EXEMPTIONS AND EXCEPTIONS TO BE APPLIED TO COMPANIES PURSUANT TO LAW NO. 4691
In accordance with the Technology Development Zones Law No. 4691 and the Implementation Regulation, the following exemptions and exceptions are applied to entrepreneurs/companies engaged in research and development, software, and design development activities in MAKÜ BAKA Technopark.
a. Income and Corporate Tax Exemption for Companies and Entrepreneurs
The income obtained by the managing companies within the scope of this Law and the income obtained exclusively from software and R&D activities in this Zone by income and corporate tax payers operating in the Zone are exempt from income and corporate tax until 31/12/2028.
b. Income Tax Exemption for R&D Personnel
The wages related to the duties of R&D personnel working in the Zone are exempt from income and all kinds of taxes until 31/12/2028. The wages for the time spent outside the Technology Development Zone by software development and R&D personnel within the scope of the R&D project, with the permission of the TGB Managing Company and the approval of the Ministry, are also exempt from income tax.
c. VAT Exemption
During the period when the income of entrepreneurs operating in the technology development zone is exempt from income or corporate tax (until 31/12/2028), the delivery and services they produce exclusively in these zones in the form of system management, data management, business applications, sectoral, internet, mobile, and military command control application software are exempt from value-added tax.
d. Social Security Premium Support
Based on Article 3 of the Law No. 5746 on Supporting Research and Development Activities, half of the employer's share of the social security premium calculated on the wages obtained by the personnel whose wages are exempt from income tax, working in companies operating in Technology Development Zones within the scope of Law No. 4691, is covered from the appropriation to be allocated in the budget of the T.C. Ministry of Treasury and Finance for each employee for a period of 5 (five) years.
e. Income Tax Exemption for Support Personnel
The wages related to the duties of support personnel working in the Zone are exempt from all kinds of taxes until 31/12/2028. The number of support personnel within the scope of the exemption cannot exceed ten percent of the number of R&D personnel.
f. Customs Duty Exemption
Goods imported for use in research related to software, R&D, innovation, and design projects carried out in the Zones within the scope of the Law are exempt from customs duty and all kinds of funds, and the papers and transactions carried out in this context are exempt from stamp duty and fees. The goods imported within this exemption consist of the goods specified in the permit to be sent to the T.C. Ministry of Trade through the Single Window System, approved by the General Directorate for use in research related to R&D, innovation, and design projects.
g. Supports Provided to Faculty Members
Public institution and organization personnel and university personnel needed as researchers and administrative personnel in activities located in the Zone can be employed full-time or part-time with the permission of the institutions they work for. The income obtained by part-time faculty members, lecturers, research assistants, and specialists in return for these services is excluded from the university revolving fund. Personnel to be employed permanently are granted unpaid leave by their institutions, and their relations with their positions continue. For those subject to the Law No. 5434 on the Turkish Republic Retirement Fund, their retirement rights for the periods spent here are reserved, provided that the provisions of Article 31 of the Law No. 5434 are complied with. The provisions of Article 36 of the Higher Education Law No. 2547 that are contrary to the regulations in this article are not applied.
Faculty members can carry out their work in domestic and international temporary assignments as stipulated in Article 39 of the Law No. 2547 with the permission of the University Administrative Board in the organizations in the Zone. The income obtained by faculty members assigned in the Zone with paid leave is excluded from the university revolving fund. In addition, faculty members can establish a company in these zones to commercialize the results of their research with the permission of the University Administrative Board, become partners in an established company, and/or take part in the management of these companies.
h. Permission to Work Outside the Zone
In accordance with Law No. 4691 and the Implementation Regulation, entrepreneurs/companies are provided with the convenience of working outside the Zone to a certain extent within the scope of the project carried out in the Zone. For this purpose, in cases where it is mandatory for some of the activities within the scope of the project to be carried out outside the Zone, the portion of the wages related to these activities outside the Zone, not exceeding one hundred percent, is evaluated within the scope of income tax withholding incentive, provided that it is directly related to the projects carried out by the R&D and design personnel working in the enterprises located in the Zone.
i. Technological Product Investment Permit Support
Entrepreneurs/companies can benefit from existing R&D offices, or they can engage in software development and R&D activities by constructing buildings on the allocated lands where they can obtain usage rights for a certain period. Enterprises can make the necessary investment for the production of the technological product obtained as a result of the R&D projects they start and complete in the Zone, provided that the managing company finds it appropriate and the Ministry grants permission. The production permits for the technological product subject to the investment are primarily granted by the relevant institution and organization, taking the opinion of the Ministry. The activities related to these investments are monitored separately from the R&D activities carried out by the enterprises in the Zone in the books that must be kept in accordance with the Tax Procedure Law No. 213 dated 4/1/1961.
j. Ease of Employing Foreign Personnel
In the Zones, foreign national managers and qualified R&D personnel can be employed within the framework of Law No. 4875, the Law on Work Permits of Foreigners dated 27/2/2003 and numbered 4817, and the relevant legislation provisions.
k. Encouragement of Foreign Investors
Foreign private law legal entities can participate in the managing company within the framework of the Direct Foreign Investments Law No. 4875 dated 5/6/2003 and the relevant legislation provisions. In addition, foreign investors can carry out R&D, Software, and Design activities in the Zone within the scope of Laws No. 4691, 6170, and 6676.
l. Basic Sciences Support
According to Article 35/A of the Technology Development Zones Implementation Regulation No. 4691, the portion of the monthly wage paid to each of the R&D personnel employed by companies with at least a bachelor's degree in basic sciences, equal to the monthly gross amount of the minimum wage applied for that year, is covered from the appropriation to be allocated in the Ministry's budget for two years. The support provided to each Technology Development Zone company within this scope cannot exceed ten percent of the total number of personnel employed in the Technology Development Zone company in the relevant month. If this number is fractional, it is rounded up.
a) This support is also applied in the same way to R&D personnel with a basic sciences degree employed in the managing companies of Technology Development Zones.
b) To benefit from this support, it is essential that the personnel to be employed are hired after 1/7/2017 (inclusive) and are employed for the first time in the relevant Technology Development Zone company.
c) Technology Development Zone managing companies are obliged to notify the Ministry in writing or electronically about the hiring and termination of the personnel employed within the scope of this support.
d) Enterprises that will benefit from this support notify their requests to the Zone managing company. The Zone managing company evaluates whether the request is appropriate. The Zone managing company forwards the application it deems appropriate within this scope to the Ministry through the portal. The Ministry evaluates the application and approves it if it finds it appropriate.
e) Payments related to this support are made by the Ministry on a monthly basis, taking into account the number of social security premium days related to the personnel within the scope of the support.
f) To make payments within the scope of this support, a report showing that the above conditions are met and that the relevant personnel's period wages are paid by the company must be submitted to the Ministry. The amount deemed appropriate by the Ministry is paid to the bank account reported by the company by the end of the month following the date the report is submitted.
g) The minimum information and other relevant issues that must be included in the report to be prepared within the scope of this support are determined by the Ministry.