Turkey’s Asset Repatriation Programme 2026 is a tax framework that enables individuals and entities to bring foreign-held wealth into the Turkish financial system at preferential tax rates and without retroactive tax inspection of the declared amounts. Announced on 24 April 2026 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as part of the Türkiye Century Strong Center for Investment Program, and detailed the following day by Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, the programme is positioned under the policy heading “Bring It Home” (Eve Getir). It is the eighth asset repatriation programme in Turkish history. Law No. 7582 was published in the Official Gazette dated 4 June 2026 (No. 33270) and entered into force on that date; the implementing communiqué (Series No. 1) was published in the Official Gazette dated 4 July 2026 (No. 33300) and is now in force.
As an Istanbul-based law firm advising international clients on cross-border wealth structuring, our team at Oznur & Partners has worked through what the programme means in practice. The questions arriving from clients are remarkably similar across jurisdictions, and four of them come first.
The figures, deadlines, and procedural conditions referenced in this article rest on Provisional Article 19 of Corporate Tax Law No. 5520, as enacted by Law No. 7582, and on the General Communiqué on Bringing Certain Assets into the Economy (Series No. 1). With that communiqué and the Revenue Administration’s July 2026 guide, the technical mechanics of notification, declaration, valuation, and conversion are now settled.
What separates the 2026 programme from a tax amnesty?
The programme forgives nothing, and that is precisely why it protects. An amnesty cancels a tax debt or penalty that already exists; the 2026 programme instead records a previously undeclared asset under a defined legal status in exchange for a tax of 0% to 5%, and in return paragraph 8 of Provisional Article 19 rules out tax inspection and assessment for the amounts declared. It is a regularisation and compliance framework, and the protection lasts only as long as the transfer, payment, and holding conditions are met.
Who is the programme really built for?
The programme is built for wealth that sits outside Turkey but belongs to people with a Turkish connection: Turkish nationals abroad, dual nationals, Turkish-origin business owners, and foreign nationals planning to relocate under the parallel 20-year foreign income exemption. Domestic income and corporate taxpayers can use it for assets missing from their statutory books, but the economic logic of the package is the attraction of foreign capital.
When does the cheapest version of the programme close?
The cheapest version closes on 31 December 2026, and what the programme asks for is a patient urgency: patience in the instrument, urgency in the filing. A declaration filed by 31 December 2026 applies the rate table without surcharge, so a five-year commitment still reaches 0%; the same declaration filed on 1 January 2027 costs half a percentage point more on every rung, and a full point more if the 31 July 2027 deadline is extended by Presidential decree.
Which step matters most now that the law and the communiqué are in force?
The step that matters most is the one taken before the declaration: once the notification is filed, a two-month transfer window and a ten-day conversion period start running, and neither waits for a bank’s compliance review. Confirming the source-country tax position, preparing source documents, and opening the receiving account in advance are what keep the protection intact.
📌 Latest Development: Revenue Administration guidance, July to September 2026
The Revenue Administration (Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı) published its guide and infographics on the asset repatriation programme on 28 July 2026, following the Series No. 1 Communiqué of 4 July 2026 (Official Gazette No. 33300) and a user guide for recording declared assets in the e-ledger system in mid-July. In September 2026 it also published a separate guide on the 20-year foreign income exemption, whose procedures are set by General Communiqué on Income Tax Serial No. 333. The notification deadline remains 31 July 2027; declarations filed by 31 December 2026 apply the table rates without surcharge.
The rate structure, deadlines, valuation criteria, and procedural steps on this page rest on the enacted law, the Series No. 1 Communiqué, and the Revenue Administration’s published guidance.
⚖️ Has the 2026 Asset Repatriation Programme been published in the Official Gazette? Status of entry into force
Law No. 7582 entered into force through the Official Gazette dated 4 June 2026 (No. 33270); the implementing communiqué (Series No. 1) entered into force through the Official Gazette dated 4 July 2026 (No. 33300). All provisions, including Provisional Article 19 governing the asset repatriation programme, together with their implementing procedures, are in force. In brief, the process unfolded as follows:
- 24 to 25 April 2026: President Erdoğan and Treasury and Finance Minister Şimşek set out the intent behind the package under the Türkiye Century Strong Center for Investment Program.
- 5 May 2026: The bill amending various laws was submitted to the Grand National Assembly. Its Article 10 contained the asset repatriation programme (Provisional Article 19 of the Corporate Tax Law); its Article 4 contained the 20-year foreign income exemption regime (Repeated Article 20/D of the Income Tax Law).
- 6 May 2026: The bill was debated and adopted in the Plan and Budget Committee and referred to the General Assembly. Four articles on the taxation of crypto assets were removed from the package at the committee stage.
- 14 to 15 May 2026 (overnight session): The first five articles of the bill were adopted in the General Assembly, including the provision governing the 20-year foreign income exemption regime (Repeated Article 20/D).
- 21 May 2026: All articles of the omnibus law were adopted in the General Assembly. The bill became Law No. 7582.
- 4 June 2026: Law No. 7582 entered into force through Official Gazette No. 33270. The declaration window opened.
