normal due date and the payment period under voluntary disclosure, at the late-payment surcharge rate applicable to each month and part of a month. The 4.5% rate in the old guide cannot be carried over as a fixed rate for all 2026 transactions; the rate changes in force for each period must be applied. Applying only the rate on the day of application to the whole one-year delay may also not be correct.
Where payment is made before the last day shown in the assessment, a correction may come into question for the surcharge over-calculated because no part of a month has formed. Where a month part has formed, however, paying a few days early does not in every case remove the one-month surcharge. The normal due date, the notice, the assessment and the actual payment dates should be shown separately in the calculation table.
Which Penalties Are Removed and Which May Remain?
Where the conditions are met, the tax loss penalty is not imposed. Statutory protection for voluntary disclosure under Article 359 of the Tax Procedure Law No. 213 (Vergi Usul Kanunu, VUK) is also assessed on its own terms. This result does not mean that all irregularities relating to documents or electronic returns are erased. A return that was never filed and is filed late differs from a corrective amendment to an originally timely return.
Where an electronic filing obligation applies and the return is filed late, one tenth of the relevant specific irregularity penalty applies for the first 30 days and one fifth for the following 30 days; whether the full amount applies after these periods is evaluated. A corrective amendment to an originally timely electronic return that is properly made does not automatically trigger the same late-filing penalty. A paper correction despite the electronic filing requirement may, however, constitute a separate violation.
For the same acts in monthly withholding and premium service returns, the special rule on the combined application of the sanction under Law No. 5510 on Social Insurance and General Health Insurance and the VUK sanctions should be checked separately. The consequences of a tax penalty and an SGK administrative fine are not identical.
Result for a Return with No Tax Due and in Case of Breach of Conditions
A return with no tax due, because of a loss or an offset, that causes no tax loss is not accepted in the same sense as a voluntary disclosure request. The return must still be filed, and a late or incorrect filing may have separate irregularity consequences. The tax loss arising from an unjustified refund is an exception to this general rule.
Where the payment or other conditions are breached, voluntary disclosure protection is lost, and the tax loss penalty and late-payment interest apply according to the situation. Whether the original return was filed on time, the electronic filing obligation and the audit stage change the penalty result. Stating a single identical penalty outcome for every breach is incomplete. For the time limits for an action against the notice of assessment (ihbarname), see the guide on how to bring a tax lawsuit.
5% Tax Reduction and Later Monitoring
Correcting an originally timely filed return later through voluntary disclosure does not by itself break the timely-filing condition for the compliant taxpayer reduction. By contrast, the late filing of the first original return is different. The taxes arising from the correction must also have been paid by the annual filing date, and other conditions are required separately.
The file should keep the first return, the deficiency calculation, the notice record, the voluntary disclosure return, the assessment and proof of full payment. Later notices from the administration should be monitored; the process is not complete merely with a record that the return was sent.
Decision to Make Before Acting and the File to Prepare
Before applying, research the status of the notice, audit and referral for assessment for the relevant tax and period. Follow the notice, the return, the payment of the tax and the voluntary disclosure surcharge on a single timeline, and assess the tax loss penalty and the irregularity penalties separately.