Why the date on a guide matters
Turkish tax and employment rules are re-set annually, and some of them change more fundamentally than that. In the last three years alone the standard corporate tax rate moved to 25%, VAT rates moved to 1 / 10 / 20, minimum share capital was multiplied by five, dividend withholding went from 10% to 15%, a 10% minimum corporate tax was introduced, the free zone exemption was narrowed to export income, the fourth provisional tax period came back — and in May 2025 the entire investment incentive system was replaced.
A guide written even two years ago will get several of those wrong. Ours carry a verification date for exactly that reason. If a guide anywhere — including here — does not tell you when it was last checked, treat its numbers as unusable.
Setting up
- Establishing a business in Türkiye — company types, minimum capital, the registry process and the documents you need from abroad
- Investment legislation — the FDI Law, investment treaties, double taxation treaties and social security agreements
- Regulatory and supervisory authorities — who regulates what, under their current names
- Transferring assets — buying a business or its assets, and the liabilities that come with it
Money
- Taxes — corporate and individual income tax, VAT, withholding, stamp duty and wealth taxes
- Investment incentives — the new system introduced in 2025
- Investment zones — technoparks, organised industrial zones and free zones
- Cost of doing business — what an employee actually costs an employer
- Access to finance — banking, leasing, factoring and development finance
People
- Terms of employment — contracts, working hours, overtime, leave and remote work
- Termination of employment — notice, severance, job security and mandatory mediation
- Turkish social security system — premium rates, the earnings floor and ceiling, and totalisation agreements
- Work permits — the employer conditions that decide whether you can hire a foreigner at all
- Residence permits — permit types for owners, staff and families
The principle underneath all of it
Türkiye's Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4875 is built on equal treatment: an international investor has the same rights and the same obligations as a domestic one. The conditions for setting up a business and for transferring shares are the same. International investors may establish any company form set out in the Turkish Commercial Code.
That principle is genuinely applied, and it is why most of what follows is simply "the rules", not "the rules for foreigners". The places where being foreign does change something — work permits, the E-TUYS notification obligations, withholding on payments abroad, treaty relief — are flagged in the relevant guide.