- within Immigration, Government and Public Sector topic(s)
September 2025 Financial Agenda
Dear Readers,
In September, as the Parliament was in recess, no new legislative regulations regarding tax legislation were enacted. The most significant legislative changes during this month were the increases in stamp duty, fees, and SCT (Special Consumption Tax) amounts/rates with Presidential Decree No. 10364, and the increases in departure fees and financial activity fees with Presidential Decrees No. 10381 and No. 10382.
As you may recall, with Law No. 7555 published in July, amendments were made to the reduced corporate tax application and various laws encouraging R&D activities. The major changes in the reduced corporate tax application included the introduction of 4-year/10-year time limits for utilizing the right to deduction, regulations regarding investment contribution amounts not utilized despite the presence of profit, arrangements on the scope of income derived from other activities, and priority rules in the application of reduced tax rates. On this occasion, we would like to reiterate that for investment incentive certificates obtained before the publication date of the Law (24/7/2025), as well as for those obtained after this date but applied for before 16/6/2025 and not rejected, the provisions of article 32/A of the Corporate Tax Law prior to the amendments introduced by the Law will continue to apply. With the Communiqué Amending the General Communiqué on Corporate Tax (Serial No: 1) (Serial No: 24), explanations and examples regarding these legislative changes were provided.
In our country, various incentives exist for R&D activities under the "Law No. 4691 on Technology Development Zones," the "Law No. 5746 on Supporting Research, Development and Design Activities," and the "Law No. 6550 on Supporting Research Infrastructures." One of the most important of these incentives is the exemption from income tax and stamp duty on the wages of personnel engaged in these activities. While none of these three laws originally imposed a quantitative limit on income tax incentives for wages, with Law No. 7555, the income tax and stamp duty exemptions have now been limited to forty times the minimum wage. Any excess over this amount will no longer benefit from the exemption. Based on this regulation, three general communiqués were published in the Official Gazette dated 04.09.2025 and numbered 33007. These communiqués contain explanations and examples regarding the restrictive changes to the exemption practices. According to the explanations in the communiqués, the limitation of forty times the minimum wage will be applied on a per person and per month basis, rather than per employer or per year.
On the other hand, in September, the Communiqué Amending the General Communiqué on VAT Implementation (VAT Communiqué Serial No: 55) was also published. The communiqué included explanations on certain exemption practices. In addition, detailed explanations and calculation examples regarding the inclusion of VAT incurred on depreciable economic assets (ATİK) in the refund account were also provided.Another significant regulation introduced last month was the narrowing of the scope of taxpayers benefiting from the simplified procedure. Exercising the authority granted to him, the President, with Presidential Decree No. 10380, excluded certain taxpayer groups from the scope of the simplified procedure.
According to the Decree, except for districts with a population not exceeding 30,000 as of the last day of the previous calendar year, based on the latest data published by the Turkish Statistical Institute, in provinces that are metropolitan municipalities, taxpayers engaged in the following activities will be taxed under the real regime:
a)Those engaged in the production of any kind of goods,
b) Those engaged in the purchase and sale of any kind of goods (excluding those engaged solely in itinerant or market-based retail trading without opening a workplace),
c)Those engaged in any kind of construction-related work,
d) Those engaged in any kind of maintenance and repair work for motor vehicles,
e) Those operating restaurants and similar service businesses,
f)Those operating entertainment and leisure venues,
g)Those engaged in urban passenger transportation activities.
This Decree will enter into force on 1/1/2026, meaning that as of this date, those engaged in the aforementioned activities will be taxed under the real regime. In other words, the income tax exemption granted to them will be applied for the last time on their 2025 earnings. At the same time, the deliveries and services performed by these taxpayers after 1/1/2026 will also be subject to VAT.
On this occasion, we hope that our October bulletin will be beneficial to all our readers and colleagues. Sincerely,
M. EMEK KURT
Partner / Tax
BDO Istanbul Office
BDO Academy October Training Calendar Published!
In October, we continue to enhance your knowledge and skills with our expert trainers in their respective fields:
For detailed information and registration: https://bdoakademi.com.tr/
To view the full article click here
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
