Construction giant ENKA's Şarık Tara announced as Turkey's tax champion in 2014, banks top the list

The Ministry of Finance Revenue Administration announced the list of top tax-paying corporations and individuals of 2014 on Friday. Accordingly, Turkey's construction giant ENKA's boss Şarık Tara has been announced on Friday as the tax champion in 2014, with 37.6 million Turkish liras ($14.16 million) in taxes paid.

Enka Holding mainly works on projects abroad, focusing on constructing energy facilities.

Koç Holding Honorary Chairman Mustafa Rahmi Koç came second on the list with TL 29.8 million. Koç Holding board member Semahat Arsel followed with TL 26 million, ranking third on the list. Koç Holding is Turkey's largest company in terms of revenue. The holding is Turkey's largest conglomerate.

Banks were the top taxpayers among corporate as eight banks, including the central bank, placed on the list of Turkey's top corporate taxpayers, the report shows.

State-owned lender Ziraat Bankası, up from second on the 2013 list, topped the corporate tax champion list in 2014 with payments of about TL 1.59 billion ($597 million).

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, which topped the list in 2013, ranked second on the list, paying about TL 1.46 billion, followed by Garanti Bank, a major private lender, with a total of TL 1.315 billion. İş Bank, one of the largest Turkish lenders, ranked fourth on the list, paying TL 1.135 billion, followed by the Akbank, owned by Sabancı Holding, at just over TL 1.05 billion. Another state-run bank, Halkbank, ranked sixth on the 2014 list, paying TL 902 million in taxes.

Yapı Kredi Bank, a joint venture between Koç Holding and Italy-based Unicredit, ranked seventh on the list with TL 656 million. Turkey's biggest mobile operator, Turkcell, was eighth, paying TL 623 million in tax, followed by another national bank, Vakıf Bank, which ranked ninth, paying TL 602 million. The last on the top 10 list for 2014 was telecommunication giant Türk Telekom, paying TL 548 million in tax.

Around 647,186 taxpayers submitted their yearly tax returns by the end of April 2015, the Revenue Administration said in a statement. A total of TL 38.3 billion in corporate tax was accrued by the administration, out of the declared TL 198.06 billion of taxable incomes.