Bill Including Tax Regulations Submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey

The bill amends the Law on the Collection Procedure of Public Receivables.

Accordingly, if the payment of the public debt at maturity or the enforcement of the seizure or the conversion of seized goods into cash will put the public debtor in a very difficult situation, provided that it is requested in writing by the debtor and a guarantee is shown, the public receivable may be deferred by the creditor public administration or the authorized authorities for a period not exceeding 72 months and with interest.

If the total amount of the deferred debts of the public debtor does not exceed 1 million liras, no guarantee will be required.

For public receivables exceeding this amount, the required guarantee amount will be half of the portion exceeding 1 million liras.

The President will be authorized to increase this amount up to 10 times, reduce it up to half, restore it to the legal amount, and determine different amounts within these limits for the creditor public administrations.

With the provision added to the Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law, the tax rate to be applied to the inheritance tax on the transfer of assets through inheritance, which is exempt from income tax under the Income Tax Law for gains and revenues obtained outside Turkey during the period benefiting from the mentioned exemption, will be 1%.

With the amendment made to the Income Tax Law, a regulation is being made regarding the income tax exemption for shares given free of charge or at a discount by employers to personnel working in technology companies that meet the criteria determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.

Accordingly, the upper limit that can be subject to exemption will be redefined as twice the gross salary of the relevant year.

In addition, the holding periods of the shares acquired in this way will be shortened, and if these shares are disposed of within 2 years from the acquisition date, the entire exempted tax will be collected from the employer, 75% of the exempted tax if disposed of between 3 and 4 years, and 25% of the exempted tax if disposed of between 5 and 6 years with delay interest.

A new article titled 'Tax Exemption for Income and Revenues Obtained from Abroad' is being added to the Law.

Accordingly, real persons deemed to be resident in Turkey will be exempt from income tax for 20 years on the income and revenues obtained abroad, provided that they do not have a residence and tax liability in Turkey in the last 3 calendar years before being deemed resident in Turkey.

The existence of tax liability due to real estate capital income, movable capital income, or capital gains obtained in Turkey before falling under this provision will not prevent benefiting from this exemption.

No annual tax return will be filed for these income and revenues, and if a tax return is filed for other income, these incomes will not be included in the return.

Expenses and costs related to exempt income and revenues will not be taken into account in determining taxable income and revenues.

Taxes paid in foreign countries for income and revenues within the scope of this exemption cannot be deducted from the income tax assessed in Turkey.

If it is later determined that the conditions for the exemption are not met, the taxes not accrued will be considered as lost.

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance will be authorized to determine the procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this provision.

This provision will enter into force on the date of publication for those deemed to be resident in Turkey starting from January 1, 2026.

With the bill, a new provision is added to the Law on Direct Foreign Investments under the title 'Qualified Service Center'.

Accordingly, a qualified service center will refer to capital companies that are established to provide services to related companies or corporate groups that actively operate in at least 3 different countries and obtain at least 80% of their annual revenues from related companies or corporate groups abroad.

These centers will provide services such as financial consulting, strategic management consulting, risk management, cash and liquidity management, funding and borrowing transactions, investment and capital structure planning, budgeting, financial reporting and analysis, international accounting and compliance, auditing, digital transformation and technology consulting, investment and data analysis, legal consulting, promotion, brand management, human resources and training services, as well as coordination and management services related to these services; and coordination and management services related to activities such as sales, after-sales support, technical support, research and development, external procurement, testing of newly developed products, and laboratory services.

Employees who directly perform these services and are not support personnel will be considered qualified service personnel.

The Ministry of Industry and Technology will be authorized to determine the procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this provision in consultation with the Ministries of Treasury and Finance and Commerce.

According to the amendment made to the Income Tax Law, an income tax exemption will be applied to the portion of the gross minimum wage not exceeding 3 times for qualified service personnel employed in qualified service centers defined in the Law on Direct Foreign Investments (for qualified service centers operating in the Istanbul Financial Center with a participant certificate, this will be 5 times the gross minimum wage).

