Official Gazette / May 26 – June 7, 2026

The Personal Data Protection Authority, with its principle decision dated 29.04.2026, found the use of biometric methods such as fingerprints, facial recognition, and retina scanning for employee attendance tracking to be contrary to the law. It ruled that tracking must be conducted through traditional methods such as card swiping, password coding, or wet signatures, and that those acting in violation of this decision would be subject to administrative sanctions. 

The Constitutional Court;

- Ruled for the cancellation of the provision in the Turkish Civil Code stating that alimony is granted indefinitely, on the grounds that the lack of any time limit on poverty alimony is disproportionate, and decided to notify the Parliament for the purpose of enacting new legislation. The decision in question will enter into force 9 months after its publication in the Official Gazette. 

- Cancelled the provision in the Income Tax Law stating that the counterparty can exercise the right to refund or offset only on the condition that the withholding tax obligor makes the relevant payment to the tax office, on the grounds that the consequences of the tax responsible party failing to fulfill its obligation cannot be imposed on the taxpayer. Therefore, the refund/offset right of the taxpayer whose tax is withheld via withholding is no longer dependent on the party making the deduction having made the payment. 

- Cancelled the legal regulations that exempted Trendyol, Hepsiburada, Amazon Türkiye, n11, and all other e-commerce platforms from liability for defective goods and unlawful content. From now on, these platforms, along with sellers/importers, can be held directly liable to the consumer as providers. In the previous situation, these platforms, which did not share legal responsibility, were not under an obligation to be sufficiently careful and selective regarding companies that victimized consumers or engaged in fraud. In this respect, the cancellation decision, which effectively assigns a filtering duty to e-commerce platforms and practically grants the buyer the ability to collect on damages in accordance with the law, will enter into force in 9 months. 

- Cancelled the provision in the Customs Law stating that the customs administration could impose irregularity fines for violations of rules determined by secondary regulations such as bylaws, communiqués, and circulars, on the grounds that situations of irregularity and their sanctions must be determined by law. In the previous situation, there was not even an obligation for the secondary regulations in question to be published in the Official Gazette by the Customs Administration. 

With Law No. 7582 on Amending Certain Laws;

- The deferral period for public receivables was extended from 36 to 72 months. The limit for deferral without collateral was increased from 50 thousand TL to 1 million TL. 

- A tax exemption was introduced for earnings obtained from abroad, and earnings obtained abroad by natural persons residing in Turkey were exempted from income tax for 20 years, provided that they did not have a residence and tax liability in Turkey in the last three years before settling. In addition, the inheritance and gift tax to be applied in case of the death of these individuals within the same period was set at 1%.

- Comprehensive changes were made to the Foreign Direct Investment Law, and the concept of "Qualified Service Center" was added to the law. An income tax exemption was introduced for qualified personnel to be employed in service centers in Turkey by multinational group companies operating in at least 3 countries.

- A new asset peace legislation was regulated. Those who declare their money, gold, and foreign currency abroad by July 31, 2027, and bring them into the country, promising to keep the assets in an account for 5 years, will pay 0% tax, while the advantageous tax rate will go up to 5% for those who promise to keep them in an account for shorter periods. 

- 95% of the earnings arising from the sale of goods purchased from abroad without entering Turkey within the scope of transit trade can be deducted from tax.

- The earnings exemption to be applied in the Istanbul Finance Center was expanded to cover all institutions, and the temporary incentive period was extended from 2031 to 2047, meaning the application period was increased from 5 years to 20 years.