TEXT - Dogan Media Group's public announcement on tax fine
Güncelleme Tarihi:
An implausible order issued Feb. 18, 2009 related to a sales transaction of our group that has resulted in a fine of proportions unseen in Turkish corporate history.
The following is the account of the incredible fine of approximately TL 800 million:
* In late 2006, Dogan Media Group decided to sell 25 percent of the shares of Dogan TV Holding to Alex Springer, one of the leading media groups of
* The sales transaction procedures began in November 2006 and ended on Jan. 2, 2007 with Alex Springer depositing the sale price and Dogan Media Holding transferring the shares the same day.
* Dogan Media Holding paid the TL 30 million in tax due on this sale on April 2007.
* Even though the money was deposited into Dogan Holding accounts in 2007, and the share transfer was executed on the same date, in an incredible turn of events baffling financiers and accountants, it was ruled that the sale took place in 2006 and that the resulting tax had to be paid the same year.
* According to the Turkish Commercial Code, the sale of shares of joint stock corporations are completed when the sale is recorded in the ledgers and the shares are delivered.
* Even though proof was submitted to show that the sale was completed on Jan. 2, 2007, and the money was deposited in Dogan Holding accounts on that date and that the shares were transferred on the same day, the laws of the
* Additionally, even if the sale was completed in 2006, no advantages would have accrued and the amount of the tax that was to be paid would have been the same.
* Furthermore, the transaction was harshly categorized as fraud.
* We will take this matter, which will be noted in Turkish finance history as the greatest injustice imposed on a company, to independent Turkish courts. We will defend our rights and just cause until the end.
* We will closely follow the damage done to our company, which employs 24,000 people and pays $1.5 billion in taxes every year, as well as the damage done to our investors.
* Moreover, we are committed to unmasking the true intentions and vindictiveness that rests behind this illegal and unconscionable fine.
DOGAN MEDIA GROUP