- 4 July 2026: The General Communiqué on Bringing Certain Assets into the Economy (Series No. 1) entered into force through Official Gazette No. 33300, finalising the procedures for notification, declaration, valuation, and conversion.
- 28 July 2026: The Revenue Administration published its guide and infographics on the programme.
The same omnibus law also contains the 20-year foreign income exemption, a corporate tax reduction for exporters and manufacturers, the extension of Istanbul Finance Center advantages to 2047, and an increase in the maximum instalment period for public receivables from 36 to 72 months.
⚖️ What is the 2026 Asset Repatriation Programme, and what does it change?
The 2026 Asset Repatriation Programme is a coordinated tax framework that allows cash, foreign currency, gold, securities, and other capital market instruments held abroad to be brought into Turkey and recorded in the formal financial system in exchange for a low effective tax rate. The defining features of the programme are that no tax inspection or assessment is carried out in respect of the declared amounts, and that the tax is collected at source by the bank or brokerage receiving the notification.
The investor pays a standard rate of 5% on the declared value, but where they commit to holding the asset in term deposits, domestic government debt securities and lease certificates issued under Law No. 4749, or venture capital investment funds for defined periods, the rate falls on a sliding scale to 0%. Once the tax is paid, the asset is transferred into Turkish bank or brokerage accounts and formally integrated into the Turkish financial system.
The “Bring It Home” framing positions the programme as part of a broader capital attraction strategy: in his 25 April 2026 briefing, Minister Şimşek described the goal as drawing Turkish-linked wealth held abroad back into the country and consolidating Turkey’s position as a regional finance hub.
The substantive change operates on three layers. The first is the tax burden of 0% to 5%. The second layer is legal certainty: the prohibition on tax inspection and assessment for the declared amounts, together with a defined offset rule in inspections already under way, addresses the structural uncertainty that has historically discouraged repatriation. The third layer is integration: read alongside the 20-year foreign income exemption in the same Law No. 7582, the programme is the entry point to a multi-year wealth planning framework rather than a standalone tax benefit.
⚖️ Which Turkish lawyers should someone living abroad consult for asset repatriation?
From the outside the package looks simple: declare, transfer, pay the tax. The real complexity lives where two countries’ tax systems intersect, so the right question is not “what is the rate” but “who can read this process in its entirety.”
The answer is not a single specialism. A healthy process requires a view that can track three axes at once: the Turkish tax side (Provisional Article 19, the rate matrix, the two-month transfer window), the source-country tax regime (German exit taxation, the United Kingdom’s current residency regime, US citizenship-based taxation), and the Double Tax Treaties that connect the two. An adviser who looks only at the Turkish side may miss a source-country exit tax that claws back the Turkish advantage; an adviser who looks only at the source country may overlook the timing and procedural conditions on the Turkish side.
In practice, three criteria matter: bilingual working capacity, because document flow and banking coordination run in two languages; continuity in international investor files, because notification, transfer, company formation, and succession planning are links in one file spread over time; and the ability to run banking compliance, source-country steps, and notification timing as a single process inside the two-month window.
At Oznur & Partners we evaluate the 2026 programme at exactly this intersection of three axes, running Turkish tax law, the source-country tax regime, and international double tax treaties within a single coordinated process. The approach we have developed within our foreign investment advisory practice is built on letting the investor living abroad see their obligations in both countries on the same table.
Would you like a case-specific assessment before 31 December 2026?
Our Tax and Investment Law team in Istanbul can review your source-country position, banking route, and rate options before you file a declaration.
⚖️ Why now, and who is the programme designed for?
The 2026 programme is the individual-side instrument of the Türkiye Century Strong Center for Investment Program; the parallel measures for exporters, service exporters, and Istanbul Finance Center investors in the same law form its corporate side.
Four distinct profiles cluster within the programme’s intended audience. The first is Turkish nationals living abroad for extended periods and integrated into the tax systems of their host jurisdictions: the diaspora population in Germany, the Dutch second generation, Turkish professionals in the United Kingdom, and Turkish business owners across the Gulf. The second is dual-nationality investors who hold Turkish citizenship alongside another passport and have distributed wealth across multiple jurisdictions. The third is Turkish-origin business owners holding assets through Switzerland, the UAE, Singapore, or London while tax resident elsewhere. The fourth is foreign nationals preparing to relocate to Turkey.
These groups face different legal regimes: a long-term resident in Germany must contemplate exit taxation (Wegzugsbesteuerung), while a Gulf-based investor faces almost no exit-side obstacle. For each profile, Turkey’s framework must be read against the source-country regime.
It is equally important to identify whom the programme is not primarily designed for. Lifelong Turkish residents who have built wealth within the Turkish tax system are not the architectural target of this package. Income and corporate taxpayers may still declare domestic assets missing from their statutory books under paragraph 3 of Provisional Article 19, but for purely domestic readers the more appropriate frameworks are usually general wealth structuring, succession planning, and corporate restructuring.
⚖️ Eligible Assets Under the Programme
The 2026 programme distinguishes between two categories of declarable assets: those held abroad and those held within Turkey but not recorded in a taxpayer’s statutory accounting books.
