Your salary could be garnished! A major danger is looming

Significant changes are planned for the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, which has been in effect in Turkey for many years. With the new regulation to be submitted to Parliament, the rate of garnishment that can be applied to salaries will be increased from 25 percent to 60 percent.

Lawyer Mustafa Zafer shared the details of the new regulation, stating that the garnishment rates to be applied to a debtor's salary will vary according to income level. Zafer said, "Those who earn less will have less deducted, and those who earn more will have more deducted." Under current practice, regardless of how much a debtor's salary is, a maximum deduction of 25 percent can be made.

GARNISHMENT RATES IN THE NEW REGULATION

If the draft becomes law, salary garnishment rates will be determined according to income as follows:

• For those whose income is equal to the net minimum wage, 10 percent of their income.
• For those whose income is up to twice the net minimum wage, 20 percent of their income.
• For those whose income is up to three times the net minimum wage, 30 percent of their income.
• For those whose income is up to five times the net minimum wage, 40 percent of their income.
• For those whose income is up to seven times the net minimum wage, 50 percent of their income.
• For those whose income is nine times the net minimum wage or more, 60 percent of their income.

For example, a person earning a salary of 154,728 TL could have 77,364 TL of their salary garnished. This is a figure significantly higher than the maximum deduction of 38,682 TL under current practice.

Zafer stated that the new regulation would particularly affect white-collar workers and that higher deductions could be made from this segment. It is stated that these changes aim to create a fairer system based on the payment capacities of debtors.