Evaluation of the taxation of wage income in the Turkish tax system in terms of the principle of fairness in taxation and a model proposal

In the study, based on the importance of the principle of fairness in taxation, whether it is fair to tax wage income in the Turkish Tax System has been comparatively revealed in the light of the data determined. In the first part of our study, the theoretical and legal foundations of the concepts of justice and tax justice were investigated by conducting a literature review. Afterwards, in the same section, other theoretical concepts concerning tax justice were emphasized and techniques applied throughout history were mentioned. In the second part of our study, the current practice was examined by including legal regulations on how wage income is taxed in our country. In the third part of our study, it was revealed that Income Tax, which is one of the most important tax revenues in Turkey, is largely taken from wage income savers through deductions in the source, and it is mentioned that wage incomers are actually the lowest income level. Subsequently, the tax burden on wage income gainers was proved to be quite high based on the weight of indirect taxes, and a new model was proposed as it should be in contemporary tax systems by comparing them with OECD countries. In addition, problems preventing justice in taxation were presented and various solutions were presented. In the conclusions and suggestions section, it is explained what should be done based on the data in the third part of our study, as a result, it is stated that those who make labor income and those who obtain capital income by re-creating the income tax tariff in Turkey should be taxed differently from each other in line with the separation theory. At this point, based on the income tax tariff being applied in Germany, 0% of the total annual amount of the minimum wage in other words, it is argued that the income earned by paid employees should be de-taxed as much as the amount of the annual minimum wage. In addition, other issues preventing justice in taxation were mentioned and various solutions were presented to increase direct tax revenues in general and to reduce the weight of indirect taxes accordingly.