Tax collected on rent declared has reached TL 3.8 billion ($1.4 billion), said Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek over the weekend. The minister said the new Pre-Ready Rent Declaration system was accepted by citizens and that through the system the number of unregistered rent cases had dramatically decreased. Home owners had declared TL 26.2 billion to the state in rent collected, he said, noting that this figure was the highest ever registered in the Republican era.The system had eased the way rent collection and tax collection was registered at the Finance Ministry, said Şimşek, adding the figure was 21 percent higher than last year, with rent-tax paying home owners increasing by 11 percent to 1.1 million. According to figures released by Şimşek, the number of homes rented had increased by 10 percent to 2.86 million. The system was instituted to prevent tax fraud due to the failure to pay tax on rents collected.