1. Law No. 7582 entered into force (Official Gazette: 4 June 2026 / No. 33270)
§ Asset Amnesty: The general rate has been set at 5%. However, where the declared asset is committed to being held in time deposits, Turkish government bonds (DİBS), lease certificates or units in venture capital investment funds, the rate decreases progressively: a one-year holding commitment brings the rate down to four per cent, two years to three per cent, three years to two per cent, four years to one per cent, and a five-year commitment results in no tax being payable at all. The declaration deadline is 31 July 2027; declarations made after 1 January 2027 will carry a half-point upward adjustment to all rates. Where the procedural and substantive conditions are met, no retrospective tax audit will be conducted and no tax assessment will be issued in respect of the declared assets.
§ Beneficiaries: The procedure for benefiting from the amnesty turns on two key distinctions: (i) For assets held abroad, the owner must first file a declaration with a Turkish bank or intermediary institution and then, within two months of the declaration date, transfer the asset to an account opened in their name in Türkiye (or physically import it). For assets held in Türkiye, the same declaration is required, together with deposit of the asset with a bank or intermediary institution as of the declaration date. (ii) Taxpayers liable to income or corporate tax must record the declared assets in a special fund account in their statutory books and may not withdraw that fund from the business for two years, except for the purposes of a capital increase; after two years, the asset may be withdrawn without being taken into account in determining taxable income or distributable corporate income. Persons without income or corporate tax liability may benefit from amnesty directly.
§ Twenty-year individual non-domicile regime: Individuals who have not been full Turkish tax residents in the preceding three calendar years will, upon relocating to Türkiye, benefit from a 20 year exemption from income tax on their foreign-source income. During the same period, inheritance and transfer tax will be applied at a fixed rate of 1%. The regime applies to individuals deemed to be Turkish residents as from 1 January 2026 onward, and as an important nuance, the fact that a beneficiary previously had Turkish tax liability in respect of immovable property rental income, securities income or value-increase gains will not preclude them from benefiting from the exemption. Attention: Turkish-source income will continue to be subject to taxation. Taxpayers wishing to benefit from the regime will need to give careful thought to its interaction with double-tax treaties and to the interpretation of the "full tax residency" criterion.
§ Istanbul Financial Centre (“IFC”) incentives extended: The 100% corporate tax exemption applicable to income qualifying as the export of financial services under Law No. 7412 on the IFC has been extended from 31 December 2031 to 31 December 2047. The duration of the fee exemption has been extended from 5 to 20 years. This step aims to enhance Istanbul's competitiveness against other global financial centers and crystallizes a long-term strategic positioning vis-à-vis hubs such as Dubai and Singapore.
§ Qualified Service Centre regime: A new “qualified service center” concept has been introduced into Turkish legislation by way of a supplementary article to Law No. 4875 on Foreign Direct Investment. The regime covers capital companies that are actively present in at least three different countries, are established to provide services to affiliated companies or a group of companies, perform the activities specified in the supplementary article, and derive at least 80% of their annual revenue from foreign-based affiliated companies or groups. Such centers may provide coordination and management services in fields including financial consulting, strategic management consulting, risk management, budgeting, international accounting and compliance, digital transformation and technology consulting, legal consulting, marketing, brand management, human resources, sales, after-sales support, technical support, and research and development; however, Turkish-law advice or advice concerning domestic Turkish activities remains subject to the restrictions under the Attorneyship Law.
§ Incentive packages: (i) 95% of the income derived exclusively from these activities and earned from abroad may be deducted from the corporate tax base (this rate rises to 100% for centers operating in the IFC or in industrial zones approved by the President); and (ii) salary income of qualified service personnel will be exempt from income tax up to 3 times the gross minimum wage (5 times the gross minimum wage for qualified service centers operating in the IFC or in approved industrial zones). The regime applies for 20 accounting periods from the date on which the activity commences. With this framework, Türkiye aims to increase investments directed at global shared service centers and centers of competence.
§ Tax deferral period extended to 72 months: The maximum deferral and instalment period for public receivables has been extended from 36 months to 72 months, and the amount of public receivables that may be deferred without collateral has been set at TRY 1 million.
§ Start-up stock-option exemption expanded: The income-tax exemption ceiling for shares granted to employees of qualifying technology start-ups has been increased from 1 times to 2 times the employee's annual gross salary, and the holding-period conditions attached to those shares have been shortened, bringing Turkish start-up ESOPs closer to global market norms.
§ SAFE-like convertible debt instruments: For conditional capital increases to be carried out by non-public companies bearing the technology start-up badge on the basis of convertible debt agreements, the provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code (Law No. 6102) governing conditional capital increases will not apply. This reform creates a more flexible legal framework for instruments akin to SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) financings; however, as the implementing procedures and principles are expected to be clarified through secondary legislation, each structure should still be assessed from contractual, corporate law and tax perspectives.
§ Introduction of digital companies: The Law also introduces the concept of a “digital company” into Turkish legislation. Companies that are formed by entrepreneurs qualifying as incubator entrepreneurs and that fit the definition of a digital company to be determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology will, for up to 3 years from incorporation, be exempt from the fees and dues defined under the Law on the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (Law No. 5174).
2. SPK’s important principle decision: The free-float ratio methodology changes
§ The Capital Markets Board has published a new Principle Decision on the calculation of the “actual free-float ratio” of companies listed on Borsa Istanbul, adopted at the Board’s meeting of 4 June 2026 (ref. 34/1044) and published in Bulletin No. 2026/35 dated 5 June 2026. The new regime takes effect on 15 June 2026.
§ Under the Decision, where persons whose shares are excluded from the actual free-float calculation also hold participation units in free funds or special funds, the issuer shares corresponding to their participation-unit ownership ratio in the relevant fund will also be excluded from the free-float calculation. In practical terms, this may mean that shares indirectly held through funds linked to a controlling shareholder structure will no longer be treated as freely circulating in the market. In addition, the actual free-float share count and the free-float ratio will be calculated daily by the Central Securities Depository (MKK) as of 15 June 2026, so that the published figures respond more quickly to changes in companies’ ownership structures.
§ Why is this important: Companies with significant indirect ownership through funds may see their free-float ratios decline. If the relevant thresholds are no longer met, index exclusion and related passive-fund rebalancing may create selling pressure; conversely, higher ratios may support index inclusion and resulting index-fund buying.
UKAS assessment: Law No. 7582 creates new structuring opportunities for investor relocation, incentives and start-up financing. The SPK decision requires listed companies to reassess free-float ratios, index eligibility and potential liquidity effects together.