Turkey company registration

DOING BUSINESS IN TURKEY IN 2024

pay fee by instalmentsbusiness setup without travelGuaranteed solutions

Since 2003, Healy Consultants Group assists multi-national Clients’ with Turkish business set up including i) company incorporation and ii) corporate bank account opening and iii) accounting and tax considerations and iv) legal and compliance considerations and v) employee recruitment and vi) finding quality office premises and vii) Turkish visa and immigration strategies

Compare different Turkey entities Limited Liability Company Free zone company Technology development zone company Mining company Representative office Joint stock company
Also known as Limited şirket Sharikat almanatiq alhura Sharikat tatwir altiknulujia Sharikat altaedin Maktab tamthiliin Anonim şirket
Best use of company? All products and services Manufacturing and related activities R&D activities in high-tech fields Mining and exploration activities Marketing and research activities Manufacturing and export trading
How soon can you invoice Clients/sign sales contracts? 3 weeks 24 weeks 24 weeks 4 weeks Can not invoice 5 weeks
How soon can you hire staff? 3 weeks 24 weeks 24 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks 5 weeks
How soon can you sign a lease agreement? 1 week 1 week 1 week 1 week 1 week 1 week
How long to supply corporate bank account numbers? 4 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks 4 weeks
How long to supply company registration / tax numbers? 3 weeks 24 weeks 24 weeks 4 weeks 3 weeks 5 weeks
Corporate tax rate on annual net profits? 23% 0% 0% 4% No sales 23%
Limited liability entity? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Government grants/incentives available? Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Government approval required for foreign owners? No No No No No No
Resident director/partner/manager/ legal representative required? No No No No Yes No
Must appoint a CPA? Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Minimum paid up share capital? € 1,000 € 1,000 € 1,000 € 1,000 € 1 € 5,000
Can bid for Government contracts? Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Corporate bank account location? Citibank Arap Türk Bankas Burgan Bank Denizbank Deutsche Bank HSBC Bank
Can secure trade finance? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
VAT payable on sales to local customers? 18% 0% 0% 0% N/a 18%
Average total business set up engagement costs? € 17,100 € 16,460 Request a proposal Request a proposal € 13,210 Request a proposal
Average total engagement period? 2 months 7 months 7 months 2 months 2 months 3 months

Turkey business setup summary

Press the link headings below to read detailed, relevant, up to date information.

  • Advantages and disadvantages

    Advantages of Turkey company registration

    business registration in Turkey

    1. Registering a company in Turkey is easy because:
      • A Turkish limited liability company can be incorporated within one week, with a minimum of one shareholder and one director of any nationality. Thus a Turkish entity can be wholly foreign owned;
      • The minimum paid up share capital is €3,300 and our Client does not need to travel to complete the engagement.
    2. A Turkey Free Zone company is fully exempt from all taxes including:
      • A Turkey Free Zone company pays no corporate tax, VAT or customs duty;
      • Free zone companies are also allowed free repatriation of their profits back to the parent company.
    3. Turkey is expected to be the fastest growing economy in Europe:
    4. Turkey boasts an institutionalized economy fuelled by €13 billion in foreign direct investment. Turkey is ranked as the 2nd most attractive destination for foreign investment in the West Asia;
    5. Transporting goods around and out of Turkey is easy because:
      • Turkey boasts a huge amount of railway routes to destinations in Europe and Asia, with direct routes to China planned for the next decade;
      • Turkey is conveniently located between Europe and Asia, reducing transport costs to either continent;
      • Turkey has high-quality low-cost sea transport infrastructure in place, allowing quick shipment of goods throughout Europe.
    6. Turkey offers an excellent business environment, with benefits including:
      • Turkey has an incredibly young population, with more than 27 million people under the age of 25 providing a large supply of skilled and unskilled labour. More than 600,000 students graduate annually from Turkish universities, giving entrepreneurs excellent selection of top-quality workers;
      • Turkey is ranked as the 21st best country in the world for protecting investors, according to the Doing Business study by International Finance Corporation. Turkey is ranked above the OECD average in all major aspects of protecting investors and recent reforms implemented have made Turkey an even safer investment option;
      • Turkey boasts a strong legal system, which processes disputes and settles contracts 4 months quicker than the European average and enforces property rights throughout the country;
      • Entrepreneurs who invest in Turkey are not required to submit their personal details for public record, thereby allowing greater privacy;
      • Turkey is a relatively inexpensive country, compared to other countries in Europe. Office space and apartment rent in Turkey costs only a sixth of what it costs in London.
    7. The government provides numerous investment incentives to foreign entrepreneurs including general, regional, large-scale and strategic investment incentives. Further, the general incentive scheme encompasses an exemption from i) VAT and ii) customs duties on machinery for projects that have an investment incentive certificate.
    8. The minimum share capital for a Turkish LLC is €1,000 and does not need to be paid up during incorporation. Our Client does not need to travel to Turkey to complete company incorporation.
    9. Investors can qualify for Turkish citizenship by investment by either i) making a minimum capital investment of €500,000 or ii) providing employment to a minimum to 50 locals or iii) investing in an immovable property worth €250,000 or iv) keep lowest deposits of $500,000 in local banks for at least 3 years.

