The thresholds that decide a Türkiye operation. Each with its source.
Capital, statutory waiting periods, permission durations, customs code structure. Every row names the law it rests on and the date it was last checked — including the rows we have deliberately left empty, and why.
Every figure carries the law or regulation behind it and the date it was last verified. A single “updated today” stamp across a whole page would be a claim we cannot support, because these rows were checked at different times.
Where a figure is disputed or unverified it is not in the table. It is listed at the bottom with the reason and who holds the question. A partial page you can audit is worth more than a complete one you cannot.
Ownership and capital.
What a foreign investor may hold, and what the structure costs to constitute.
| Item | Figure | Basis | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign ownership permitted | 100%No local partner requirement and no minimum foreign capital threshold | Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4875 — Official Gazette 17 June 2003, No. 25141 | |
| Minimum capital — limited liability company | 50.000 TL | Presidential Decision No. 7887 — Official Gazette 25 November 2023 | |
| Minimum capital — joint-stock company | 250.000 TL | Presidential Decision No. 7887 — Official Gazette 25 November 2023 | |
| Figures still circulating that are wrong | 10.000 TLPre-2023 minimum capital. Still quoted on provider sites and in older guides | Superseded by Decision No. 7887 |
Closing a company.
The floor is statutory. None of these periods can be shortened by paying or filing faster.
| Item | Figure | Basis | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Announcements to creditors | 3, one week apart | Turkish Commercial Code, Law No. 6102, Article 541 | |
| Statutory waiting period | 3 monthsReduced from six months in 2021 by Law No. 7341, Article 17. Guides written before that date overstate it | Law No. 6102, Article 543/2 | |
| Realistic total duration | 5–6 months minimumSix months to a year is the ordinary range | Practice, not statute | |
| Tax review after the closing filing | Begins within 3 months at the latestOn request, and runs without interruption once started | Corporate Income Tax Law, Article 17 | |
| Who is liable for tax surfacing afterwards | The liquidator, personally | Corporate Income Tax Law, Article 17 | |
| Simplified or fast-track liquidation | NoneThe transitional route has expired. A provider quoting weeks rather than months should be asked which legal basis applies | Law No. 6102, transitional Article 7 — period elapsed |
Liaison office.
Permission is granted for a purpose, and each purpose carries its own clock. Commercial activity is prohibited absolutely.
| Item | Figure | Basis | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Representation or technical support | 3 years + up to 5 = 8 years | Ministry of Industry and Technology permission regime | |
| Regional management centre | 3 years + up to 10 = 13 yearsThe longest of the three | Ministry of Industry and Technology permission regime | |
| Market research | 3 years, not extendable | Ministry of Industry and Technology permission regime | |
| Annual activity report | Due each year by 31 May | Reporting obligation attached to the permission | |
| Income tax exemption for staff | AvailableFor salaries paid from abroad in foreign currency. Whether it applies to a specific case is a question for a licensed adviser | Income Tax Law, Article 23/14 | |
| Work permit quota | One key employee exemptFrom the five-to-one local employment ratio | Work permit regime, Law No. 6735 | |
| Commercial activity | Prohibited absolutelyNo selling, no orders, no commercial contracts, no invoicing, no collection | Condition of the permission |
Employment.
Published only where a single figure is not in dispute. The employer social security rate is not — see what is missing, below.
| Item | Figure | Basis | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross minimum wage | 33.030,00 TL / monthNet 28.075,50 TL | 2026 figure | |
| Social security ceiling base | 297.270,00 TL | 2026 figure | |
| Severance ceiling — second half of 2026 | 73.729,87 TLFirst half: 64.948,77 TL | 2026 figure |
Goods and customs.
The structure of the code that decides what you pay.
| Item | Figure | Basis | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| GTİP code length | 12 digitsHS 6 + Combined Nomenclature 2 + national 4. The last four carry the money and are the ones most often omitted | Customs Law No. 4458 — Official Gazette 4 November 1999, No. 23866 | |
| Customs declarations | Reserved to licensed brokers | Customs Law No. 4458, Article 227 | |
| Bonded warehouse (antrepo) | Duty and VAT suspendedA free warehouse holds goods already in free circulation. The two are not synonyms | Customs Law No. 4458 |
Every law we cite, with its citation.
A law is identified by the date and issue of the Official Gazette that first published it. That never changes, which is why it is given here once rather than repeated on every page that cites the law.
