Taxation of liaison offices opened by limited taxpayers in Turkey

02.06.2021

Liaison offices are established and operated in accordance with the regulations contained in the Foreign Capital Framework Decision and the Communiqués on the Foreign Capital Framework Decision based on this Decision. According to the current legal regulations, liaison offices cannot carry out commercial activities in Turkey, cannot transfer profits and have to cover all their expenses with the foreign currency they will bring from abroad.

Since it is legally forbidden for liaison offices to do business in Turkey, within the framework of the above definitions, it is not possible to accept the workplace of the liaison office and the persons assigned to carry out the business of this office as permanent representatives.

Within the framework of these explanations, if the liaison office operates within the framework of the relevant legislation, in other words, if it does not engage in commercial or other income generating activities, the following are not required:

– Corporate tax liability establishment,

– Notification of starting work,

– Submitting corporate tax returns,

– Keeping a book in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Procedure Law

It is explicit that all these obligations will be fulfilled if commercial activities are carried out.

On the other hand, since the liaison offices are responsible for withholding on the wages of workers and workplace rent payments, these offices are liable in terms of withholding.

Source: Revenue Administration of Republic of Turkey – Translated by Karen Audit – The rights of this translation belong to KarenAudit and unauthorized use is prohibited.
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