Almost every commercial venture in Türkiye is carried on through one of two capital companies: the joint stock company (anonim şirket, A.Ş.) or the limited liability company (limited şirket, Ltd. Şti.). In both, the shareholders’ exposure is confined to the capital they have subscribed; neither imposes any restriction on the nationality or residence of shareholders or of the people who manage the company.

Incorporation runs through MERSİS, the central trade registry system, and is completed at the trade registry directorate of the chamber of commerce in the province where the company will have its registered office. Since the 2018 reforms most of the steps that once required separate visits to a notary, the tax office and the social security institution are handled in that single place.

1. 01

   Clear the company name and register it on MERSİS

   The trade name must be distinguishable from names already on the register and must state the field of activity. The draft articles of association are prepared and filed on MERSİS, which issues the application number the registry works from.

   MERSİS · TRADE REGISTRY
2. 02

   Sign the articles of association

   The founders sign the articles before authorised personnel at the trade registry directorate, or before a notary. Where a founder signs through an attorney, the power of attorney must expressly authorise the incorporation.

   TRADE REGISTRY OR NOTARY
3. 03

   Prepare the founders’ declaration and the manager or director appointments

   The founders’ declaration is signed by all founders. Directors or managers who are not founders accept their office in writing, and each person authorised to bind the company gives a signature declaration — issued by the trade registry directorate itself, so a separate notarised signature circular is not needed at this stage.

   FOUNDERS · TRADE REGISTRY
4. 04

   Pay the Competition Authority share

   0.04% of the capital stated in the articles is paid to the account of the Turkish Competition Authority. The receipt is filed with the application.

   BANK
5. 05

   Pay in capital where the form requires it

   A joint stock company must pay at least 25% of the cash capital into a blocked bank account before registration and produce the bank’s letter. A limited liability company need not pay anything in advance; its capital is payable within 24 months of registration. Capital contributed in kind is valued by an expert report obtained from the commercial court.

   BANK · A.Ş. ONLY
6. 06

   File the registration application

   The application form and supporting documents are lodged with the trade registry directorate. On approval the company is entered in the register and acquires legal personality; the registration is announced in the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette.

   TRADE REGISTRY
7. 07

   Opening approval of the statutory books

   For companies incorporated in Türkiye the opening approvals of the statutory books are given by the trade registry directorate at the moment of registration. In later years the approvals are obtained from a notary, or the company keeps its books electronically under the e-defter regime.

   TRADE REGISTRY
8. 08

   Set up invoicing

   Companies within the scope of the electronic document regime issue e-fatura and e-arşiv invoices and keep e-defter books; the scope has been widened repeatedly and now catches most companies of any size. A company outside the scope has its invoices printed by a contracted printing house or approved by a notary before use.

   REVENUE ADMINISTRATION

The list below is the standard set for a company with foreign founders. Registries apply it with small local variations, and an activity subject to licensing will call for more.

1. 01
   Petition and registration application formSigned by the company’s authorised representative.
2. 02
   Articles of associationSigned by the founders before the trade registry directorate or a notary.
3. 03
   Identification of the foundersIndividuals: passport copies, translated and notarised. Legal entities: a current registry extract and the resolution authorising participation, apostilled and translated.
4. 04
   Turkish tax numbers for the foundersA potential tax number is obtained for each foreign founder and for each foreign director; it can be applied for online or at any tax office.
5. 05
   Signature declarationsFor every person authorised to represent and bind the company.
6. 06
   Founders’ declarationSigned by all founders.
7. 07
   Competition Authority receipt0.04% of the capital.
8. 08
   Bank letter for the paid-in capitalJoint stock companies only — at least 25% of the cash capital, held in a blocked account until registration.
9. 09
   Chamber registration declarationWith photographs of the founders or of the authorised representatives.
10. 10
    Acceptance of officeWritten acceptance by directors or managers who are not founders.
11. 11
    Valuation reportOnly where capital is contributed in kind; obtained from the commercial court.
12. 12
    Power of attorneyNotarised and, if executed abroad, apostilled — so that we can carry the process through on the founders’ behalf.

Registration used to be the start of a second round of applications. Most of those are now made for the company automatically, on the strength of the trade registry’s notification.

