Primetax Guide: Taxation of Expatriates in Türkiye

1. Working and residing in Türkiye

Foreign nationals who will work in Türkiye are generally required to obtain a work permit or a valid work-permit exemption before starting work. A work permit issued under International Workforce Law No. 6735 also grants a right of residence during its validity period and, in general, replaces a separate residence permit. Certain protected-status categories are subject to different rules.

For employer-sponsored work permits, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security applies employment, financial-capacity and remuneration criteria. The remuneration test is linked to the gross minimum wage in force on the application date. For 2026, the gross monthly minimum wage is TL 33,030. On that basis, the principal minimum monthly gross salary levels are:

• Senior executives and pilots: TL 165,150 (five times the minimum wage).

• Engineers and architects: TL 132,120 (four times the minimum wage).

• Other managers: TL 99,090 (three times the minimum wage).

• Jobs requiring expertise or craftsmanship: TL 66,060 (two times the minimum wage).

• Domestic services and other jobs: TL 33,030 (the minimum wage).

A work permit does not, by itself, mean that every element of the expatriate’s worldwide remuneration must be paid by the Turkish entity. Immigration, payroll and tax analyses should be aligned, but each follows its own rules. The actual employer, the entity bearing the cost and the source of payment should therefore be documented consistently.

2. Tax residence of expatriates

Turkish individual income tax distinguishes between full tax liability, or resident taxation, and limited tax liability, or non-resident taxation. Resident individuals are, in principle, taxable on worldwide income, while non-residents are taxable only on income regarded as derived in Türkiye.

Under the domestic rules, an individual is generally treated as resident if Türkiye is the individual’s place of residence or if the individual stays in Türkiye continuously for more than six months in a calendar year. The Income Tax Law also contains exceptions for certain persons who remain in Türkiye for more than six months for a temporary and defined purpose, including a specific assignment, education, medical treatment or similar reasons.

Those exceptions should not be treated as an automatic expatriate exemption. Whether an assignee is resident or non-resident requires a review of the facts, including the nature and expected duration of the assignment, personal and family circumstances and the individual’s continuing connections with the home country.

Where the individual may be resident in both Türkiye and another country under their domestic laws, the relevant double-tax treaty should also be reviewed. Treaty residence is normally resolved through tie-breaker tests such as permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode and nationality, although the wording of the specific treaty should always be checked.

The domestic six-month residence rule and the 183-day test commonly found in treaty employment articles answer different questions. The 183-day test should therefore not be used as a substitute for the residence analysis.

3. Taxation of employment income in Türkiye

Under the Turkish Income Tax Law, remuneration is treated as wage income broadly. Cash salary, bonuses, allowances and benefits in kind can all fall within the wage definition. Employer-paid personal costs such as housing, utilities, school fees or similar benefits may therefore create taxable remuneration unless a specific exemption applies.

For a non-resident individual, wage income is regarded as derived in Türkiye where the employment service is performed in Türkiye or where the service is assessed in Türkiye. For these purposes, remuneration is generally regarded as assessed in Türkiye when the related salary cost is recorded in the accounts of a Turkish entity.

Accordingly, payment from an overseas bank account does not by itself keep the remuneration outside the Turkish tax net. The location of the work, the contractual employer and the entity ultimately bearing or recording the cost must be considered together.

Treaty protection for short-term assignments

Where the employee is resident in a country that has an applicable double-tax treaty with Türkiye, the treaty’s employment article may restrict Türkiye’s taxing right. Although treaty wording varies, a common formulation allows the home country to retain exclusive taxing rights where all three of the following conditions are met:

• the employee’s presence in Türkiye does not exceed the treaty’s 183-day threshold;

• the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer that is not resident in Türkiye; and

• the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment or fixed place that the employer has in Türkiye.

All three conditions must be satisfied. If one fails, Türkiye may obtain a taxing right over the remuneration attributable to duties performed in Türkiye. Treaty relief also generally requires evidence of the employee’s residence in the treaty partner country, usually through a residence certificate.

4. Turkish payroll and annual filing obligations

Where remuneration is paid by a Turkish employer or is otherwise subject to Turkish withholding, the employer normally withholds income tax through payroll. Payroll withholding does not always eliminate the employee’s annual return obligation: high earners and employees with more than one employer may still need to file.

