Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
The topics my clients ask about most. Each question has its own page with a short, statute-based answer — and a link to the full article for anyone who wants the detail.170 questions in total.
Company Formation
- Can a non-resident open a business bank account in Turkey?
- Which Turkish banks are most accessible for foreign-owned companies?
- What documents are required to open a corporate bank account in Turkey?
- What is MASAK and why does it affect account opening?
- If I set up in a Turkish free zone, do I stop paying corporate tax?
- When did domestic sales fall outside the exemption?
- How does the payroll withholding relief work?
- What happens on the VAT side?
- Are there stamp duty and fee exemptions?
- When should a foreign company choose a free zone?
- Does software development qualify for the exemption in a free zone?
- Free zone or technopark?
- What is the difference between an LLC and a JSC in Turkey?
- Which Turkish company type is better for foreign investors?
- Can a JSC in Turkey be converted to a publicly traded company?
- Is a foreign national personally liable for a Turkish company's debts?
- Can a foreigner register a company in Turkey without living there?
- What is the minimum capital required to open a company in Turkey?
- How long does company registration in Turkey take?
- Does a foreign-owned Turkish company need a local Turkish director?
- What taxes does a Turkish company pay?
- Do I need a residence permit to own a company in Turkey?
- Do I need a work permit to work in my own Turkish company?
- What is the Turquoise Card in Turkey?
- Can a foreign director manage a Turkish company remotely without a work permit?
- How much does it cost to register a company in Turkey in 2026?
- What is the monthly accounting fee for a Turkish company?
- What are the recurring annual costs of running a Turkish company?
- Are there hidden costs foreign founders should know about?
- Why do Turkish banks block incoming wire transfers?
- What SWIFT description should I use when sending money to a Turkish company?
- What documents does a Turkish bank request for incoming transfers?
- How long does it take to unblock a held wire transfer in Turkey?
Cross-Border Banking
General Questions
Service Export
- Does filling in the W-8BEN form Payoneer asks for mean I pay tax in Turkey?
- Payoneer deducts an amount when I withdraw to my bank. Is that tax?
- How long can I leave money sitting in my Payoneer balance?
- Would using Wise instead of Payoneer change anything for tax?
- I have a company but the Payoneer account is in my own name. Whose money is it?
Startup Finance
Tax Advisory
- What is the most common financial mistake startups make in Turkey?
- When should a Turkish startup hire a CPA (SMMM)?
- What is the biggest cash flow mistake early-stage startups make?
- Should a Turkish startup consider Technopark (Teknokent) registration?
- What is Turkey's Asset Amnesty 2026?
- What is the tax rate under Turkey's Asset Amnesty 2026?
- How long must declared assets remain in Turkey?
- How does one apply for the Asset Amnesty in Turkey?
- I am tax resident in Turkey and own a company abroad. Do I have to declare the dividends here?
- I heard half the dividend is exempt. Is that right?
- What happens if the money does not arrive before the filing deadline?
- I already paid tax abroad. Am I taxed twice?
- Would invoicing my own foreign company be better than taking a dividend?
- Can I simply leave the money abroad?
- Can the transfer get held up at the bank?
- Does it matter where the company is actually managed from?
- When do I become a Turkish tax resident?
- Is money I earn through Upwork or Deel taxable in Turkey?
- What is the foreign currency salary exemption in Turkey?
- Can I choose whether my income counts as employment or professional income?
- How does the young entrepreneur exemption work?
- Do I have to pay Turkish social security as a freelancer?
- Can a company operating off the books get bank credit in Turkey?
- How serious an offence is using false or misleading documents in Turkey?
- What is the employment law risk of under-reporting payroll?
- What should a company with an informal past actually do?
- Is VAT charged on services sold to foreign clients from Turkey?
- Do payments from Upwork or Stripe count as taxable income in Turkey?
- What is the corporate tax deduction for service exports from Turkey?
- What documents should I keep for overseas service income?
- Do I file a tax return under the 20/B exemption?
- Is VAT charged on 20/B income?
- Does a Turkish company paying a creator withhold tax?
- Can it be combined with the young entrepreneur exemption?
- How is withholding calculated when income arrives in foreign currency?
- Can I use the exemption through my company?
