July 2025 - Financial Agenda
Dear Readers,
This month, the fiscal holiday, which began on Tuesday, July 1, has ended as of Monday, July 21. In addition, pursuant to article61 of the Administrative Jurisdiction Procedures Law No. 2577 (IYUK), the judicial holiday period, which began on July 20 and will end on the evening of August 31, has officially started. As is well known, during the judicial holiday, both administrative and tax courts, as well as regional administrative courts, suspend their operations until resuming work on September 1.
In this month's bulletin, in which the fiscal holiday has ended, and we have entered the judicial holiday, we have included our bulletins and other studies regarding the important financial regulations made in the period of July 2025.
In these days, it seems there is no holiday for professionals and finance department employees, as full certification reports for the previous year are being prepared and submitted to the Revenue Administration, second provisional tax calculations for the current period are underway, and new tax regulations are being introduced.
Some of the significant changes made in our fiscal legislation in July are listed below chronologically, under main headings:
- The fixed Special Consumption Tax (SCT) amounts for petroleum products listed in List I and for tobacco products and alcoholic beverages listed in List III annexed to the SCT Law have been increased as of July 3, 2025,
- The threshold amount for tax debts eligible for installment without collateral has been increased from TRY 50,000 to TRY250,000 (Presidential Decree No. 10040),
- The withholding tax rates on income derived from investment fund participation certificates and on interest from deposits have been increased (Presidential Decree No. 10041)
- Amendments have been made to the Communiqué regarding commercial books,
- The General Communiqué on the restructuring of certain receivables under Law No. 7440 was published,
- The installment payment periods of the restructuring laws numbered 7256 and 7326 have been extended for taxpayers located in the earthquake zone, where the force majeure status has been decided to continue,
- For foreign currency and gold denominated loans, the Resource Utilization Support Fund (RUSF) deduction rate, previously applied as 0%, over the principal amount of the loan has been increased to 1%, (Presidential Decree No. 10094),
- Law No. 7555 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency and Amendments to Some Laws has been published,
- SCT rates on passenger cars have been redetermined (Law No. 7555 and Presidential Decree No. 10115),
- A draft communiqué amending VAT Communiqué No. 55 has been prepared and announced to the public on the Revenue Administration's website for further development and preparation for publication.
You can find the details of all these and similar topics in the following pages of our bulletin.
Hereby, I wish all our readers a peaceful summer season during these scorching hot days.
TAX
BULLETIN: TAX 2025-047 09/07/2025
WITHHOLDING TAX RATES ON INVESTMENT FUND PARTICIPATION CERTIFICATES AND THE WITHHOLDING TAX RATES APPLIED TO DEPOSIT INTEREST HAVE BEEN INCREASED
The disposal, redemption to the fund, or dividend distributions of investment fund participation certificates are essentially subject to withholding tax in accordance with Provisional article 67 of the Income Tax Law.
The taxation applied in this manner constitutes final taxation for income tax taxpayers. However, gains arising from the disposal of investment fund participation certificates may voluntarily be included in the annual or individual tax return pursuant to clause 11 of the same article. While the applicable income tax rate for voluntarily submitted annual and individual returns was 15%, this rate has also been increased to 17.5% by the same decision.
For income and gains derived from investment funds acquired between 23/12/2020 and 31/10/2024 (inclusive), excluding variable, balanced, Eurobond, foreign debt, foreign, and hedge funds, as well as those with "foreign currency" in their title, the 0% withholding tax rate set forth under Provisional article 3 of Council of Ministers Decree No. 2006/10731 remains in effect.
Likewise, the withholding tax rates applied to interest on deposits and profit shares paid in return for participation accounts by participation banks are also determined by Council of Ministers Decree No. 2006/10731.
According to the Decree:
- A 15% withholding tax rate applies to demand and notice accounts, as well as to term accounts with a maturity of up to 6 months (including 6 months),
- A 12% withholding tax rate applies to term accounts with a maturity of up to 1 year (including 1 year).
By Presidential Decree, effective from 09/07/2025, the withholding tax rates applicable to interest and profit shares paid on demand and special current accounts, as well as on term accounts opened or renewed as of that date, have been revised as follows:
- 17.5% for demand and notice accounts, and for term accounts with a maturity of up to 6 months (including 6 months),
- 15% for term accounts with a maturity of up to 1 year (including 1 year).
You can review our Bulletin for the details.
BULLETIN: TAX 2025-048 09/07/2025
AMENDMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE REGARDING THE CLOSURE OF EXPORT COMMITMENTS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE CERTIFICATE OF EXEMPTION FROM TAXES, DUTIES, AND CHARGES
The Presidential Decree on the Amendment to the Decree on Tax, Duty and Fee Exemption for Export, Transit Trade, Sales and Deliveries Deemed as Export and Services and Activities That Earn Foreign Exchange, and the Communiqué (Export: 2025/1) on the Amendment to the Communiqué (Export: 2017/4) on Tax, Duty and Fee Exemption for Export, Transit Trade, Sales and Deliveries Deemed as Export and Services and Activities That Earn Foreign Exchange were published in the Official Gazette dated 09/07/2025 and numbered 32951.
In the said Decree and Communiqué, certain changes have been made regarding the closure of export commitments related to export, transit trade, sales and deliveries deemed as export, and foreign exchange earning services and activities, which benefit from the exemption based on the Tax, Duty and Fee Exemption Certificate to be obtained from the Ministry of Trade.