The President will be authorized to determine the multiples of 3 and 5 in this paragraph up to one or separately, and to increase them up to twice.

Tax reductions for gains obtained from transit and qualified service activities are being amended in the Corporate Tax Law.

Accordingly, the discount rate for gains obtained from the sale of goods purchased from abroad without bringing them to Turkey or from acting as an intermediary in transactions conducted abroad will be 95% (for institutions operating in the Istanbul Financial Center with a participant certificate, this rate will be 100%).

To benefit from this discount, the gain must be transferred to Turkey by the deadline for filing the annual corporate tax return for the accounting period in which the gain was obtained, and the seller and buyer of the goods related to the intermediary activity must not be in Turkey.

The President will be authorized to reduce these rates to zero and increase them up to 100%.

For institutions operating as qualified service centers under the Law on Direct Foreign Investments, the discount rate for gains obtained exclusively from these activities will be 95% (for institutions operating as qualified service centers in the Istanbul Financial Center with a participant certificate, this rate will be 100%).

This discount will be applied for 20 accounting periods starting from the accounting period in which the qualified service center commenced operations, provided that the gain is transferred to Turkey by the deadline for filing the annual corporate tax return for the accounting period in which the gain was obtained.

The President will be authorized to reduce these rates by up to 50% and increase them up to 100%.

This provision will enter into force on the date of publication, starting from the declarations to be submitted as of July 1, 2026, and for corporate gains for the taxation period starting from January 1, 2026.

With the bill submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, signed by AK Party members of parliament, changes are being made to the Corporate Tax Law.

Accordingly, the general corporate tax rate, which is 25% for the purpose of promoting production and export, will be applied as 9% for the gains obtained from the direct export of goods manufactured by manufacturing institutions, and 14% for the gains obtained exclusively from exports by exporting institutions.

These discounted rates will also apply to the gains obtained by manufacturing exporters or supplier institutions from export activities conducted through foreign trade capital companies or sectoral foreign trade companies based on intermediary export contracts.

This provision will enter into force on the date of publication for gains obtained in the 2027 year and subsequent taxation periods, and for gains obtained in special accounting periods of institutions subject to special accounting periods starting in the 2027 calendar year.

With the amendment made to the provision titled 'Domestic Minimum Corporate Tax' in the Corporate Tax Law, a regulation will be made to deduct the discounts provided for transit trade and qualified service center gains and the corporate tax gain discount provided for financial service exports in the Istanbul Financial Center Law from the corporate income that is the basis for calculating the domestic minimum corporate tax.

This provision will enter into force on the date of publication for declarations to be submitted starting from July 1, 2026, and for corporate gains for the taxation period starting from January 1, 2026 (for institutions designated for special accounting periods, for the accounting period starting from January 1, 2026).

Assets brought into the economy from abroad are aimed at promoting the voluntary compliance with taxes by encouraging real and legal persons to bring money, foreign currency, gold, stocks, bonds, and other securities to Turkey.

According to the provision added to the Corporate Tax Law, in order to increase voluntary compliance with taxes, real or legal persons will report their money, gold, foreign currency, securities, and other capital market instruments located abroad to banks or intermediaries by July 31, 2027.

The reported assets must be transferred to accounts opened in their names at banks or intermediaries in Turkey within 2 months from the date of reporting, or those physically brought from abroad must be deposited into these accounts.

The documents related to the declaration made to the Customs Administration regarding the assets physically brought from abroad will be verified.

The Customs Administration will report the declarations received in this context to the Revenue Administration by the end of the month following the month in which they were received.

Money, gold, foreign currency, securities, and other capital market instruments owned by income or corporate tax payers and located in Turkey but not recorded in legal books will be reported to banks or intermediaries by July 31, 2027.

It will be mandatory to prove that the reported assets are deposited in banks or intermediaries as of the date of reporting.

The reported assets in this context will be recorded in the legal books by taxpayers keeping books according to the Tax Procedure Law as of the date of reporting.

Taxpayers keeping books according to the balance sheet basis will open a special fund account in their liabilities for the assets recorded in their legal books according to these provisions.