    Disadvantages of Turkey company registration

    1. Turkey business registration can be expensive in some circumstances, including:
      • Resident companies must pay a high company tax rate of 23%;
      • Companies purchasing goods must pay an additional VAT rate of 18% on most goods;
      • Short-term business ventures are relatively more expensive, due to high mandatory incorporation fees imposed by the Turkish government;
    2. Our Clients will be required to comply with some difficult government requirements including:
      • While a resident director is not required by law, entrepreneurs who wish to run their business while living in Turkey are required to have lived in Turkey for 5 years prior to being eligible for an entrepreneur visa;
      • Annual audited financial statements must be submitted to the Turkey trade registry including a complete tax return;
      • Incorporation in Turkey requires a visit from a tax officer to company headquarters for the company to be fully compliant, meaning most entrepreneurs will require a full business office with all its expenses for their Turkish company.
    3. Running a Turkish business can be cumbersome because:
      • Turkey suffers from high corruption, being ranked the 78th least corrupt country in the world in the 2018 Corruptions Perception Index by Transparency International;
      • Opening a Turkey corporate bank can be difficult. High global demand for European business setup makes Turkey banks selective of customers;
      • Utilizing the Turkish legal system to settle business disputes is more expensive than in the majority of other European countries;
      • Turkey is ranked 79th in the English Proficiency Index, indicating a very low standard of spoken English. Entrepreneurs will need to make frequent use of a Turkish translator when starting a business in Turkey;
      • Dealing with construction permits in Turkey is a nuisance. Entrepreneurs whose business involves construction should expect long tedious processes and high associated costs;
      • Resolving insolvency is also incredibly difficult to deal with in Turkey. The average time for dealing with insolvency is 3.3 years, almost twice as long as the OECD average. Turkey also has one of the worst insolvency recovery rates in the world at just 22 cents on the dollar;
      • Turkey has a poor reputation with the Financial Action Task Force. Turkey is currently on the FATF blacklist, though it is not on the OECD ‘blacklist’ of tax neutral jurisdictions.
    4. The Turkish lira had sharply depreciated in 2018 and lost 25% of its value against dollar. As a result, the economy has been facing a currency crisis which has resulted in businesses facing difficulty in making or receiving payments from its clients and suppliers. The crisis had further contributed to the country’s slow economic growth in 2018 following which Turkey currently has fewer promising returns for entrepreneurs.
    5. Before incorporating a company, our Client will be required to notarize and apostille or legalize a Power of Attorney (POA) at the Turkish embassy in their country of residence. This process may be costly and time consuming, depending on our Client’s jurisdiction of residence.
    6. Before setting up a company in Turkey, all incorporation documents must be translated to Turkish, an added cost.
    7. Resident companies are subject to a high corporate income tax rate of 23%.
    8. Companies must appoint a local CPA before activation of the tax and VAT number. Sourcing a quality CPA for foreign entrepreneurs can be challenging due to the low proficiency in English in Turkey.
    9. Turkey suffers from high corruption, being ranked the 86th least corrupt country in the world in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International.
    10. Turkey is ranked 69th in the English Proficiency Index, indicating a very low standard of spoken English. Entrepreneurs will need to make frequent use of a Turkish translator when starting a business in Turkey.
  • Best uses for a Turkish company

    1. A Turkey holding company is an excellent way to book global profits while legally minimizing international tax because:
      • Dividend income from all sources is legally tax exempt;
      • Sale of shares of a foreign subsidiary is also fully tax-exempt;
      • Turkey has free trade agreements with 22 countries, reducing export and import duties to 0%;
      • Turkish companies are exempt from capital gains tax, on the condition that the assets had been held for a minimum of 2 years;
      • Turkey boasts 76 international double tax treaties minimising global withholding tax.
    2. Turkey can be a reliable tax exempt headquarters for Europe extracting funds from regional subsidiary companies in the form of dividends, management fees and royalties.
    3. A Turkey company with a minimum share capital of at least €250,000 is eligible for tax benefits including:
      • Eligible companies receive partial exemption from corporate tax, with a maximum 50% exemption rate available;
      • Eligible companies receive complete exemption from withholding tax for the first 10 years of incorporation.
    4. Turkey boasts several industries that are great investment opportunities including:
      • A rapidly growing export sector, with a 325% growth in the sector since 2002. Export-minded entrepreneurs can expect simplified procedures and high quality infrastructure to support the growth of their business;
      • A world-leading agricultural sector, with agriculture being a 350 billion dollar industry in the country;
      • Europe’s fastest growing steel industry, which is now the 10th largest steel industry in the world;
      • Transportation, telecommunications and energy industries that are all technologically on par with other developed countries and receive large amounts of government investment.

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    Contact us

    For additional information on our company registration services in Turkey, please contact our in-house country expert, Mr. Petar Chakarov, directly:
    client relationship officer - Petar
    • Mr. Petar Chakarov
    • Senior Manager, Sales and Business Development
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