The foreign-held category is the principal focus of the programme and is open to any natural or legal person. Under paragraph 1 of Provisional Article 19, the following are within scope:
- Cash: Holdings denominated in Turkish lira or foreign currency
- Foreign currency: Foreign-currency deposits in non-Turkish banks and financial institutions
- Gold: Physical gold and gold accounts held abroad
- Securities and other capital market instruments: Shares, bonds, investment funds, and equivalent capital market instruments
The domestic category under paragraph 3, is available only to income and corporate taxpayers and covers the same asset classes where they exist within Turkey but are absent from the taxpayer’s statutory books: cash in lira or foreign currency, gold, and securities and other capital market instruments. Both categories are notified to a Turkish bank or brokerage, not to the tax office.
Real estate is absent from the statutory text. Paragraph 1 defines the scope as “cash, gold, foreign currency, securities, and other capital market instruments”; immovable property is not on that list. However, the Series No. 1 Communiqué expressly provides that out-of-scope assets such as immovable property may be brought into Turkey within the framework of the Article by being converted into in-scope assets by 31 July 2027. An investor holding foreign real estate may therefore sell the property by that date and include the resulting cash or securities in the package. The source-country tax consequences of the sale (capital gains tax, exit taxation, and the like) must be evaluated separately.
⚖️ The position for investors holding crypto assets
The most notable articles removed during the committee stage of the 2026 bill were the four articles on the taxation of crypto assets. Those articles introduced a separate tax regime independent of the asset repatriation programme; their removal means that a crypto taxation regime was not enacted with this omnibus law. That removal does not directly change the scope of asset repatriation, because the text of Provisional Article 19 did not bring crypto within scope in the first place.
The scope definition in Article 10 of Law No. 7582 uses the formulation “cash, gold, foreign currency, securities, and other capital market instruments.” In Turkish law, “securities and other capital market instruments” is a technical category defined in Article 3 of Capital Markets Law No. 6362 and does not include crypto assets; crypto assets are treated as a separate category that entered Capital Markets Board regulation through Law No. 7518. Accordingly, an investor holding crypto assets on foreign exchanges or in cold wallets cannot declare that asset directly under the asset repatriation programme.
In practice this has two consequences. First, where crypto assets are converted in the source country into fiat currency (USD, EUR, GBP) or into gold, the resulting cash becomes declarable under paragraph 1 of Provisional Article 19. That route carries its own tax consequence, because the crypto sale may trigger source-country capital gains tax. Second, the Series No. 1 Communiqué did not widen the scope definition and introduced no separate opening for crypto assets, so for an investor who does not wish to convert crypto into fiat, the direct declaration route remains closed.
A further distinction is the MASAK dimension. The source of crypto assets is subject to a special layer of scrutiny in the Turkish banking system; documenting the source of crypto assets that have traded across different exchanges over many years is technically more demanding than a standard currency transfer. The investor who intends to bring crypto-derived funds into Turkey should therefore assemble transaction history records, exchange account statements, and inter-wallet transfer records at an early stage; the bank compliance process can face serious delay without these documents.
⚖️ Tax Rate Structure: Standard Rate and Term-Instrument Discount
The applicable tax rate under the 2026 programme is a sliding matrix that depends on two variables: the structure in which the declared asset will be held, and the date of declaration. Under the standard declaration, where the asset is placed into an ordinary bank or brokerage account and taxed on a prepaid basis, the rate is 5%. Where the investor commits to hold the asset in term deposits, domestic government debt securities (DİBS), lease certificates issued under Law No. 4749, or venture capital investment funds for defined periods, the rate falls progressively, reaching zero at the longest commitment.
Table 1: Tax rate matrix under Provisional Article 19, paragraph 6
| Declaration and Holding Structure | Tax Rate |
|---|---|
| Standard declaration (prepaid collection) | 5% |
| Term deposit / DİBS / lease certificate / venture capital fund, at least 1-year holding commitment | 4% |
| Term deposit / DİBS / lease certificate / venture capital fund, at least 2-year holding commitment | 3% |
| Term deposit / DİBS / lease certificate / venture capital fund, at least 3-year holding commitment | 2% |
| Term deposit / DİBS / lease certificate / venture capital fund, at least 4-year holding commitment | 1% |
| Term deposit / DİBS / lease certificate / venture capital fund, at least 5-year holding commitment | 0% |
Table 2: Declaration timing and rate surcharges
| Declaration Window | Rate Effect |
|---|---|
| 4 June 2026 (entry into force) to 31 December 2026 | Table 1 rates apply without surcharge |
| 1 January 2027 to 31 July 2027 (inclusive) | Table 1 rates plus 0.5 percentage points |
| After 31 July 2027, if the deadline is extended by Presidential decree | Table 1 rates plus 1.0 percentage point in total |
This structure presents the investor with two distinct decisions. The first is the holding structure: whether the declared asset will be held in a directly accessible account or locked into a defined-term instrument. An investor who commits to a five-year holding in government debt securities can declare at a 0% rate, while an investor who wants direct use of the asset pays 5%. The second is declaration timing: as the worked examples in the communiqué illustrate, a declaration made on 15 September 2026 with a two-year commitment carries a rate of 3%, whereas a declaration made on 5 February 2027 with a one-year commitment, normally 4%, applies at 4.5%.
