Social Security Law and Legislation

10April2015

Inconsistencies in Headcount between Tax and SSI Declarations

The headcount reported in monthly SSI premium declarations and in withholding tax returns is subject to cross-check by the state auditors. Therefore, inconsistencies between these declarations pose a risk.

It has been noted that state auditors have been forwarding random audit reports to related SSI Offices and seeking information from companies based on the cross-checked results.

This is a fairly recent practice given that inconsistencies between headcount reports in withholding tax and SSI declarations were not scrutinized before.

Author Selma Kıy, Category Social Security Law and Legislation, Taxation Law

08April2015

Regulation on the Social Security Insurance of Domestic Service Workers

A communiqué regarding the social security insurance of domestic service workers within the scope of supplementary article 8 of the law on Social Security enumerated 5510 has been published and is in effect as of 01/04/2015. Domestic service work comprises domestic help such as cleaning, cooking, child as well as elderly care.

Domestic service workers are now categorized according to the days worked in a calendar month, threshold being 10 days. Accordingly, employers who employ domestic service workers 10 days or more are obliged to contribute the full SSI amount.

Author Selma Kıy, Category Social Security Law and Legislation, Taxation Law

31March2015

SSI Circular no. 2015/10 Concerning the Application for SSI Employer Incentives Retroactively

There are about ten different employer incentives in the social security and labour laws and regulations in Türkiye. These incentives serve the purpose of encouraging growth and sustainability of employment.

Employers are eligible to claim the incentive for a percentage of the 'employer' SSI premium portion. This portion is then subsequently paid by the Treasury.

In cases where the insured employee is eligible under multiple incentive laws and regulations, employers are only allowed to apply for one – not every applicable – incentive and indicate the applicable law in their monthly premium declarations.

Until recently, it was possible for employers to change the applicable incentives on a monthly basis and demand a retroactive application / calculation of the most recent incentive.

The recent SSI circular dated 18/03/2015 puts an end to retroactive application of SSI incentives in cases where an employer applies to change one SSI incentive in lieu of another.

Author CottGroup Hukuk ve Mevzuat Ekibi, Category Social Security Law and Legislation

24March2015

Calculation of Paid Premium Days

The Employer Practice Official SSI Communiqué specifies the default calculation of Premium days as 30 in a calendar month. Regardless of the actual days of the month, employers are required to declare worked days as 30. Effectively, when the total days of the month are 28, 29 or 31, worked days must be entered into the system as 30.

When an employee is transferred to a different workplace of the same employer, or the employer workplace is transferred to a different SSI center, the worked days declaration is to be made as 30 days provided that employment is uninterrupted. The 30 days rule tends to create confusion especially in the month of February. However, employers are advised to apply the rule in all cases where employment is uninterrupted and continuous.

Author CottGroup Hukuk ve Mevzuat Ekibi, Category Social Security Law and Legislation