Corporate Tax Exemption and Personnel Wage Exemption Started to Be Implemented in Qualified Service Centers

 

Law No. 7582 on Amendments to Certain Laws was published in the Official Gazette No. 33270 dated June 4, 2026, and various regulations regarding "Qualified Service Centers" were made with this law.

 

1. Definition of Qualified Service Center

The definition of "Qualified Service Center" was established with Additional Article 1 added to Law No. 4875 on Direct Foreign Investments. Accordingly, the following conditions must be met to become a qualified service center.

-Being a capital company,

-Actively operating in at least three different countries,

-Providing services to related companies or groups of companies,

-Providing 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 (legal consulting for domestic activities or Turkish law, only to be obtained from a lawyer or law firm authorized to provide services under the Law No. 1136 of 19/3/1969 on Attorneys), promotion, brand management, human resources and training services, and coordination and management services related to these services,

-Providing coordination and management services related to activities such as sales, after-sales support, technical support, research and development, outsourcing, testing of newly developed products, and laboratory services.

-Obtaining at least 80% of its annual revenue from related companies or groups of companies abroad. In qualified service centers, employees (excluding support staff) who directly perform the services listed above are defined as qualified service personnel.

 

2. Corporate Tax Exemption for Qualified Service Centers

By adding clause j to the first paragraph of Article 10 of the Corporate Tax Law, 95% of the income earned abroad exclusively within the scope of these activities by institutions operating as qualified service centers can be deducted from their corporate income, provided that it is shown separately on the corporate tax return in Turkey.

For institutions operating in industrial zones, those deemed appropriate by the President according to the foreign investment intensity of the region, and those operating in the Istanbul Financial Center Region with a participation certificate, this rate will be applied as 100%.

The President is authorized to reduce these rates to 50% or increase them to 100%.

Provided that the income is transferred to Turkey by the deadline for filing the annual corporate tax return in Turkey for the accounting period in which the income was earned, this will be applied for twenty accounting periods starting from the accounting period in which the qualified service center commenced operations.

These deduction amounts will be deducted from the minimum corporate tax base when calculating the minimum corporate tax.

 

3. Wage Exemption for Qualified Service Personnel

With the addition of Article 23 to the Income Tax Law, the portion of the wages of qualified service personnel employed in qualified service centers that does not exceed three times the gross minimum wage is exempt from income tax.

This exemption for qualified service personnel wages will be applied as five times the gross minimum wage for qualified service centers operating in industrial zones deemed appropriate by the President based on the region's foreign investment intensity, and for those operating in the Istanbul Financial Center with a participation certificate.

The President is authorized to determine the exemption as three times the gross minimum wage, either together or separately, up to one time, and to increase it by up to two times.

 

Effective Date

The regulation entered into force on 04/06/2026 and is applicable to corporate income for tax periods starting from 01/01/2026 (or 1/1/2026 for companies with a designated special accounting period) and beginning with declarations that must be submitted in Turkey from 01/07/2026 onwards.