This fund account cannot be withdrawn from the business for 2 years from the date of reporting.

It cannot be used for any purpose other than adding to capital and will not be taxed in the event of liquidation of the business.

Taxpayers keeping records according to the self-employment income book and the business account basis will also show these assets separately in their records.

These assets will not be taken into account in determining the period's income and will be able to be withdrawn from the business without being taken into account in determining taxable income and distributable income for corporations, provided that 2 years have passed since the date of reporting.

Those without income and corporate tax liability will benefit from these provisions without the need for the specified conditions if they bring the reported assets to Turkey within the specified period and prove their domestic assets by depositing them in banks or intermediaries as of the date of reporting.

Banks and intermediaries will declare and pay the tax they collect in advance at a rate of 5% on the value of the reported assets to the tax office they are affiliated with by the evening of the 15th day of the month following the report.

The tax rate will be 0% if it is committed that the reported asset will be held in time deposits or government domestic borrowing instruments issued under the Law on the Regulation of Public Finance and Debt Management for at least 5 years, 1% if it is committed for at least 4 years, 2% if it is committed for at least 3 years, 3% if it is committed for at least 2 years, and 4% if it is committed for at least 1 year.

For notifications made between January 1, 2027, and July 31, 2027 (inclusive), a half-point increase will be made to these rates.

In the event of an extension of the July 31, 2027 date, a total increase of 1 point will be applied to the tax rate for notifications made after this date with an additional half-point increase.

The tax paid under this provision cannot be deducted as an expense in any way and cannot be offset against any other tax.

Losses arising from the disposal of the reported assets will not be accepted as expenses or deductions for income or corporate tax purposes.

No tax examination or assessment will be conducted regarding the amounts corresponding to the reported assets.

Other measures required by other legislation will not be affected by this regulation.

In cases where tax differences are detected due to reasons other than the reported assets, the amounts reported under this provision will be assessed without offsetting against the detected tax difference.

If it is determined that the reported assets have not been brought to Turkey within 2 months from the date of reporting or have not been transferred to accounts to be opened at banks or intermediaries in Turkey, or if the taxes assessed on the reported amounts are not paid on time, the provisions regarding tax assessment and examination will not apply.

In addition, taxes that are not accrued on time will be collected with delay interest without applying tax evasion penalties.

The provisions of this regulation will not apply to assessments to be made as a result of examinations initiated after the date of reporting.

The failure to pay the accrued tax on time will not prevent the collection and enforcement of public receivables under the Law on the Collection Procedure of Public Receivables along with the delay penalty.

Taxes that have been collected will not be refunded or returned.

No corrections can be made regarding the notifications after the notification period has expired.

The President will be authorized to extend the date of July 31, 2027, for periods not exceeding 6 months each time, up to one year from the expiration date, and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance will be authorized to determine the procedures and principles regarding the bringing and reporting of the assets covered by this provision to Turkey, the information and documents to be used in the implementation of the provision, and the procedures and principles regarding the implementation.

Regulations regarding companies that do not publicly trade and have the 'Technogirişim' badge are being made in the Law on Supporting Research, Development, and Design Activities.

Accordingly, the provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code regarding conditional capital increases will not apply to conditional capital increases to be made based on convertible debt agreements of non-public companies holding the 'Technogirişim' badge granted by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.

The procedures and principles for conditional capital increases of companies included in this scope will be determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce.

Companies established and operated in accordance with the digital company definition determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, which have qualified as incubator entrepreneurs under the Law on Technology Development Zones, will be exempt from the fees and dues defined in the relevant provision of the Law on Chambers and Commodity Exchanges for up to 3 years from the date of establishment.

According to the amendment made in the Istanbul Financial Center Law, the income tax exemption applied in case of employing personnel with foreign experience in financial institutions in the Istanbul Financial Center is being expanded to cover all participants.

The duration of the corporate tax exemption applied at a rate of 100% for the profits of institutions operating in the Istanbul Financial Center with a participant certificate is extended until 2047.

In addition, the exemption provided for these institutions regarding financial activity fees for their establishment and permits is extended from 5 years to 20 years.