Turkey’s parliament has dropped proposed cryptocurrency tax measures from a sweeping omnibus bill after opposition parties pushed back against the plan, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Lawmakers gathered under Deputy Speaker Celal Adan to debate the broad bill, which includes tax policy changes, defense spending measures and other economic regulations.
But before formal deliberations began, the government and opposition parties reached an agreement to remove several articles tied to crypto assets after objections from opposition lawmakers, according to the report.
The provisions that were withdrawn would have introduced a 0.3% transaction tax on cryptocurrency sales and transfers conducted through service providers.
They also sought to impose taxes on crypto-related earnings, mainly through withholding at source.
The removal marks a setback for the government’s attempt to bring crypto activity more directly into the tax net, although the issue may not be settled for long.
Officials indicated that a revised version of the crypto measures could return to parliament later as part of a separate legislative proposal, the report said.
While the crypto tax items were stripped from the draft, the wider omnibus bill still contains several notable revenue-raising measures.
The proposal includes a 20% special consumption tax on diamonds, pearls, other precious stones and products made from them.
It also removes the ability of companies to deduct advertising expenses related to gambling and betting from taxable income, effectively ending a tax benefit long available to that sector.
In addition, the bill proposes raising the paid military service fee to around 420,000 Turkish liras, or about $9,446, with the added revenue earmarked for the Defense Ministry Support Fund.
The decision to pull the crypto tax clauses suggests Turkish policymakers are facing political resistance as they try to tighten oversight and increase revenues from the fast-growing digital asset sector.
It also reflects the sensitivity of regulating crypto in a market where retail participation has expanded sharply in recent years.
The removal of the crypto tax provisions points to the political and practical difficulty of taxing digital assets too quickly. For now, Turkey appears to be stepping back from immediate taxation, but not abandoning the idea altogether.
That means crypto investors and service providers may have won temporary relief, while still facing the prospect of a revised tax regime later.
The episode also shows that Ankara remains under pressure to find new revenue sources, even as it calibrates how aggressively it moves on emerging sectors such as crypto.