| Instrument | Official Gazette | Where it bites | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkish Commercial CodeNo. 6102 | 14 February 2011No. 27846 | Company and branch forms, liquidation, the creditor announcements in Article 541 and the distribution wait in Article 543/2 | |
| Customs LawNo. 4458 | 4 November 1999No. 23866 | Customs declarations filed by a licensed broker in their own name (Article 227), bonded warehousing, importer of record | |
| Foreign Direct Investment LawNo. 4875 | 17 June 2003No. 25141 | 100% foreign ownership, equal treatment, no local partner requirement and no minimum foreign capital threshold | |
| Law on Certified Public Accountancy and Sworn-in Fiscal AdvisershipNo. 3568 | 13 June 1989No. 20194 | Acts reserved to a sworn-in fiscal adviser, including annual certification (tam tasdik) | |
| Advocacy LawNo. 1136 | 7 April 1969No. 13168 | Acts reserved to advocates; why yobiT coordinates legal work rather than performing it | |
| Labour LawNo. 4857 | 10 June 2003No. 25134 | Employment relationships, termination and the limits of any arrangement that looks like employment | |
| Personal Data Protection LawNo. 6698 | 7 April 2016No. 29677 | Controller and processor roles, sub-processor disclosure, and what happens to documents you send us | |
| International Labour Force LawNo. 6735 | 13 August 2016No. 29800 | Work permits for foreign nationals and the conditions attached to them | |
| Industrial Property LawNo. 6769 | 10 January 2017No. 29944 | Trade marks, designs and the industrial property position of a brand entering Türkiye | |
| Free Zones LawNo. 3218 | 15 June 1985No. 18785 | Free zone operations and how they differ from a bonded warehouse | |
| Law No. 7341 (amending law)No. 7341 | 6 November 2021No. 31651 | Article 17 amends Turkish Commercial Code Article 543/2, reducing the distribution wait in a liquidation from six months to three. Guides written before this date overstate the floor | |
| Presidential Decision No. 7887No. 7887 | 25 November 2023No. 32380 | Minimum capital raised to 50.000 TL for a limited liability company and 250.000 TL for a joint-stock company |
Each citation above was read at its source on 8 October 2026 — the consolidated text at mevzuat.gov.tr, or the Official Gazette issue itself at resmigazete.gov.tr where the instrument is a Presidential Decision. We do not link out. The Official Gazette archive is not addressable by a single pattern — older issues sit under one path and newer ones under another — so a constructed link breaks silently, and an external link cannot be checked by our build. The citation text cannot break. The current text of any law, with its amendments applied, is at mevzuat.gov.tr; we do not reproduce statutory text here, because a copy goes stale and the original does not.
What is not here,
and why.
Six figures a reader might reasonably expect. Each is either disputed, unsourced, or case-specific by nature — and saying so is cheaper than being wrong.
-
01
Employer social security and unemployment rate
Our own material holds three different values: 21,75% + 2% in one source, 22,5% in another (a competitor's blog, 2024 figures), and the long-standing 20,5% + 2%. We will not pick one and present it as settled.
With our sworn-in fiscal adviser -
02
Supplementary pension employer contribution (TES)
Recorded as 2% starting in the second quarter of 2026. That quarter has passed and we have not re-verified whether it is in force or what the combined employer cost now is.
With our sworn-in fiscal adviser -
03
Income tax brackets
Needed for any gross-to-net figure, together with the minimum wage exemption applied correctly. Not held in verified form.
Not yet sourced -
04
Registry and notary fees
The figures we hold are from 2024 and come from a third-party publication rather than the tariff itself.
Not yet sourced -
05
Cost of closing a company
Driven by how many open tax years must be settled and what the review raises. A published number would be a guess dressed as guidance.
Case-specific by nature -
06
Nationality and residence requirement for the liquidator
We plan around the practical constraint — someone in Türkiye able to sign, attend and respond throughout. The precise statutory position is a written question with counsel.
With counsel
About these figures.
Beginning with why the dates are per row rather than per page.
Why does every row carry its own date?
Because a single date at the top of a page would be a claim we cannot support. Some of these figures were verified in July 2026 and have not been re-checked since; others rest on legislation that has not moved in years. A per-row date tells you which is which.
It also makes the page auditable. If a figure is older than you are comfortable with, you can see that before you use it rather than after.
Why is the employer social security rate missing?
Because our own material holds three different values for it, and we will not pick one and present it as settled. One source gives 21,75% plus 2% unemployment, another gives 22,5%, and the long-standing figure is 20,5% plus 2%.
It is with our sworn-in fiscal adviser. When it comes back the figure goes in with its date, and the employment cost calculator that depends on it becomes publishable.
Can I rely on these in a board paper?
Treat them as a starting point with a visible provenance, not as advice. Each row names the law or the regulation it rests on, so you can check it yourself — which is the point.
Anything with a tax or legal consequence for your specific company is settled with a licensed adviser. These figures tell you which questions matter before you get there.
What happens when a figure changes?
The row changes and its date changes with it. We would rather this page be visibly partial than quietly stale.
If we reach a point where we cannot keep it current, it comes down rather than sits there wrong.
Why publish this at all?
Because it is checkable in a way that a description of our experience is not. We have no client logos, no case studies and no published prices, so the honest way to show we know this market is to publish what we know and name its sources.
It is also the reference we use internally. Publishing it costs us nothing we were not already maintaining.
Is there a figure you have deliberately left out?
Yes — the cost of closing a company. It is driven by how many open tax years have to be settled and what the review raises, neither of which is knowable at the start. A number here would be a guess dressed as guidance.
The same applies to registry and notary fees, where the figures we hold are from 2024 and come from a third-party publication rather than the tariff itself.
Closing a company in Türkiye
What the closing review examines, and why the liquidator carries personal exposure.
Structure selector
Which structure the law leaves open to you, in five questions. No form.
Glossary
The words behind these figures, with the confusions that cost money.