Judicial review of constitutionality of taxing statutes: evaluation of Turkey

Taxes, that are most important revenue sources of the state today, were being collected in small amounts and for only particular expenditures in the past. In previous time periods, in which taxes were used to constitute a small part of public revenues, the power to tax belonged to kings and/or reminiscent, however after widespread process of the ?separation of powers? principle, today it belongs to legislative branch of government. Legislative bodies that emerged as a requisition for representative democracy are organs that use the sovereignty and in this respect the power to tax on behalf of the society. It is seen later those legislative bodies, that have been considered as guardians of rights and freedoms outset, might have been tended to breach these rights and freedoms. This situation has shown that putting some limitations on political power in previous periods is also relevant for legislative power in contemporary ages. The most appropriate one among alternatives to control legislative power is the constitutional review carried out by independent judges. As a requisite of ?legality? principle that is based on ?no taxation without representation? approach, the law establishes how taxes are imposed. As a consequence of ?hierarchy of norms?, tax laws? compatibility with constitutions should also be ensured. Compatibility with the constitution, in the first instance, will be procured by law making process of legislative body in line with constitutional procedures and principles. On the other hand, if the legislative body deflects this, laws that enacted inconsistently with the constitution must be abolished. Likewise other countries, in Turkey, the power to abolish laws, that are inconsistent with the constitution, is executed by Constitutional Court. Since the year in which Constitutional Court was established (1961), the compatibility of laws with the constitution has been reviewed by this Court. However, due to limitations on the review of tax laws, incompatibilities in these laws with constitution have not been eliminated effectively. For this reason, contributions of the Turkish Constitutional Court to the development of tax law have been stayed at a limited level.