In the well-intentioned warning letters/notifications sent by the Social Security Institution to some employers, it has been determined that the wages (SSI premium earnings) of the qualified employees declared are at or close to the minimum wage. Also, if this situation is detected during the investigations and audits/inspections by the SSI, administrative fines would be applied. In this sense, it was requested from employers to show the necessary sensitivity to be compliant with their social security obligations.

With the Communique No. 323 which is published in Official Gazette dated 30th December, 2022 and numbered 32059, the below exemptions have been updated.

• Income Tax Exempted Meal Allowance
• Income Tax Exempted Commuter Allowance
• Disability Degree Discounts

Income Tax Exempted Meal Allowance

The meal allowance tax exemption amount that is applied as of 1st of January 2023 was announced on 30th December, 2022 dated and 32059 numbered Official Gazette. Based on that the meal allowance which is provided by the employer as defined in the 8th clause of Article 23 of Income Tax Law, exemption amount is defined as 110.00 TRY to be applied as of 1st of January 2023.

The statutory deductions applicable in a standard Turkish payroll are social security premium, income tax, and stamp tax. Also, the salaries generated from liaison offices in Türkiye are exempt from income tax per Article 34/14 of Income Tax Law, and these are only subject to social security.

Also, the income tax exemption as much as the income tax deduction amount calculated over the minimum wage for all wages introduced in 2022 will continue in 2023 as well.

Social Security Premium

Social Security Premium is calculated over wages monthly and paid jointly by the employee and the employer. The contribution rates are as follows:

With the Presidential Decision published in the Official Gazette dated December 29, 2022 and numbered 32058, the application period of the insurance premium incentive numbered 6111, which is included in the temporary article 10 of the Unemployment Insurance Law No. 4447 (In Turkish), is extended until December 31, 2023.

For each insurant employee to be recruited in order to apply the relevant incentive, it is essential that;

• The employee must not have been employed in another business in the last 6 months,
• Men must be older than 18 and younger than 29, and women must be older than 18 years of age,
• The employer must not have any outstanding premium debt and or administrative fines,
• If the employee worked for another employer in the past, such employer must not have benefited from the incentive number 6111 for that employee,
• The employee must have been employed in addition to the average number of persons in the 6-month term prior to his/her date of recruitment,
• An incentive check must be carried out on the SGK (SSI) system for the employees, and an approval must be given via the system if appropriate.
• In addition, incentive numbered 6111 can only be benefited for actual works.