Problems and solution proposals in tax audit: A case study of Turkey

Tax audits in Turkey, were being carried out by Finance Inspection Board, Account Experts Board, Department of Revenue Controllers and the tax auiditors who were organized under 29 tax offices, without any coordination between them, till 2011. As a result of the merger of former central and provincial auditors under the roof of Tax Inspection Board, tax audits are now conducted from a single center. While uncovering the changes and developments in tax audits provided by the constitution of Tax Inspection Board, it is essential to identify the problems and determine solution proposals. The main objective of this research is to identify problems related to tax audits in Turkey and propose solutions to eliminate these problems. In this context, in order to gain in-depth information, the research was carried out with qualitative research method. Qualitative research is designed as a case study. The research data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 8 taxpayers, 11 professional accountants and 17 tax auditors. The analysis of the research data was performed with the help of NVivo 11 Pro, one of the computer aided qualitative data analysis programs through induction analysis. Based on the questions of research, the findings are defined and interpreted. The revealed findings are gathered under 7 main themes including; objectives of tax audits, corporate structure of tax audits, method of tax audits, reflections of tax audits, stakeholders' perceptions about each other, factors affecting tax audits and solution proposals from participants. Based on these findings, suggestions for implementation and researches are presented. Keywords: Tax audit, Tax inspector, Qualitative research, Interview, Case study