| Taxation in the Ottoman Empire |
|---|
| Taxes |
| Adet-i Ağnam · Adet-i deştbani · Ashar · Avarız · Bac-i pazar · Bedl-i askeri · Cizye · Cürm-ü cinayet · Damga resmi · Gümrük resmi · Haraç · Ihtisab · İspençe · Istira · Maktu · Mururiye resmi · Muskirat resmi · Nüzül · Otlak resmi · Rav akçesi · Resm-i arusane · Resm-i bennâk · Resm-i bostan · Resm-i çift · Resm-i dönüm · Resm-i ganem · Resm-i hınzır · Resm-i mücerred · Resm-i sicill · Rusum-e-eflak · Selamet isni · Tapu resmi · Tekalif-i orfiye · Temettu · Tuz resmi · Zakāt |
| Implementation |
| Ahidnâme · Defter · Düyun-ı Umumiye · Emin · Hazine-i Hassa · Hane · Iltizam · Istira · Kadı · Kanun-i Raya · Kanunname · Malikane · Millet · Muafiyet · Muhassil · Muqata'ah · Ottoman Public Debt Administration · Regie Company · Sursat · Tahrir · Waqf |
Temettu was a tax introduced by the tanzimat reforms in the later Ottoman Empire.[1][2]
Temettu was a tax on estimated (or presumed) business profits; it was mostly paid by merchants and artisans. An early form of temettu was attempted in 1839 (following a firman of 1838 which announced sweeping tax reforms), but it was impractical without detailed information on business incomes. A comprehensive approach to taxation of business profits in the Ottoman empire - rather than the traditional method of taxing specific outputs or assets - only really became possible after a thorough cadastral survey carried out in 1858-1860, which collected detailed information on the status of businesses throughout the empire. Immediately after this, a new temettu was set at 3%; in 1878 it was raised to 4% of estimated profit.
In 1886 the temettu was increased to 5%, and it was also applied to wages and salaries; for most of the Ottoman empire, this was the first real income tax, in the modern sense.[1]
Temettu was paid annually;[3] it was a graduated tax, with the rich liable to pay considerably more than the poor. By 1910, temettu revenue had reached 1 million livres per year; the same as tobacco and petrol duties, and less than the revenue from customs.[4]
Farmers who did not participate in commerce were eventually exempted from temettu, after early attempts at taxation - they paid other farm taxes instead, such as a new form of âşâr which was imposed as part of the same tax reforms.[5] Foreigners were initially exempted, but there were later attempts to extract temettu payments from foreigners resident in the Ottoman empire. This extension of temettu was abolished in 1906[6] but later reinstated at the start of World War I and extended to foreigners in any profession.[7]