The mechanics of collection work as follows: the bank or brokerage collects the applicable tax on the declared value from the declarant on a prepaid basis, declares it as the responsible party on the EK-3 return to its tax office by the evening of the fifteenth day of the month following the declaration, and pays it within the same period. Even where the rate is 0%, the declared assets are included in that return. Where access to the asset is needed soon, the 5% standard rate is the only option; a five-year commitment is both the strongest rate advantage and the longest lock.
⚖️ The Two-Month Transfer Rule
The most operationally critical condition in Provisional Article 19 is the time limit between declaration and physical transfer. Under paragraph 2, an asset declared from abroad must be transferred within two months into a Turkish bank or brokerage account, or physically brought into Turkey. Where assets are physically brought in, the documents relating to the declaration made to the Customs Administration serve as supporting evidence; the Customs Administration reports these declarations to the Revenue Administration by the end of the month following the month of receipt.
The Series No. 1 Communiqué clarifies two practical details. First, for assets physically brought in from abroad, customs procedures must be completed within the two-month period, and the assets must be deposited with a bank or brokerage by the end of the first business day following completion of those customs procedures. Second, the fact that the account holder making the declaration and the person transferring the asset from abroad are different persons is not an obstacle to benefiting from the provision; this flexibility matters for investors who hold assets abroad through a different account or structure.
For domestic assets (paragraph 3), the declaration date itself is decisive: domestic assets absent from statutory books must be deposited with a bank or brokerage as of the declaration date. Foreign assets have a two-month transfer window; domestic assets require the deposit at the moment of declaration.
These timing conditions are the condition for maintaining the legal protection. Paragraph 9 is explicit: if the declared asset is not brought into Turkey or transferred to a bank or brokerage within the period, the investor cannot benefit from the protection against tax inspection in paragraph 8. The same consequence applies where the tax is not paid on time or where commitments are not honoured. In that case, taxes not accrued on time are collected together with default interest but without the tax loss penalty. No amendment is permitted for declarations after the notification period closes (paragraph 10).
⚖️ Procedures and Principles Settled by the Series No. 1 Communiqué
The General Communiqué on Bringing Certain Assets into the Economy (Series No. 1), published in the Official Gazette dated 4 July 2026 (No. 33300), sets the procedures and principles for the implementation of Provisional Article 19. It confirms the rate and timing structure on this page while settling several practical details, which the Revenue Administration’s 28 July 2026 guide then illustrated with worked examples.
Venture capital investment funds added to the qualifying instruments
The instruments that may be the subject of the holding commitment required for the reduced rates (0% to 4%) are listed in the communiqué under four headings: term deposits, domestic government debt securities issued under Law No. 4749, lease certificates, and venture capital investment funds. The rate ladder in Table 1 applies to all of these instruments; a holding commitment of at least five years in a venture capital investment fund likewise secures the 0% rate.
The ten-day conversion requirement
Those who give a commitment for the reduced rate must convert the declared amount into the committed instrument within ten days, counted from the date the asset is transferred to or deposited in Turkey for foreign assets, and from the declaration date for domestic assets. If conversion is not made within this period, the reduced rate is not available; the bank or brokerage collects the tax difference, together with default interest, by way of withholding, without a tax loss penalty. The commitment period starts not on the declaration date but on the date the declared amount is actually placed into the instrument. The two-month transfer window and the ten-day conversion requirement must be planned together.
Notification form, letter of commitment, and multiple declarations
Notification is made to the bank or brokerage using the EK-1 form; for the reduced rate, the EK-2 letter of commitment is submitted at the time of notification, and no stamp duty is charged on it. Banks and brokerages report the tax they collect using the EK-3 return. A single notification is the norm, but because each month in which a notification is made counts as a separate taxation period, more than one notification is possible up to the deadline: for corrections within the same month, overpaid tax may be refunded; in later months, a reducing correction is made by amending the earlier notification, while an increasing notification is made through a new notification. Once the declared assets have been transferred or deposited, earlier notifications can no longer be corrected, and no amendment may be made after 31 July 2027.
Valuation criteria for assets
The communiqué settles the valuation criteria on which notification is based: Turkish lira at nominal value; gold at market value; foreign currency at the CBRT foreign exchange buying rate on the declaration date; equity shares and debt instruments such as bonds, bills, and eurobonds at market rate where available, and otherwise, in order, at market value, acquisition value, and nominal value; investment fund participation units at the closing price in the relevant market; and derivative instruments such as futures and options at market rate.
Out-of-scope assets such as real estate may be brought in through conversion
The communiqué expressly provides that out-of-scope assets such as immovable property may be brought into Turkey within the framework of the Article by being converted into in-scope assets by 31 July 2027. It also imposes no requirement to have owned the asset as of a particular date; owning the asset before or after the publication of the regulation is not an obstacle to benefiting. The source-country tax consequences of a sale must be evaluated separately.
