In the Bill of Law on Amending the Tax Procedure Law and Some Laws submitted to Parliament on October 1, 2021, there was a reduction in the SCT rate from 220 per cent to 45 per cent in motor caravans. The bill was put on the parliamentary agenda and was published in the Official Gazette on October 26, 2021, and became law. Accordingly, the SCT rate taken from motor caravans between 130-220 per cent was reduced to 45 per cent. In addition, the rate of excise duty taken from ATVs and UTVs was determined as 25 per cent. In the old regulation, SCT was applied between 130-150 per cent in case of conversion of a vehicle with an engine of less than 2000 cm³ to a caravan, and 220% in case of converting a vehicle with an engine of more than 2000 cm³ into a motorhome.
When people who met the concept of social distance with the pandemic wanted to continue this situation on vacation, there was a demand explosion in the caravan market. There was already a high demand for caravans, as families making holiday plans preferred an isolated holiday understanding instead of crowded hotels. When the SCT discount was added to this, consumers who were interested in the trailer started to line up at the doors of the companies. Caravan companies, which indicate that there is an intense demand from some European countries and especially from Turkish citizens living abroad, state that they cannot keep up with the orders and that their agendas are full for the next 4 months. The reason for this accumulation is that caravan production in Turkey is a newly developing sector and the production is low.
Stating that the tax reduction is an important turning point for the Turkish caravan sector, sector representatives are very satisfied with the new SCT regulation. They emphasize that the way for caravan production in Turkey has been cleared by the reduction of the high SCT rates, which they see as the biggest obstacle, to a reasonable level. They also state that this law will attract foreign investors to the country and that Turkey has the potential to become the production centre of Europe in this field.
The new regulation is expected to contribute to the economy. The automotive market will revive as people will want to buy new vehicles and turn them into trailers, and since manufacturers will start to prefer new vehicles, they will sell their second-hand caravans and thus the market will become active. This will also have a positive impact on employment.
While the coronavirus epidemic negatively affected many sectors, it had a positive impact on the caravan industry all over the world because most of the people who wanted to escape from the risks posed by the epidemic turned to alternative and isolated holiday types such as tents, boats and caravans instead of hotels.
Caravans have come to the fore with the influence of social media and TV channels in recent times, but experts think that it would be healthier to rent a caravan before buying and that they can test whether the caravan life is suitable for them.
There are 1 million caravans registered to traffic in Germany. Caravanning, which has become a living culture in Europe, is still a very new concept in Turkey. The sector is growing rapidly in Turkey as well as in the rest of the world, but the supply industry is underdeveloped since there is very little qualified caravan production in our country. A certain standard has not been brought to the caravan and many manufacturers produce under the stairs. In addition, caravan parks are also very insufficient in number. Industry representatives state that they are very hopeful about the new regulation and that if these problems are resolved, Turkey can become an important caravan production base in its region.