Turkey: Omnibus Law Amends A Range Of Turkish Legislation

An omnibus law has been published in Turkey, amending certain aspects of laws relating to expenditure tax, income tax, value added tax, personal pension savings, sentencing and security measures, social security and health insurance, as well as corporate tax. The Law Numbered 6655 was published in Official Gazette number 29580 on 1 January 2016 ("Omnibus Law"), entering into effect the same day.

Significant amendments under the Omnibus Law include:

• Bank and insurance operations tax will not apply for money obtained within the scope of credits for financing machinery and equipment which are purchased specifically for use in manufacturing process by industrial business which hold an industrial registry certificate under Industrial Registry Law Number 6948 (amendment to Article 29(1) of the Expenditure Tax Law).
• The validity period for tax deductions applicable to banks and intermediary institutions has been extended from 31 December 2015 to 31 December 2020 (amendment to Provisional Article 67 of the Income Tax Law).
• The exemption period for computer and software donations made to the Ministry of National Education is extended from 31 December 2015 to 31 December 2020 (amendment to Provisional Article 23 of the Value Added Tax Law).
• The period for partially or completely transferring pension amounts to a personal pension system is extended from 31 December 2015 to 31 December 2017 (amendment to Provisional Article 1 of the Personal Pension Savings and Investment System Law).
• The period during which certain earnings and revenues are not deemed to be commercial enterprise is extended from 31 December 2015 until 31 December 2020 (Amendment to Provisional Article 2 of Corporate Tax Law).

Please see this link for the full text of the Law Number 6655 (only available in Turkish).

Information first published in the MA | Gazette, a fortnightly legal update newsletter produced by Moroğlu Arseven.

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.