Notification by proxy, legal representative, or on behalf of a company
Notifications may be made directly by natural or legal persons, and also through authorised proxies or legal representatives; banks and brokerages check whether these persons are authorised. The communiqué further allows foreign assets managed by a company’s legal representatives, shareholders, or persons authorised to act on their behalf, on the basis of a power of attorney or representation agreement drawn up by authorised institutions before 4 June 2026, to be notified on behalf of the company. Likewise, assets located in Turkey on behalf of a company but absent from statutory accounting books as of 4 June 2026 may be notified on behalf of the company.
⚖️ Two-Year Capital Lock for Corporate Declarants
Paragraph 4 of Provisional Article 19 imposes a critical condition on taxpayers who keep books (sole traders and companies). Taxpayers maintaining books on the balance sheet basis must, when recording the declared assets in their statutory books, open a special fund account on the liabilities side. This fund account cannot be withdrawn from the business until two years have passed from the declaration date and cannot be used for any purpose other than capital injection. After two years, the fund may be withdrawn from the business without being taken into account in determining taxable income or, for companies, distributable profit.
The two-year lock preserves the “contribution to capital” logic of the law; if the business is liquidated, the fund is not taxed.
For taxpayers keeping a professional income ledger or books on the operating account basis, the procedure is simpler: these assets are shown separately in the books, are not taken into account in determining the period’s income, and, provided two years have passed from the declaration date, may be withdrawn from the business without being taken into account in determining taxable income.
This rule does not apply directly to individual investors. Paragraph 5 provides that persons without income or corporate tax liability benefit from the article’s provisions without the bookkeeping and special fund conditions of paragraph 4, provided they bring their assets into Turkey within the period in paragraph 2. Diaspora investors living abroad without Turkish tax liability fall into this category; the two-year lock does not apply to them.
⚖️ The “No Source-of-Funds Inquiry” Protection: Scope and Boundaries
The central legal feature of the 2026 programme is the protection set out in paragraph 8 of Provisional Article 19: no tax inspection or tax assessment of any kind will be conducted in respect of the amounts corresponding to the declared assets. In practice this means the tax authority does not ask where the declared asset came from, and no retroactive inspection or assessment is issued on those amounts.
The law makes this protection concrete in inspections already under way. Where a tax inspection initiated on other grounds, or a decision of an appraisal commission, identifies a tax base difference and it is established that the difference arose from the declared assets, two possibilities arise. If the declared amount equals or exceeds the identified base difference, no assessment is made on the base difference. If the identified base difference exceeds the declared amount, an assessment is made only on the excess. Where a base difference arises for reasons other than the declared assets, the declared amounts are not offset against it. Notifications made after a tax inspection has begun or a referral to an appraisal commission has been made cannot benefit from this offset; timing is the essence of the protection.
The boundaries of this protection must be understood clearly. The programme is a tax-law instrument, not a criminal-law instrument. Paragraph 8 expressly provides that “measures required under other legislation are not affected by this regulation.” Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) legislation and the counter-terrorist-financing and anti-money-laundering rules continue to operate on their own terms. Declaring an asset that falls within the proceeds-of-crime regime does not remove the criminal liability attaching to it.
The declared asset must therefore come from a legally clean source: business income earned abroad, legitimate capital gains, inherited wealth, and savings form the natural target of the programme.
For the investor, two distinctions are essential. The first is between tax liability and criminal liability; the regulation shields the former while not touching the latter. The second is between Turkish law and source-country law; Turkey’s protection does not change the investor’s tax obligations in the source country. A Turkish national resident in Germany remains subject to their German tax obligations regardless of the Turkish-side recording.
⚖️ Integration with the 20-Year Foreign Income Exemption
The strategic value of the 2026 Asset Repatriation Programme becomes far clearer when read alongside the 20-year foreign income exemption enacted by the same Law No. 7582. Repeated Article 20/D of Income Tax Law No. 193 exempts from income tax, for twenty years, the income and earnings derived outside Turkey by individuals deemed resident in Turkey, provided they had no domicile or tax liability in Turkey during the last three calendar years before being deemed resident. The regime applies to those deemed resident from 1 January 2026, and its procedures, including the exemption certificate issued by the tax office, are set by General Communiqué on Income Tax Serial No. 333.
Although the two are separate legal instruments, they complement each other in target audience and economic logic. Asset repatriation enables past wealth to be brought into Turkey at a low rate; the 20-year exemption regime covers foreign-sourced income for those who move their residency to Turkey.
