The Premium Based Earnings and Income Tax Exemption Amounts for Meal Allowance Are Being Equalized

With the Draft Law submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, an important amendment is envisaged regarding meal allowances exempt from premium-based earnings under Article 80 of Law No. 5510 on Social Insurance and General Health Insurance.

According to the Draft Law, publicly referred to as the “Omnibus Law” and submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye on March 2, 2026:

If meals are not provided by the employer at the workplace or its annexes, the portion of the daily meal allowance corresponding to the days worked up to TRY 300 will not be subject to premium-based earnings.

This amount:

• Will be increased each year in accordance with the revaluation rate determined under the Tax Procedure Law No. 213.
• Fractions not exceeding 5% of the calculated amount will be disregarded.
• The Social Security Institution Board of Directors will be authorized to increase or decrease the determined amount.

With this regulation, the daily meal allowance amount exempt from income tax and the meal allowance amount exempt from premium-based earnings will be equalized. Furthermore, since the revaluation rate will be used as the basis for annual increases, it is expected that this equality will be maintained in the following years as well.

Additionally, with this amendment, the meal allowance amount has been regulated under a separate sub-paragraph, making its legal framework clearer and more explicit. In this respect, the amendment aims to reduce uncertainties encountered in practice.

The amendments are expected to enter into force on the date of publication of the Law. Following the entry into force, we anticipate that the SSI will issue a circular detailing the implementation procedures and principles.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The proposed regulation clarifies the status of meal allowances with respect to premium-based earnings at the legislative level and introduces a specific upper limit for the application. This development provides legal certainty for employers while also creating the need for operational compliance.

Within this framework:

• Payroll systems will need to be updated. It is important that the daily exemption limit of TRY 300 (and annual revaluation increases) be defined in software systems in a way that allows automatic control.
• Daily amount controls should be implemented in workplaces and internal control mechanisms should be strengthened to prevent the risk of incomplete or incorrect premium declarations.
• Payments exceeding TRY 300 should be calculated separately for the premium-liable portion and SSI declarations should be made based on the correct contribution base.
• Meal card, cash payment, and hybrid models should be reassessed in terms of their legal and financial implications.
• Existing meal allowance practices should be analyzed from both SSI and income tax perspectives.
• Collective labor agreements, employee regulations, and internal policy documents should be reviewed in light of the new regulation.

Following the enactment and entry into force of the draft law, a further comprehensive assessment will be made by also taking into account the secondary legislation regarding its implementation.

You may access the relevant draft law here. (In Turkish)

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