New tax developments in Turkey in 2026
Hakan Üzeltürk
Istanbul Medipol University Law Faculty, Istanbul
Various changes have been made to the Turkish tax system via Law No 7582 On Amendments to Certain Laws, which was published in the country’s Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) on 4 June 2026. Some of the most important changes are discussed below.
As per the amendment to Law No 6183, the deferment period for public receivables has been extended from 36 months to 72 months. Furthermore, the amount eligible for unsecured deferment has been increased from TRY 250,000 to TRY 1m.
Within the scope of the Income Tax Act, the upper limit of the income tax exemption for shares given to employees of technology startups has been increased to twice the individual’s annual gross salary. The holding period requirements for such shares have also been reduced.
As part of the amendments to the Income Tax Act, a new article has been inserted, namely Article 20/D, which stipulates that individuals deemed to be resident in Turkey will be exempt from income tax on their earnings and any income obtained abroad for 20 years, provided that they did not reside in Turkey or have full tax liability in Turkey during the last three calendar years prior to settling in the country. No annual tax return will be required for this income, and even if a tax return is required for other types of income, the exempt earnings should not be included in the return.
As per the amendment to the Inheritance and Transfer Tax Act No 7338, a special inheritance tax regime has been created for individuals benefitting from the foreign income tax exemption contained within Article 20/D of the Income Tax Law. Accordingly, the inheritance and transfer tax rate will be one per cent for transfers of property through inheritance that occur within the specified exemption period.
Some of the deduction provisions contained within Article 10 of the Corporate Tax Act have been expanded. Accordingly, 95 per cent of the profits obtained from selling goods purchased abroad in situations where they are not brought into Turkey and 95 per cent of the profits obtained from acting as an intermediary in the purchase and sale of goods abroad can be deducted when determining the corporate tax base. This rate is set at 100 per cent for participants operating within the Istanbul Financial Center and in certain industrial zones. To benefit from the discount, the relevant earnings must be transferred to Turkey, and neither the buyer nor the seller must be located in Turkey during the brokerage activity.
The concept of a ‘qualified service centre’ has been added to the Act on Direct Foreign Investments. This concept refers to capital companies that are actively operating in at least three different countries, that have been established to provide services to related companies or groups of companies, and that carry out the activities specified in the article, and whose annual revenue is at least 80 per cent derived from related companies or groups of companies abroad. In addition to this, 95 per cent of the earnings obtained from abroad by companies operating as qualified service centres can be deducted from the corporate tax base. For qualified service centres operating within the Istanbul Financial Center, the applicable rate is 100 per cent. These incentives can be applied for 20 accounting periods, starting from the year of commencement of the company’s operations.
A corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent will be applied only to the earnings derived from production activities of institutions holding an industrial registration certificate and actively engaged in production activities, and to earnings derived from agricultural production activities carried out by institutions engaged in such activities. This provision will be valid for earnings obtained in the tax periods in 2027 and beyond.
A new asset repatriation regulation has been introduced under Law No 7582 through a temporary article added to the Corporate Tax Act. Accordingly, individuals and legal entities are able to make a declaration about their money, gold, foreign currency, securities and other capital market instruments that are located abroad to banks or brokerage companies until 31 July 2027. The declared assets must be brought to Turkey or transferred to bank accounts opened in Turkey within two months. Similarly, any money, gold, foreign currency and capital market instruments located in Turkey but not included in any business records can also be included in such a declaration. A five per cent tax will be levied on the declared assets as a rule. However, if the declared assets are required to be held for a specific period, such as deposits, government domestic debt securities, lease certificates or venture capital investment funds, the applicable tax rate will be gradually reduced.
Accordingly, the following tax rates will be applied:
- zero per cent if held for at least five years;
- one per cent if held for at least four years;
- two per cent if held for at least three years;
- three per cent if held for at least two years; and
- four per cent if held for at least one year.
For declarations made after 1 January 2027, these rates will be increased by half a point. No tax audit or tax assessment will be conducted regarding the amounts related to the declared assets. This protection from a tax assessment will be revoked if the assets are not brought to Turkey after the declaration, if the declared taxes are not paid on time or if the relevant commitments are not fulfilled. In this case, taxes not accrued on time will be collected with the delay interest applied, without the application of a tax loss penalty.
Finally, as per the amendment to the Istanbul Financial Center Act No 7412, some advantages that were previously only granted to financial institutions that had been granted a participant certificate have been extended to cover all participants. The application period for the incentives included in the temporary article has been extended from 2031 to 2047. The application period for some of the tax advantages has been extended from five years to 20 years. In addition, Article 23 of the Income Tax Act now stipulates that the portion of the wages of personnel working in qualified service centres, that is up to three times the gross minimum wage (and five times in some industrial zones and the Istanbul Financial Center), will be exempt from income tax. It has also been stipulated that personnel working in qualified service centres operating within the Istanbul Financial Center and benefitting from the new wage exemption under Article 23 of the Income Tax Act will not be eligible for the wage exemption included in the Istanbul Financial Center Act.