Table 3: Twin-incentive effect, Asset Repatriation 2026 and the 20-Year Foreign Income Exemption
| Feature | Asset Repatriation 2026 (Provisional Article 19) | 20-Year Foreign Income Exemption (Repeated Article 20/D) |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Bringing existing wealth into Turkey at low tax | Twenty years of exemption on future foreign-sourced income |
| Condition | Notification, transfer within two months, payment, and any holding commitment | No Turkish domicile or tax liability during the last 3 calendar years |
| Scope | Cash, gold, foreign currency, securities, and other capital market instruments | Income and earnings derived outside Turkey |
| Tax advantage | 0% to 5% rate (depending on holding structure and date) | 20-year income tax exemption; 1% Turkish inheritance tax rate during the exemption period |
| Duration | One-time declaration, notification deadline 31 July 2027 | Continuous over 20 years |
| Conceptual frame | Regularising the past | Securing the future |
In practice the two regimes are used in sequence. The investor first declares existing foreign wealth under asset repatriation at the appropriate rate and transfers it into a Turkish bank or brokerage account. The investor then settles in Turkey, obtains the exemption certificate, and begins to benefit from the 20-year exemption on foreign-sourced income.
Law No. 7582 also added a paragraph to Article 16 of Inheritance and Gift Tax Law No. 7338, under which the Turkish inheritance tax rate is 1% for inheritance transfers within the scope of the Repeated Article 20/D exemption during the exemption period. The rate applies only to Turkish inheritance tax; a foreign country’s inheritance tax on the same estate continues to apply under that country’s rules and any applicable treaty. The cross-border succession planning addressed on our inheritance law for foreigners in Turkey page should therefore be run against both systems.
An investor who uses only asset repatriation without moving residency obtains a one-off advantage and keeps earning under a foreign tax regime; planning the two together puts past wealth, future income, and succession under one roof. The residency step itself is covered on our page on how to establish Turkish tax residency.
⚖️ Company Formation: Structuring the Legal Entity that Receives the Asset
The choice of legal entity is a decisive step in the process of bringing foreign wealth into Turkey. The asset can be transferred directly to a personal bank account; but for investors above a certain scale or engaged in forward planning, a corporate structure is a common and generally more rational choice. How company formation in Turkey proceeds and which documents are required are addressed on a separate page; here we focus on the strategic logic of entity choice in the asset repatriation context.
Three entity types are usually compared: a limited liability company (Limited Şirket) for small and mid-sized assets, a joint stock company (Anonim Şirket) for larger capital and share-transfer flexibility, and a holding structure where several companies and multi-generational planning are involved.
Five variables drive the choice: the scale of the asset, the forward investment plan, the succession architecture (a holding integrates more flexibly where heirs live in different jurisdictions), alignment with the 20-year exemption regime, and the two-year capital lock that applies once the asset enters a balance sheet. The capital design matters as much as the entity: incoming wealth can be committed entirely as capital, or partly as capital and partly as a shareholder loan.
Foreign assets reach Turkish company accounts through two channels. For bank transfers, the investor sends a SWIFT transfer from the source-country bank to the Turkish company account, and the Turkish bank requests source-of-funds documents within KYC and customer due diligence. For cash, currency, or gold physically brought into Turkey, a cash declaration is submitted to the Customs Administration and serves as supporting evidence under paragraph 2 of Provisional Article 19. On both channels the notification is made to the bank or brokerage, the holding structure that sets the rate is chosen, and the bank collects the tax on a prepaid basis.
⚖️ MASAK Compliance and the Banking Side
While the legal protections of the 2026 programme provide solid cover on the tax side, banking compliance runs on a separate track. Turkish banks apply customer due diligence (KYC) and enhanced due diligence to incoming transfers as part of Turkey’s compliance with international financial standards. Even for an asset brought in under asset repatriation, the bank may request documents on the source of the transfer, ask for additional information at account opening, and require pre-approval for large-value transfers. These processes operate independently of the tax regulation.
In practice this makes advance preparation of source documents important. Account statements issued by the foreign bank, records showing the accumulation history of the asset (long-term investment account statements, inheritance transfer documents, share transfer records), and documents showing the investor’s tax position in the source country are the core of this preparation. Assembling these documents before the transfer accelerates the compliance review and reduces the risk of rejection.
The MASAK regime, operating under Law No. 5549 on the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime, aims to prevent crime-derived assets from entering the financial system and operates independently of asset repatriation, as paragraph 8 of Provisional Article 19 confirms. Even where an asset is protected on the tax side, a bank that identifies suspicious features in a transaction remains under its suspicious transaction reporting obligation. How these obligations work in practice is covered on our MASAK compliance page.
⚖️ Source-Country Tax Considerations and Double Tax Treaty Interaction
For investors residing abroad and considering the 2026 programme, source-country tax obligations must be evaluated independently of the Turkish framework. Turkey has signed double tax treaties with more than 80 jurisdictions; these treaties govern where income is taxed but do not automatically eliminate exit-side taxes applied when an asset or a person leaves the source country.
