No Obligation to Prepare a Certified Report by CPA for Deductions of Education and Health Expenses and Personal Insurance Premiums in Determining Income Tax Base

In the announcement made by the Revenue Administration, it has been stated that there is no obligation to submit a certified report by CPA for the deduction of education and health expenses from the income tax base.

Accordingly, deductions such as personal insurance premiums deduction (GVK 89/1) and education and health expenses deduction (GVK 89/2) which are listed in a separate line in the annual income tax return are not included among the deductions listed in the table in the second paragraph of Article 4 of the Circular No. 49, and therefore, there is no obligation to prepare a CPA certified report for these deductions.

In the Official Gazette dated 30/12/2025 and numbered 33123; it has been published regarding the obligation to submit a certified report prepared by certified public accountants for the exemptions, deductions, and applications included in the income and corporate tax returns of income and corporate tax payers under the Income Tax Law (GVK) and the Corporate Tax Law (KVK) and the procedures related to the local and global minimum complementary corporate tax application regulated in the KVK.

In the announcement made by the Revenue Administration regarding the said Circular published at www.gib.gov.tr; an explanation has been made regarding whether the deductions of education and health expenses in paragraph 89/2 of the GVK and personal insurance premiums in paragraph 89/1 are within the scope of the Circular.

1- The obligation to certify introduced by the Circular only applies to taxpayers who prepare their annual income tax returns within the scope of the Declaration Preparation Program (BDP) due to commercial, agricultural or freelance income, and there is no obligation to certify for income tax payers who earn wages, rents, capital gains, and value increase gains and do not have bookkeeping obligations.

2- The obligation to certify is not a general obligation covering all exemptions and deductions in the income tax return, but will be applied limited to the exemptions, deductions, and applications listed in the table in the second paragraph of Article 4 of the Circular.

This Table is as follows.

Exemption/Deduction/Application Relevant Legislation 1- Exemption in Industrial Property Rights Law 5520 (Article 5/B) 2- Exemption from Profits Obtained from the Operation and Transfer of Vessels Registered in the Turkish International Ship Registry Law dated 16/12/1999 and numbered 4490 and the Law Amending the Decree Law No. 491 3- Exemption from Profits Obtained in Free Zones Law dated 6/6/1985 and numbered 3218 4- Exemption from Profits Obtained in Technology Development Zones Law dated 26/6/2001 and numbered 4691 5- Deduction of Profits from Software, Engineering, Education, and Health Services Provided Abroad Law No. 193 (Article 89/13) 6- Application of Reduced Income Tax Law No. 5520 (Article 32/A) 7- R&D and Design Deductions Law dated 28/2/2008 and numbered 5746 on Supporting Research, Development, and Design Activities 8- Investment Deduction Exemption (Those not subject to withholding under the Temporary Article 61 of Law No. 193) Law No. 193 9- In the section titled “Deductions from Income to be Declared” in the Annual Income Tax Return and in the section titled “Other Exemptions” regarding “Notification of Exempted Profits” in the Annual Income Tax Return with other Laws.

3- Deductions such as personal insurance premiums deduction (GVK 89/1) and education and health expenses deduction (GVK 89/2) which are listed in a separate line in the annual income tax return are not included among the deductions listed in the table in the second paragraph of Article 4 of the Circular, and therefore, there is no obligation to prepare a CPA certified report for these deductions.

Other deductions Article 89- In determining the income tax base, the following deductions may be made from the income to be reported in the income tax return: 1. 50% of the premiums paid for life insurances belonging to the taxpayer, spouse, and minor children, provided that it does not exceed 15% of the declared income and the annual amount of the minimum wage (In determining this condition, the contributions paid by employers on behalf of employees to the individual retirement system and the total amount of premium payments to be deducted under the 3rd subparagraph of the first paragraph of Article 63 are taken into account together.) and personal insurance premiums such as death, accident, illness, health, disability, maternity, birth, and education (provided that the insurance is contracted with a retirement or insurance company located in Turkey, the premium amounts are paid in the year the income is obtained, and they have not been deducted during the calculation of the net amount of wages earned by wage earners, in case spouses or children file separate returns, the premiums related to them are deducted from their own income.).

2. It must not exceed 10% of the declared income, must be made in Turkey, and must be documented with invoices obtained from real or legal persons who are subject to income or corporate tax, regarding education and health expenses made for the taxpayer, spouse, and minor children (employees benefiting from tax deductions due to education and health expenses under the repeated Article 121 cannot deduct the same expenses from their tax base by benefiting from this provision).

Respectfully... (17.03.2026)