A meeting was held at the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) with the participation of the "Textile Products, Apparel, Leather and Leather Products Manufacturing" committees.In the meeting chaired by ISO Vice President İrfan Özhamaratlı on March 31, 2016, the most current and urgent problems of the industrialists were identified by the three professional groups and the thoughts on these issues were shared. In addition to the relevant committee representatives, OTİAD President İlker Karataş, LASIAD President Gıyasettin Eyyüpkoca and OTİAD Secretary General Sami Kurt were also present at the meeting.

 At the meeting, problems related to taxes such as VAT and BITT were mentioned and solutions were sought. It was determined that different VAT rates are applied in the textile and clothing sector, and an attempt will be made before the relevant authorities on this issue and a regulation will be requested. As it is known, while 8 percent VAT is applied on products such as fabric, weaving, yarn, leather, artificial leather, narrow weaving, interlining, quilting, rigging, cloth, extrafor, jacron, etc.; 18 percent VAT is applied on products such as metal buttons, polyester buttons, zippers, cardboard labels and packaging products. In addition, VAT is 8 percent for contract embroidery and 18 percent for contract dyeing and printing. It was determined that the VAT of all textile products being 8 percent would prevent the confusion in the sector. A report prepared by OTİAD on the subject was delivered to ISO officials by President İlker Karataş. The problems identified will be forwarded to the relevant authorities in the coming days and solutions will be requested.

 The meeting also included the following demands of the sector:

 Bureaucracy in VAT refunds should be reduced and procedures should be accelerated in order not to disrupt the payment balance of companies. The realization of the VAT refund in a process not exceeding a maximum of 60 days from the delivery to the tax office will contribute positively to the exporter.

Arrangements should be made for the offsetting of VAT refund amounts between the same group companies.
The VAT rate on invoices issued to textile and ready-to-wear exporters should be reduced from 18 percent to 8 percent.
Tax payment facilities should be provided to firms with payment difficulties.
Tax deductions should be granted for timely payments, as is the case with the Social Security Institution.
While 8 percent VAT is applied on contract sewing in the textile sector, 18 percent VAT is charged on contract upper and leather goods labor in the footwear sector. The VAT rate should be reduced to %8 percent on contract upper labor and leather products.
The temporary tax should be abolished as the inflation rate has fallen to single digits.