Table 4: Source-country exit-point tax regimes by principal country (summary)
| Country | Principal exit-point tax regime | Practical implication for the investor |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Exit taxation (Wegzugsbesteuerung): under certain conditions, a person giving up residency is taxed on unrealised capital gains | A residency change or large-value transfer should always be assessed with German tax counsel in advance |
| Netherlands | Annual wealth-based taxation of savings and investments (Box 3) | Where there is a history of annual Box 3 declarations, the documentary trail for the transfer usually exists; the departure position should still be clarified |
| United Kingdom | The remittance basis regime has been replaced by a residence-based regime for foreign income and gains | For UK residents planning to bring foreign wealth into Turkey, the current UK regime is decisive; no action should be taken without professional advice |
| Gulf states (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar) | Generally no-income-tax or low-tax regimes | The exit-point tax obligation is limited in practice; Turkish-side banking coordination comes to the fore |
| United States | Citizenship-based taxation (worldwide income); expatriation tax may apply on certain status changes | For US-citizen investors of Turkish origin, US tax obligations continue after relocation; parallel planning is mandatory |
| Switzerland | Federal and cantonal wealth tax regimes; lump-sum taxation available in some cantons | Departure planning depends on the canton of residence and the structure of the asset |
| Singapore | Territorial taxation; foreign-sourced income generally not taxed unless remitted | Exit-side considerations are limited; structuring questions focus on the receiving entity in Turkey |
| Canada | Departure tax on the deemed disposition of certain assets at emigration | Planning the date of departure can materially affect the tax cost |
The framework above is a summary; each individual case should be evaluated together with source-country tax counsel.
The United Kingdom’s long-applied remittance basis has been replaced by a new residence-based regime, which has raised new questions for investors who have lived in the UK for years but continue to hold foreign assets; the change is analysed on our page on the end of UK non-dom status. Transfers from the Gulf states carry a lower exit-point obstacle, while the US, with citizenship-based taxation, occupies an exceptional position: relocation to Turkey or an asset transfer does not remove the US filing obligation.
⚖️ Legislative process and timeline
The legislative process of the 2026 programme is complete: the bill was submitted on 5 May 2026, adopted by the Plan and Budget Committee on 6 May 2026 and by the General Assembly on 21 May 2026, published as Law No. 7582 on 4 June 2026, and implemented by the Series No. 1 Communiqué on 4 July 2026.
During the committee deliberations, four articles on the taxation of crypto assets were removed from the package. Opposition parties raised concerns that the measure could facilitate money laundering and lead to Turkey being placed on the FATF grey list; those concerns are the background to the express preservation of other legislation, including MASAK rules, in paragraph 8.
Paragraph 11 of Provisional Article 19 granted the Ministry of Treasury and Finance authority over the form of notification and declaration, the information and documents to be used, and the procedures and principles of implementation. Acting on that authority, the Series No. 1 Communiqué finalised the notification forms, the letter of commitment, the valuation criteria, and the conversion periods. For the official legal text, following the Official Gazette is recommended, and for implementation guidance, the Revenue Administration.
The regulation sets two critical dates. The notification deadline is 31 July 2027, extendable by Presidential decree in successive periods of up to six months for a total of up to one year, with a one-point total rate increase for post-extension notifications; declarations between 1 January and 31 July 2027 attract a half-point increase. Declarations filed by 31 December 2026 apply the table rates without surcharge.
⚖️ The law is in force: what to do now
With Law No. 7582, the Series No. 1 Communiqué, and the Revenue Administration’s guide all published, the declaration window is open and the most advantageous rates apply to declarations filed by 31 December 2026, less than three months away as of October 2026. For the investor who has completed preparation, the formal declaration can now be filed; for those who have not yet started, the remaining steps should begin immediately.
The preparation runs in a fixed order. First, the source-country tax position is confirmed: exit tax for Germany, the residence-based regime for the United Kingdom, Box 3 for the Netherlands. Second, the existing holding structure is reviewed, because it determines the method of transfer. Third, the source-country bank and the receiving Turkish bank are briefed, and the Turkish bank confirms which KYC documents it will require.
Fourth, where a corporate structure is chosen, the company and its account are in place before the declaration. Fifth, the succession plan is revised to match the receiving structure, including the 1% Turkish inheritance tax rate for those entering the 20-year exemption regime. Sixth, source documents are assembled: long-term account statements, inheritance transfer documents, share transfer records, and tax returns. Seventh, the treaty position between Turkey and the source country is checked.
Only then is the notification filed with the bank or brokerage, the tax paid at the committed rate, the transfer completed within two months, and the amount converted into the committed instrument within ten days.
⚖️ How 2026 differs from earlier asset repatriation programmes
Asset repatriation regimes are not new in Turkey. Since the first comprehensive regulation in 2008 (Law No. 5811), similar programmes were enacted in 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022; the 2026 regulation is the eighth asset repatriation programme. Comparing it with its two immediate predecessors shows what is genuinely new and what is not.
