The Law No: 6661 on Military Service and Amendment of Certain Laws has been published in the Official Gazette dated 27 January 2016, No: 29606 and entered into force. With Article 17 of the said Law and Provisional Article 68 added to the Law No: 5510 on Social Security and General Health Insurance, the SGK (Social Security Institution) incentive granted to employers for 2016 has been declared. According to this article, regarding the total number of premium payment days of insured declared in the monthly premium and service declaration (APHB) to be approved in 2016, for insured declared with a daily income of 85 TL as basis for premium and below declared in APHB submitted to the Institution in the same month of 2015, in other words, the insured whose monthly SGK base is declared as 2550 TL and below, on condition to not exceed the total number of days of premium, daily 3.33 TL will be deducted from the total employer’s premium to be paid to the Institution and this amount will be covered for the whole year 2016 by the Treasury. Thus, additional treasury incentive will be provided, which will not exceed 99.90 TL monthly, per person.

As it has been announced in the trade registry gazette dated 31.12.2015, the Minimum Wage Determination Commission has resolved that the daily minimum wage amount will be increased to 54.9 TRY, which equates to a monthly amount of 1,647.00 TRY. Together with the increase in minimum wage, there has also been a revision of the exceptions on premiums related to general health. Previously, individuals who underwent an income analysis and were found to earn 424.50 TRY or less per month were not required to pay premiums related to general health insurance. With the new minimum wage amount, the exemption rule has been revised so that individuals earning up to 549.00 TRY are not required to pay premiums for general health insurance. It is therefore advisable that individuals undergo an additional income analysis by the relevant authorities in their jurisdictions.

"Decision to determine the effective date of certain agreements’’ has been published in official gazette  numbered 29593 and dated 14.01.2016. Double – Tax Agreement made with Kosovo in 15.10.2015 and  Double – Tax Agreement made with Mexico in 23.07.2015 entered in force with this decision.

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a. Minimum Wage

The decision of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission related to the minimum wage amount applicable in 2016 has been published in the Official Gazette dated 31 December 2015 and numbered 29579.

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