2026 income tax tariff for employment income

For 2026, the progressive rates and employment-income thresholds are:

• Up to TL 190,000: 15%.

• TL 190,000 to TL 400,000: 20%.

• TL 400,000 to TL 1,500,000: 27%.

• TL 1,500,000 to TL 5,300,000: 35%.

• Over TL 5,300,000: 40%.

Source: Turkish Revenue Administration, 2026 Income Tax Tariff.

The rates are progressive. The amounts above are the thresholds applicable specifically to employment income; the statutory tax amount carried into each bracket is calculated under Article 103 of the Income Tax Law.

2026 annual return thresholds for withholding-taxed salaries

For 2026, an individual with salary from a single employer must generally file an annual return if the withholding-taxed salary exceeds TL 5,300,000. Where salary is received from more than one employer, a return is required if either the aggregate salary from employers other than the first employer exceeds TL 400,000 or total withholding-taxed salary from all employers exceeds TL 5,300,000. The employee may generally choose which employer is treated as the first employer for this test.

A non-resident individual does not file an annual return for salary income that has been fully subject to Turkish withholding. By contrast, remuneration received directly from a foreign employer without Turkish withholding may require an annual Turkish return unless the income is exempt under domestic law or protected by an applicable treaty.

Minimum-wage income-tax and stamp-duty exemption

The Turkish wage-tax system includes an exemption linked to the monthly minimum wage. For 2026, the gross monthly minimum wage is TL 33,030. Employees whose remuneration exceeds the minimum wage also benefit from an income-tax exemption corresponding to the tax calculated on the qualifying minimum-wage base, and from a stamp-duty exemption for the portion of the wage paper corresponding to the gross minimum wage.

It is therefore no longer accurate to state that stamp duty at 0.759% applies to the entire gross salary of every employee. The minimum-wage portion is exempt, and other specific exemptions may also apply.

5. Split payrolls, foreign payroll and recharge arrangements

Expatriate packages frequently involve two payment streams: a Turkish payroll component and a home-country payroll component. That arrangement is not inherently problematic, but it creates a need to identify the true Turkish taxable base and the entity that economically bears the remuneration.

If the foreign parent pays part of the salary directly to the expatriate but recharges the amount to the Turkish entity, the recharge is a strong indicator that the remuneration relates to services for the Turkish entity and may create Turkish payroll or withholding consequences. The accounting treatment of the recharge, the intercompany agreement and the employee’s actual reporting line should all be consistent.

Where the foreign-paid remuneration is not charged to the Turkish entity and no Turkish withholding is made, the employee may still have a personal annual filing obligation if the duties are performed in Türkiye and no domestic or treaty exemption applies. Conversely, where a treaty’s short-term employment conditions are fully satisfied, Turkish taxation may be restricted even though the employee is physically present in Türkiye for part of the year.

For split-payroll assignments, a year-end reconciliation should normally show total worldwide remuneration, the Turkish payroll amount, foreign-payroll amount, any intercompany recharge, Turkish workdays, taxes withheld and the treaty position. Preparing this reconciliation before year-end is usually the most efficient way to identify a compliance gap while there is still time to correct it.

6. Liaison office personnel – Article 23/14 exemption

A specific income-tax exemption may apply to employees of a non-resident employer, including qualifying liaison-office personnel, under Article 23/14 of the Income Tax Law. The exemption is narrower than a general foreign-payroll exemption and should be applied only where the statutory and administrative conditions are met.

Based on the Income Tax Law, General Communiqué No. 147 and the Revenue Administration’s published rulings, the principal conditions are that:

• the employer has neither its legal seat nor its place of effective management in Türkiye and is treated as a non-resident employer;

• the individual is an employee and the payment is remuneration for employment;

• the remuneration is funded from income earned by the foreign employer outside Türkiye;

• the remuneration is paid in foreign currency; and

• the remuneration is not recorded as an expense attributable to Turkish income-generating activities of the foreign employer.

Where these conditions are satisfied, the exemption can apply irrespective of whether the employee is otherwise resident or non-resident in Türkiye. Papers relating to wages that qualify for the Article 23/14 exemption may also benefit from the corresponding stamp-duty exemption.

The evidence should support the substance of the arrangement. Bank records, foreign-currency payment records, payroll documentation and accounting records should be retained to demonstrate that the remuneration was funded from foreign-source earnings and was not borne by a Turkish income-generating activity. Older practical materials sometimes describe one particular banking route as if it were a statutory condition; the core legal test is the source and character of the remuneration, supported by a clear payment trail.

