Official Gazette / August 31 – September 6, 2026

By Presidential Decree; 

- The 15 July Martyrs Bridge, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, KGM European Motorway, KGM Anatolian Motorway, İzmir-Aydın Motorway, İzmir-Çeşme Motorway, Niğde-Mersin-Adana (West) Motorway, Adana (East)-Gaziantep (West) Motorway, Gaziantep (East)-Şanlıurfa Motorway, Toprakkale-İskenderun Motorway, Bursa Ring Motorway (Çağlayan junction-Yenişehir junction), and Gaziantep Ring Motorway have been included in the privatization program. The scope of privatization for these motorways and bridges does not include the transfer of ownership, i.e., their sale. The published program covers the transfer of operations to the private sector for a maximum period of 30 years. With the published decree, the Privatization Administration has been authorized to conduct the relevant tenders. 

- The withholding tax rate, which was 0% for earnings obtained by domestic and foreign companies from money market funds, has been increased to 10%. Prior to this regulation, companies that did not pay withholding tax were adding their earnings to their corporate tax returns. Now, the withholding tax will be deducted in advance and offset against provisional tax. Furthermore, there has been no change to the 17.5% withholding tax rate applied to the investment fund participation share earnings of domestic and foreign natural persons.

With the amendment made to the General Communiqué on the Tax Procedure Law, the scope of tax audits has been expanded beyond e-commerce to cover all economic activities in digital environments. Buying, selling, leasing, advertising, and promotional activities on the internet and in digital environments have been brought under the scope of tax audits. E-commerce platforms, classified ad sites where vehicles, real estate, or any kind of goods are sold, social media platforms, and access and hosting providers have also been included in the scope. Classified ad platforms and social networks will regularly report information such as users' Turkish ID numbers or tax identification numbers to the Revenue Administration (GİB). Following these regulations, it has become much easier for the GİB to detect all types of income-generating transactions of natural and legal persons who have accounts on all classified ad sites and social media platforms.

With the amendment made to the Regulation on the Protection of Wetlands, it has now become mandatory to obtain a permit to extract water from wetlands and from the sources, streams, and creeks that feed these areas. In addition, the opening of new agricultural areas on public lands in protected regions and the practice of organic farming on privately owned plots have been made subject to permission.  

With the amendment made to the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities, an exception has been introduced to the prohibition of title deed floor easement or condominium ownership for the accommodation sections of facilities with a tourism operation certificate. For facilities with a tourism operation certificate that were allocated for commercial use in the zoning plan before June 1, 2019, the date the regulation entered into force, the establishment of condominium ownership or floor easement in their accommodation sections has been included in the scope of the exception.

With the communiqué amendment made to facilitate remote access for foreigners to capital market and crypto asset services in Turkey, the Capital Markets Board (SPK) has allowed foreign investors to become customers of brokerage firms, portfolio management companies, and crypto asset service providers using their chip-enabled passports. However, foreign investors will only be able to use their overseas bank accounts for money transfers.