Tax Guide

Türkiye has one of the most competitive corporate tax rates among OECD member countries. The Turkish corporate tax legislation has noticeably clear, objective, and harmonized provisions that are in line with international standards. The Turkish tax legislation may be classified under three main headings:

Income Taxes

The Turkish tax legislation includes two main income taxes, namely personal income tax and corporate income tax.

1.1. Personal Income Tax

Real persons' income is subject to personal income tax. Income is defined as the net amount of all earnings and revenues derived by an individual within a single calendar year. An individual’s income may consist of one or more income elements listed as follows:

Agricultural profits

Business profits

Salaries and wages

Income from independent personal services

Income from immovable property and rights (rental income)

Income from movable property (income from capital investment)

Other income and earnings

Individual income tax rates vary from 15% to 40%. Individual income tax rates applicable for 2022 are as follows:

Income Scales (TRY)	Rate	Income Scales	Rate
Employment Income		Non-Employment Income
Up to 24,000	15		15
24,001-53,000	20	24,001-53,000	20
53,001-190,000	27	53,001-190,000	27
190,001-650,000	35	190,001-650,000	35
650,001 and over	40	650,001 and over	40

1.2. Corporate Income Taxes

In case income elements specified in the Income Tax Law are derived by corporations, taxation is applicable on the legal entities of these corporations. Corporate taxpayers defined in the law are as follows:

Capital companies

Cooperatives

Public economic enterprises

Economic enterprises owned by associations and foundations

Joint ventures

In Türkiye, the corporate income tax rate levied on business profits is 25% for 2021, and 23% for 2022.

2.Taxes on Expenditure

2.1. Value Added Tax (VAT)

The generally applied VAT rates are set at 1%, 8%, and 18%. Commercial, industrial, agricultural, and independent professional goods and services, goods and services imported into the country, and deliveries of goods and services as a result of other activities are all subject to VAT.

2.2. Special Consumption Tax (SCT)

There are four main product groups that are subject to SCT at different tax rates:

Petroleum products, natural gas, lubricating oil, solvents, and derivatives of solvents
Automobiles and other vehicles, motorcycles, planes, helicopters, yachts
Tobacco and tobacco products, alcoholic beverages
Luxury products

Unlike VAT, which is applied on each delivery, SCT is charged only once.

2.3. Banking and Insurance Transaction Tax

Banking and insurance company transactions remain exempt from VAT but are subject to a Banking and Insurance Transaction Tax. This tax applies to income earned by banks, such as loan interest. Although the general rate is 5%, some transactions, such as interest on deposit transactions between banks, are taxed at 1%. No tax has been levied on sales from foreign exchange transactions since 2008.

2.4. Stamp Duty

Stamp duty applies to a wide range of documents, including contracts, notes payable, capital contributions, letters of credit, letters of guarantee, financial statements, and payrolls. Stamp duty is levied as a percentage of the value of the document at rates ranging from 0.189% to 0.948% or is collected as a fixed price (a pre-determined price) for some documents.

3.Taxes on Wealth

There are three kinds of taxes on wealth:

Property taxes
Motor vehicle tax
Inheritance and gift tax

Buildings, apartments, and land owned in Türkiye are subject to real estate tax ranging at a rate between 0.1% and 0.6%, while Contribution to the Conservation of Immovable Cultural Property is levied at a rate of 10% of this real estate tax. Motor vehicle taxes are collected on the basis of fixed amounts that vary according to the age and engine capacity of the vehicles each year. Meanwhile, inheritance and gift taxes are levied at a rate of 1% to 30%.