- Does the technopark exemption also cover profit distribution?
- What is the withholding rate on dividends paid to a foreign shareholder?
- When is the certificate of residence needed?
- Is there withholding if I do not distribute the profit?
- Does a branch differ from a company for distribution purposes?
- Who qualifies for Turkey's 20-year foreign income exemption?
- I declared rental income in Turkey before moving. Am I disqualified?
- What is the deadline to apply for the exemption certificate?
- If I move to Turkey and keep working for clients abroad, is that income exempt?
- What happens if I spend most of the year outside Turkey after getting the certificate?
- Does the exemption affect inheritance tax?
- What is the minimum capital deadline in Turkey, and has it been extended?
- Why does a cash capital increase carry a tax advantage in Turkey?
- Does converting a shareholder loan into capital qualify for the deduction?
- How long does a capital increase take in Turkey?
- What is the service export earnings deduction rate in Turkey for 2026?
- Which services qualify for the deduction?
- If I bring only part of the earnings into Turkey, does the deduction apply to that part?
- Does the deduction require a sworn CPA (YMM) certification report?
- If my company uses the 100% deduction, does it pay no corporate tax at all?
- What does it mean for the service to be used exclusively abroad?
- If I make a loss in a year, can the deduction be carried forward?
- Can it be combined with the technopark exemption?
- Is there tax when earnings that used the deduction are distributed to shareholders?
- Which exemptions apply to money I earn on Upwork while living in Turkey?
- Which kinds of work does the earnings deduction cover?
- I am a translator or content writer. Is there no exemption for me?
- Can the young entrepreneur exemption and the earnings deduction be used together?
- What are the conditions for the VAT exemption?
- What happens if part of my money stays on Payoneer or Wise?
- Why is Upwork charging me VAT on its fees?
- Who should the self-employment receipt be issued to, and for what amount?
- I earned on Upwork in earlier years without registering. Can I still move to this setup?
Technopark & R&D
- Does R&D carried out for someone else in a technopark qualify for the exemption?
- Who ends up owning the intangible right?
- Which regime applies to development for a customer abroad?
- What is the most common mistake in contract R&D?
- What is the qualified expenditure ratio?
- Which expenditure counts as 'qualified'?
- Does buying in R&D reduce the exemption?
- Does this calculation apply to all technopark income?
- Is a technopark worth it for every software company in Turkey?
- What does joining a technopark cost?
- How do you apply to a technopark in Turkey?
- Can a company leave a technopark later?
- Is holding space in a technopark enough to claim the exemption?
- Does the remote work permission remove this requirement?
- How is actual activity evidenced in an audit?
- What should a company whose activity has drifted out of the zone do?
- Does the technopark exemption cover all of a company's income?
- How long does the technopark exemption run?
- Does software not developed in the zone qualify?
- Is separate accounting mandatory for technopark income?
- When does the technopark earnings exemption end?
- What happens to the tax burden if the exemption ends?
- If the period is extended, is the preparation wasted?
- What alternatives are worth considering after the exemption?
- Is income tax withheld from the salaries of technopark staff?
- Can support staff benefit from the incentives?
- How does the employer's social security support work in a technopark?
- What documents are needed to claim technopark payroll incentives?
- What is the remote work ratio in a Turkish technopark?
- How long does the remote work permission run?
- What happens if the ratio is exceeded?
- How should remote personnel be tracked?
- Is software produced in a technopark supplied without VAT?
- What happens to input VAT on exempt supplies?
- Are training and maintenance supplied alongside the software in scope?
- Is the technopark VAT exemption the same as the earnings exemption?
- Which technopark companies have a venture capital fund obligation?
- What is the rate and the upper limit?
- Where must the fund be invested?
- What happens if the fund is not invested?
- Does a technopark company reporting a loss have to set aside the fund?
- What is the core difference between a technopark and an R&D centre in Turkey?
- Which is more meaningful for a company that is not profitable?
- Does an R&D centre have to be inside a zone?
- How many personnel does an R&D centre require in Turkey?
- Can both regimes be used for the same activity?
- Is a YMM certification report mandatory for the technopark exemption?
- When should the certification report be prepared?
- Does a YMM report prevent a tax audit?
- I already have an accountant — do I also need a YMM?
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