You can review our Bulletin for the details.
BULLETIN: TAX 2025-049 16/07/2025
AMENDMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE COMMUNIQUÉ ON COMMERCIAL BOOKS
Certain amendments have been made to the "Communiqué on Commercial Books" (the Communiqué), which was published in the Official Gazette dated 19/12/2012 and numbered 28502, through the "Communiqué Amending the Communiqué on Commercial Books" (the Amending Communiqué), published in the Official Gazette dated 10/07/2025 and numbered 32952.
You can review our Bulletin for the details.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: TAX 2025-015 18/07/2025
JUDICIAL HOLIDAY FOR THE YEAR 2025
The judicial holiday refers to the period during which judicial bodies suspend their activities for a certain time of the year. According to article 61 of the Administrative Jurisdiction Procedures Law No. 2577, "Regional administrative, administrative, and tax courts suspend their activities every year from July 20 to August 31, resuming on the first of September." However, this does not mean that lawsuits cannot be filed or petitions cannot be submitted during the judicial holiday.
The start and end dates of the judicial holiday are the same across all branches of the judiciary. As is known, the time limit for filing lawsuits against payment orders is set out in the Law No. 6183 on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables. Whether this time limit is extended when it coincides with the judicial holiday is a matter of debate in practice, the judiciary, and doctrine. Therefore, when payment orders are issued, it is advisable to file lawsuits within fifteen days without taking the risk of relying on a possible extension due to the judicial holiday, in order to ensure a stay of execution.
You can review our Announcement for the details.
BULLETIN: TAX 2025-050 24/07/2025
TO THE VAT LAW UNDER LAW NO. 7555
The Law No. 7555 titled "Law on Amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency and Certain Laws and to the Decree Law No. 635" has been published.
With this Law, among other regulations, several significant amendments have been made to our tax legislation.
With Law No. 7555, the amendments made to the VAT Law are summarised as follows:
- Deliveries of vehicles to national security institutions have been included within the scope of VAT exemption.
- Transfers and deliveries made through the sale of immovable properties owned by foundation trusts represented and managed by the General Directorate of Foundations have been included within the scope of VAT exemption.
- SCT amounts calculated and secured during the import of petroleum products have been included in the VAT base.
You can review our Bulletin for the details.
BULLETIN: TAX 2025-051 25/07/2025
LIMITATIONS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO THE INCOME TAX AND STAMP TAX EXEMPTION ON PERSONNEL SALARIES PROVIDED UNDER VARIOUS LAWS THAT PROMOTE R&D ACTIVITIES
In our country, the "Law No. 4691 on Technology Development Zones," the "Law No. 5746 on Supporting Research, Development and Design Activities," and the "Law No. 6550 on Supporting Research Infrastructures", which support and encourage R&D activities, generally provide significant tax and other incentives to taxpayers engaged in R&D activities.
One of the most important incentives is the income tax and stamp tax exemption provided on the salaries of personnel involved in these activities. In Laws No. 4691 and 5746, the income tax exemption incentive is granted to the employer through the cancellation of the tax accrued without applying the exemption. In Law No. 6550, on the other hand, since the salary is directly exempted, this advantage belongs to the employee.
You can review our Bulletin for the details.
BULLETIN: TAX 2025-052 25/07/2025
SPECIAL CONSUMPTION TAX RATES FOR PASSENGER CARS HAVE BEEN REDETERMINED
Passenger cars are classified under Customs Tariff Statistical Position (HS Code) number 87.03 and are subject to proportional SCT as included in List (II) annexed to the SCT Law.
With article 15 of Law No. 7555, published in the Official Gazette dated 24/07/2025 and numbered 32965, the SCT rates and the SCT bases on which these rates are calculated for certain goods listed under the "-Others" subheading of HS Code number 87.03 in List (II) have been amended to take effect as of 24/07/2025.
To access the relevant Presidential Decree, please click here.
You can review our Bulletin for the details.
BULLETIN: TAX 2025-053 25/07/2025
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE REDUCED CORPORATE TAX PRACTICE UNDER LAW NO. 7555
With article 18 of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency and Certain Laws and to the Decree Law No. 635 ("the Law"), published in the Official Gazette dated 24/07/2025 and numbered 32965, very important changes have been made to the reduced corporate tax practice regulated under article 32/A of the Corporate Tax Law ("CTL").
Pursuant to article 27/1-c of the Law, we would like to emphasize in advance that these amendments shall apply to investment incentive certificates obtained on or after the publication date of the Law, i.e., 24/07/2025, except for those that were applied for before 16/06/2025 and were not rejected. Accordingly, for investment incentive certificates obtained before 24/07/2025, as well as those applied for before 16/06/2025 but not rejected even if granted after that date, the provisions of article 32/A of the CTL prior to the amendments introduced by this Law shall remain applicable.
Within this scope:
- A time limitation has been introduced for the application of the reduced corporate tax rate.
- The distinction between the investment period and the operational period has been removed.
- The amount of investment contribution that can be used from income generated through other activities has been restricted.
- A provision has been added stating that the unused portion of the investment contribution amount cannot be carried forward to subsequent periods.
- The maximum investment contribution rate is set at 50%.
- The corporate tax reduction rate has been determined as a single rate of 60%.
- For project-based investments within the scope of Law No. 6745, the President has been granted the authority to extend periods and increase rates.
You can review our Bulletin for the details.
To read this Newsletter in full, please click here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
