Contemporary Economics | 2026
Authors: Tosun A.N.
DOI: 10.5709/ce.1897-9254.579
Journal: Contemporary Economics
Year: 2026
Publisher: VIZJA University
Document Type: Article
Open Access: All Open Access; Gold Open Access; Green Open Access
Cited by: 0
This study aimed to investigate the 79 double taxation treaties that Türkiye has signed with various countries and provide empirical evidence of asymmetries among them. The study also highlighted the importance of neutrality in international tax policy; examined the asymmetries caused by varying definitions of concepts and withholding tax rates; and revealed the necessity of BEPS MLI for Türkiye. To conduct this analysis, the treaties were clustered according to six characteristics: (a) taxes covered by the treaty, (b) definition of permanent es-tablishment, (c) definition of royalties, (d) withholding rates of dividends, (e) withholding rates of interests, and (f) withholding rates of royalties. Using both K-means clustering with the elbow method and a two-step clustering analysis, the results revealed substantial asymmetries among Türkiye’s double taxation treaties across these six characteristics. The results should be of particular interest to policymakers and other stakeholders interested in developing treaty standardization protocols. © 2026, VIZJA University. All rights reserved.
asymmetry; BEPS MLI; double taxation treaties; K-means clustering analysis; two-step cluster analysis