The Law on Making Amendments in Tax Laws and Certain Statutory Decrees (“Law”) was published in (2nd repeating) Official Gazette on 27.03.2018. Most of the provisions entered into force on 27.03.2018.
- Pursuant to the alteration made in Article 23 of the Income Tax Law, benefits granted by the employer to female employees by means of kindergarten service shall be exempted from the income tax. In case this service is not provided by the employer, this exception clause shall be enjoyed for every child, provided that such amount does not exceed 15% of the gross amount of monthly minimum wage. This provision entered into force on 27.03.2018.
- Compensations paid to employees after the termination of their employment agreements within the scope of reciprocal termination agreements or mutual recession agreements; job loss compensations, termination compensations and employment security compensations or similar payments made under any other name shall be included in the exemption from income tax. This provision entered into force on 27.03.2018.
- Paragraph 6 to Article 5 of the Tax Procedure Law is added. Accordingly, providing information which is requested by public institutions and organizations from tax payers in line with their relevant legislation and related directly to the duties of these institutions and organizations shall not be regarded as violation of secrecy of taxes. This provision entered into force on 27.03.2018.
- Foreign exchange differences arising due to the portion of foreign currency accounts that are brought in from abroad as investment capital within the scope of investment incentive certificate up to the end of the accounting period following the accounting period in which they commence work can be taken into a special fund account. Parts of these foreign currencies that are not used are valued by stock exchange rates. In order to benefit from this provision, taxpayers should apply for investment incentive certificate until the end of third month following the completion of the registration in the Trade Registry, and shall obtain the certificate until the end of accounting period they commenced work. This provision entered into force on 27.03.2018 and shall be applicable to companies registered after the publication date of the Law.
- The value-added taxpayers, holding an industrial registry certificate, shall be exempted from value-added tax until 31.12.2019 for the purchase of new machinery and equipments to be used exclusively for the manufacturing industry. Additionally, purchase of new machinery and equipments to be used in the technology development areas and the specialized technology development areas within the Law on Technology Development Areas, in research and development and design centers within the Law on Promotion of Research, Development and Design Activities, in research laboratories within the Law on Promotion of Research Infrastructure, to be used exclusively for research and development activities shall also be exempted from value-added tax until 31.12.2019. This provision shall enter into force on 01.05.2018.