• Tax office. The trade registry notifies the tax office, which opens the company’s record and sends an officer to confirm the registered address. No separate application is filed.
• Social security. The workplace is registered with the Social Security Institution automatically on the same notification, whether or not the company has employees yet. A workplace declaration is needed later only for a new branch or a transfer.
• Chamber of commerce or industry. Membership follows registration; the chamber’s own formalities are completed as part of the application.
• Municipality. A business licence (işyeri açma ve çalışma ruhsatı) is obtained from the municipality for the premises before operations begin. Activities that are regulated — food, health, education, manufacturing — need their sector permit as well.
• Employees. Each employee is notified to the Social Security Institution no later than the day before work starts.

A Turkish company is taxed on its worldwide income, files advance corporate tax quarterly and an annual return after the year end, and accounts for VAT and payroll withholdings monthly. The rates below are those in force for 2026.

Corporate income tax

Value added tax

The general rate is 20%. Reduced rates of 10% and 1% apply to listed goods and services — basic foodstuffs, certain deliveries of housing, books, and specified health and education supplies among them. VAT is declared and paid monthly; input VAT that cannot be recovered against output VAT is carried forward, and is refundable only in the cases the law names, such as exports, deliveries exempt with the right of deduction, and supplies taxed at a reduced rate.

Payroll

Severance and notice

An employee who has completed a year’s service and whose contract ends for one of the reasons the law lists — dismissal other than for serious misconduct, resignation for just cause, military service, retirement, marriage in the case of a woman within a year, or death — is entitled to severance pay of 30 days’ gross wage for each full year of service, capped at TRY 73,729.87 per year for the period 1 July to 31 December 2026. Severance is exempt from social security premiums and, up to the cap, from income tax; only stamp duty is withheld. Where an employment contract is terminated without observing the statutory notice period, notice pay is due in addition — two to eight weeks’ wage according to length of service, and taxed as a wage.

Records, documents and payments

• Accounting records are kept in Turkish and in Turkish lira, under the Tax Procedure Law and the Turkish Commercial Code. Books are either approved by a notary before use or kept electronically under the e-defter regime, with the monthly certificates filed with the Revenue Administration.
• Invoices, delivery notes and the other statutory documents follow a prescribed form and numbering. For companies within scope these are issued electronically, and the Revenue Administration holds a copy of every document as it is issued.
• Collections and payments above TRY 7,000 between businesses, and all wage payments, must pass through a bank or another authorised financial institution.
• The Form Ba and Form Bs listings of purchases and sales were abolished in 2024; the Revenue Administration now draws the same information from electronic documents.
• A resource utilisation support fund levy of 6% is payable on imports made on deferred payment terms — acceptance credit, deferred letter of credit or cash against goods. Imports paid in advance are outside it.
• Transactions with related parties must meet the arm’s length standard; companies within the thresholds prepare transfer pricing documentation and file the annual transfer pricing form with the corporate tax return.

Audit and certification

Companies that exceed the thresholds set each year by Presidential Decision are subject to independent audit under the Turkish Commercial Code. Separately, a company that engages a Sworn-in Certified Public Accountant under a full certification (tam tasdik) agreement has its corporate tax return certified, which is a condition of access to a number of exemptions and refunds and narrows the field on a subsequent tax inspection.

Foreign investors are treated on the same footing as Turkish investors under the Direct Foreign Investment Law No. 4875. No permission or approval is needed to form a company, to increase its capital or to transfer shares.

• Annual notification. A company with foreign capital files an activity information form each year through E-TUYS, the ministry’s electronic system, by 31 May. Capital increases and share transfers involving a foreign shareholder are notified through the same system.
• Tax numbers. Every foreign shareholder and every foreign director needs a Turkish potential tax number before the application is filed. It is issued on a passport copy and takes no time.
• Documents from abroad. Corporate documents and passports are apostilled in the country of origin, then translated by a sworn translator and notarised in Türkiye. Preparing these is usually the longest part of the timetable.
• Work and residence permits. A foreign national who will work in the company needs a work permit. The requirements differ according to the company’s capital and the number of Turkish employees, and are worth checking before the structure is fixed.
• Branch or liaison office. A foreign company may instead register a branch, or open a liaison office that may not trade and exists only for representation and market research. Each has its own registration route and its own reporting duties.
• Investment incentives. Manufacturing and certain service investments may qualify for an investment incentive certificate carrying customs and VAT exemptions, tax reductions and social security support. The certificate must be obtained before the investment is made.