Guide for Foreign Investors and Expatriates
Companies · Tax · Employment · Incentives · Permits · Property · Citizenship
“We wrote this guide to answer the questions our clients ask first: which company to set up, what taxes apply, how to hire, and how to live and work here as a foreigner.”Foreword, Level InternationalDownload the PDF
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Costs, timeline and the registered office for a new Turkish company.
Setting up a Turkish company involves three kinds of cost: capital that stays in the company, one-off set-up costs, and monthly running costs for compliance. Registration itself can be done in a day; most foreign investors should plan for one to three weeks from start to a working bank account.
Every Turkish company must have a registered address in Türkiye. It appears in the articles of association and the trade registry, and the tax office visits it after registration to confirm the business really exists there. Choosing an address that will pass this inspection avoids delays in getting your tax registration.
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Hiring, outsourcing and, when the time comes, closing a company.
A Turkish employer can hire foreign nationals once it obtains a work permit for them from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The Ministry looks at the employer as well as the employee, so it is worth checking the criteria before you make an offer.
If you want people in Türkiye before setting up a company, or want to run a Turkish company without building a local back office, you have three options: an employer of record (EOR) arrangement, setting up your own company and outsourcing payroll and accounting, or a combination of the two. Turkish law regulates temporary agency work closely, so EOR arrangements need careful structuring.
A Turkish company is closed through a formal liquidation: the shareholders decide to dissolve it, a liquidator settles its affairs, creditors are invited to claim, and only then is the company struck off the trade registry. Because of the mandatory creditor waiting period, a standard liquidation usually takes a year or more. Unpaid tax and social security debts can pass to managers and shareholders, so closing properly matters.
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The Turkish tax system and the rules on related-party pricing.
Türkiye taxes companies at 25% on their profits, charges 20% standard VAT, and taxes individuals at progressive rates from 15% to 40%. Companies file monthly, quarterly and annual returns, and many TRY thresholds are revalued every January. This page summarises the main taxes; each links to a detailed guide.
Transactions between a Turkish company and its related parties must be priced at arm's length, following OECD methods. Companies document this in an annual transfer pricing form and report; larger groups also prepare a master file and a country-by-country report. Non-arm's-length profit is treated as a disguised profit distribution.
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Practical steps for moving to Türkiye with your family.
Moving to Türkiye involves a few official steps in the right order — permit, address registration, foreigner ID number — and a set of practical ones: health insurance, a bank account, schools and a phone. This checklist covers the first months. Rules on driving licences, phones and belongings change from time to time, so check the current requirements before you move.
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Where to set up, and how trade and customs work.
Most foreign companies start in Istanbul, Türkiye's commercial and financial centre. But the right location depends on what you do: manufacturers often choose the industrial belt around Kocaeli and Bursa, exporters look at Izmir's ports, public-sector suppliers go to Ankara, and tourism businesses to Antalya and the coast. Location can also change the incentives you receive.
Türkiye has been in a customs union with the European Union for industrial goods since 1996: goods travelling with an A.TR certificate move between Türkiye and the EU free of customs duty. Türkiye also has free trade agreements with many other countries, free zones for storage and manufacturing, and customs regimes that let exporters import inputs without paying duties. Imports are subject to import VAT and, for some products, additional duties.
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