7. Social security

As a general rule, employees working under an employment contract in Türkiye fall within the Turkish social-security system unless a domestic-law exemption or an applicable international social-security agreement provides otherwise.

For employees subject to the standard 4/1-a regime in 2026, the employee contribution is 15% in total, comprising 14% social-security contributions and 1% unemployment insurance. The employer contribution before incentives is 23.75% in total, comprising 21.75% social-security contributions and 2% unemployment insurance.

For 2026, the monthly social-security contribution base ranges from TL 33,030 to TL 297,270 for ordinary private-sector employees. The upper limit is nine times the lower limit. Employer incentives may reduce the effective employer cost where their statutory conditions are met; for example, the general employer-share discount is currently two points, while a five-point rate applies to qualifying manufacturing-sector employers through the end of 2026.

Employees temporarily assigned from abroad

Türkiye currently has bilateral social-security agreements in force with 35 countries. Where an expatriate is sent to Türkiye by an employer in a treaty country, the relevant agreement may allow the employee to remain insured in the home-country system for the applicable detachment period, provided the required certificate of coverage is obtained and submitted. The permitted period and extension procedure differ by country.

For employees sent from a country with no applicable social-security agreement, Turkish domestic law provides a limited temporary-assignment exclusion where the individual is sent to Türkiye by and on behalf of a foreign organisation for a specific job for no more than three months and can document continuing foreign social-security coverage. Once the conditions or period cease to be satisfied, Turkish social-security registration should be reassessed.

A foreign certificate of coverage should be obtained before or at the beginning of the assignment where possible. A foreign payroll or continuing home-country contributions, on their own, should not be assumed to prevent Turkish SGK liability.

8. Recommended assignment review

Before an expatriate starts work in Türkiye, the assignment should be reviewed across immigration, tax, payroll and social security together. A practical review would normally cover the following matters:

• Confirm the legal employer, Turkish host entity and expected assignment period.

• Determine whether a work permit or a work-permit exemption is required and whether the remuneration meets the applicable Ministry criteria.

• Assess domestic Turkish tax residence and, if relevant, treaty residence.

• Identify the employee’s Turkish workdays and review the applicable treaty employment article.

• Map the complete remuneration package, including home-country payroll, Turkish payroll, bonuses and benefits in kind.

• Determine which entity bears each remuneration cost and whether any amount is recharged to Türkiye.

• Establish the Turkish withholding or annual-return obligations and apply the 2026 thresholds.

• Check whether Article 23/14 applies to liaison-office or other qualifying foreign-employer remuneration.

• Review social-security treaty coverage and obtain the appropriate certificate of coverage.

• Reconcile the position before year-end and again before the employee leaves Türkiye.

The purpose of this review is not simply to determine whether tax is due. It is also to make sure the immigration file, payroll, intercompany charging, accounting records and treaty position tell the same story. In practice, inconsistencies between those records are often what create avoidable risk.

9. Common assignment patterns

Short-term employee of a foreign company

If the employee remains treaty-resident abroad, spends no more than the treaty threshold in Türkiye, is paid by a non-Turkish employer and the remuneration is not borne by a Turkish permanent establishment or other relevant Turkish presence, the treaty may prevent Turkish taxation. The exact treaty wording and residence certificate should be checked.

Employee seconded to a Turkish subsidiary

Where the employee works for the Turkish entity and the remuneration cost is borne or recharged to that entity, Turkish payroll taxation is usually the starting point even if part of the salary continues to be paid abroad. The legal employer label is not conclusive if the economic cost and day-to-day employment relationship point to the Turkish entity.

Liaison-office employee

If the foreign employer has no Turkish legal or business centre, the liaison office remains non-commercial, the salary is funded from foreign-source earnings, paid in foreign currency and not charged against Turkish income-generating activities, Article 23/14 may exempt the remuneration from Turkish income tax. The conditions should be evidenced rather than assumed.

Employee receiving both Turkish and foreign remuneration

The two payroll streams should be reviewed together for Turkish tax purposes where they relate to duties performed in Türkiye, subject to any domestic or treaty exemption. A foreign payment that is not subjected to Turkish withholding can create an individual annual filing obligation even where the Turkish payroll itself has been correctly operated.