Table 5: Comparison of the last three asset repatriation programmes
| Feature | 2020 (Law No. 7256) | 2022 (Law No. 7417) | 2026 (Law No. 7582) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Provisional Article 93 of the Income Tax Law | Provisional Article 15 of the Corporate Tax Law | Provisional Article 19 of the Corporate Tax Law |
| Tax rate | No tax | 1% to 3% on foreign assets depending on notification date; 0% through refund if held in Turkish accounts for at least one year | 5% standard; 4% to 0% with a 1 to 5-year commitment to defined instruments; surcharges for 2027 and extended-period notifications |
| Transfer window for foreign assets | Three months | Three months | Two months |
| Holding condition | None | One year in any Turkish bank or brokerage account, for the 0% refund only | One to five years in term deposits, government debt securities, lease certificates, or venture capital funds, with the reduced rate applied at source |
| Foreign real estate | Out of scope | Out of scope | Out of scope, but convertible into in-scope assets by 31 July 2027 |
| Integration with an adjacent regime | Standalone | Standalone | Same law as the 20-year foreign income exemption |
Three points distinguish the eighth programme. The first is the structure of the “stay in the system” incentive. The 2022 programme already rewarded money kept in Turkish accounts for a year, but only through a refund and only on a single one-year step. The 2026 package replaces that with a five-step ladder tied to specific instruments, applies the reduced rate at the moment of collection, and requires conversion into the committed instrument within ten days.
The second is the higher entry price. The 2020 programme carried no tax and the 2022 programme a maximum of 3%; the 2026 standard rate is 5%. The cost of keeping the asset freely available has risen, and the incentive to commit it for longer periods has sharpened accordingly.
The third is integration. Earlier programmes operated on their own; the 2026 package sits in the same Law No. 7582 as the 20-year foreign income exemption and the 1% inheritance tax rate. The inspection protection, by contrast, follows the 2022 model: protection for the declared amounts, with a limited offset in inspections only where the notification precedes the inspection.
⚖️ Whom the programme suits, and who should be cautious
For diaspora Turkish nationals with savings in Germany, the Netherlands, or the United Kingdom, the package is a concrete route to bring that wealth in at a low rate. This profile also falls under paragraph 5 of Provisional Article 19, so those without income or corporate tax liability benefit without the bookkeeping and special fund conditions. Turkish-origin business owners and foreigners planning to enter the 20-year regime can use it as the first step of Turkey-oriented wealth planning.
The situations that call for caution fall into four categories. The first is persons holding assets that may fall within MASAK proceeds-of-crime, terrorist financing, or money laundering rules; declaration does not remove criminal liability. The second is investors who may trigger high-value exit taxation in the source country; the Wegzugsbesteuerung effect on large transfers from Germany can claw back part or all of the Turkish-side advantage. The third is persons resident in Turkey who have earned income within the Turkish tax system throughout their lives. The fourth is US-citizen investors of Turkish origin, for whom parallel planning is mandatory.
For foreign investors evaluating the path to Turkish citizenship by investment, structuring the funds brought into Turkey ahead of a citizenship application within the asset repatriation framework can simplify the process both legally and financially.
⚖️ Related Legal Resources
🔹 Tax Regimes and Exemptions
Turkey’s 20-Year Tax Exemption for Returning Residents: the parallel regime in Law No. 7582, exempting foreign-sourced income for twenty years for those with no Turkish domicile or tax liability in the previous three calendar years.
Tax Lawyer in Turkey: representation in tax inspections and assessments, including where a base difference must be offset against an asset repatriation declaration.
🔹 Investment and Corporate Structuring
Company Formation in Turkey: choice of the entity (Limited, A.Ş., holding) that will receive declared assets, bearing in mind the two-year special fund lock for balance-sheet taxpayers.
Foreign Investment Advisory: structuring alternatives and process management for foreign-national and dual-national investors in Turkey.
🔹 Citizenship and Residency
Turkish Citizenship by Investment: eligibility criteria and procedure for citizenship by investment, and how funds brought in under the programme can be positioned for it.
Turkish Immigration and Residency: the relationship between Turkish tax residency and residence permits, application types, and process.
🔹 Inheritance and Wealth Protection
Inheritance Law for Foreigners in Turkey: cross-border succession planning, including the 1% Turkish inheritance tax rate available during the 20-year exemption period.
Request a Consultation on the 2026 Asset Repatriation Programme
If you are considering bringing foreign-held assets into Turkey before 31 December 2026, combining the programme with the 20-year foreign income exemption, or integrating company formation and succession planning, our Tax and Investment Law team in Istanbul is available for an initial consultation.
⚖️ Conclusion
At first reading, the 2026 Asset Repatriation Programme looks like a standalone tax reduction; in practice it is the first step of a broader legal structure. Recording past wealth regularises the past, and the 20-year exemption in the same Law No. 7582 secures the future.
For Turkish nationals who have lived abroad for many years, dual-national investors, and Turkish-origin global business owners, the 2026 package is a concrete tool for establishing a new legal tie with Turkey. The most advantageous rates apply to declarations filed by 31 December 2026, but using the tool correctly requires the individual situation to be read together with the source-country tax regime, banking compliance, and succession planning.
At Oznur & Partners we read each case across Turkish tax law, the source-country regime, and the relevant treaty as one process, so that the package becomes the start of multi-year wealth planning rather than a one-off advantage.
This article is prepared by the legal team at Oznur & Partners, an Istanbul-based law firm advising international clients on tax, investment, citizenship, corporate, and inheritance matters in Turkey. The content is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects Law No. 7582 (Official Gazette No. 33270, 4 June 2026), the Series No. 1 Communiqué (Official Gazette No. 33300, 4 July 2026), and Revenue Administration guidance published through September 2026.