🇹🇷 Highlights
Türkiye has announced its most ambitious tax positioning in a decade.
- Competitive tax rates on par with Singapore and Hong Kong
- 20-year predictability
- VIP investor support
- A unique non-dom regime for individuals
💼 Istanbul Financial Center (İFM): Full Exemption for Transit Trade
If a company is registered in the İFM, transit trade is entirely exempt from taxes. This standard competes not merely with Dubai, but with Singapore and Hong Kong.
💻 Export of Services: 100% Exemption
The tax exemption for the export of services is being increased to 100%, effectively bringing corporate income tax to zero.
🏢 Regional Headquarters in the İFM: 20 Years of Zero Tax
If you relocate a regional head office to the İFM:
- 20 years of corporate income tax exemption
- Personal income tax relief up to 4 times the minimum wage
⚠️ Key criterion: 80% of revenue must be derived from outside Türkiye. This means the regime is deliberately engineered for operations focused on foreign markets—not for domestic Turkish operations.
🏠 Tax Holidays for Returning Residents: Even for Turkish Citizens
One of the most important nuances that had not been articulated so clearly before: Any individual—including Turkish citizens—who has not been a tax resident of Türkiye for the past 3 years receives, upon relocating:
- 20 years of zero tax on foreign-source income
This changes the landscape. Initially, the regime appeared to be designed for foreign nationals. In reality, it also serves the repatriation of the Turkish diaspora holding international assets.
💡 Key Takeaways and Guarantees:
1. 20-Year Predictability as a Core Promise
The duration—20 years—was specifically emphasized. This is critical for foreign investors.
2. The "VIP Service" Concept for Investors
The Minister of Treasury and Finance stated explicitly: "In implementation, we envision an investor-oriented system providing fast and simple market entry, supported by VIP services." This constitutes an acknowledgment of Türkiye's primary challenge—bureaucracy—and a formal commitment to eliminate it for the targeted investor group.
3. The Objective: A Regional Financial Hub
4. 80% as a Critical Threshold
The requirement that "80% of revenue must originate from outside Türkiye" is a crucial qualification.
This means:
- The regime does not apply to companies focused on the domestic Turkish market
- The regime is ideally structured for a regional hub managing assets across the Gulf, Africa, and the CIS from Istanbul
🎯 Who This Regime Genuinely Suits
According to our assessment, the İFM regime with its new terms is optimal for four categories.
- 🌍 Regional Holding Companies
Companies managing operations across multiple jurisdictions (the Gulf, Africa, the CIS, the Balkans) can relocate their headquarters to the İFM with 20 years of zero corporate tax. - 💼 Transit Trade
Bought abroad, sold abroad, without importation into Türkiye.
In the İFM, these transactions enjoy full tax exemption. - 💻 Export of Services
IT firms, engineering bureaus, architectural studios, and legal and management consultancies servicing international clients.
With a 100% exemption, the tax burden on qualifying export earnings is effectively reduced to zero.
- 🏠 High-Net-Worth Individuals from Abroad
20 years of zero tax on foreign-source income.
This is comparable only to the historic regimes of the United Kingdom and Italy—and surpasses current alternatives.