Short answer: Turkey payroll costs a private employer gross pay plus 23.75% SGK and unemployment contributions in 2026, or 21.75% with the 2-point Treasury support (18.75% in manufacturing), on monthly pay up to TRY 297,270 (SGK). The employer withholds 15% employee contributions, income tax and stamp tax, files one combined return (muhtasar ve prim hizmet beyannamesi) by the 26th of the following month and pays SGK by that month's end. On a hypothetical TRY 150,000 gross salary the monthly cost with that support is TRY 182,625, while net pay falls from TRY 111,698.53 in January to TRY 95,402.30 in December 2026.
This guide is for foreign employers; contribution tables are in Turkey social security (SGK) and the wage floor in Turkey minimum wage. Figures apply to 2026 and were checked on 6 November 2026 against SGK, the Revenue Administration (GİB) and Law No. 5510. Work permits are a separate procedure run by the Ministry's International Labour Force directorate (opens in a new tab).
Turkey payroll process: the monthly calendar
Each payroll month ends with one combined return by the 26th of the following month and SGK payment by that month's last day (rules read on 6 November 2026).
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Workplace notice to SGK | No later than the day the first employee starts; a company formation notified to the trade registry counts | Law 5510 Art. 11 |
| Employee entry notice (sigortalı işe giriş bildirgesi) | Before work starts; staff joining a new workplace within one month of its first hire, by the end of that period | Law 5510 Art. 8 |
| Pay wages and give a payslip | At least monthly, as a rule in Turkish lira; pay agreed in foreign currency can be paid in lira at the payment-day rate | Labour Law 4857 Art. 32 and 37 |
| File the combined return | 23:59 on the 26th of the following month | GİB deadline table |
| Pay income tax and stamp tax | Same deadline as the return | GİB deadline table |
| Pay SGK contributions | Last day of the following month for wages covering the 1st to the 30th; the 14th of the following calendar month for a 15th-to-14th pay period | SGK employer payment page |
| Exit notice | Within 10 days of the contract ending | Law 5510 Art. 9 |
For October 2026 wages, that means the return and the tax by Thursday 26 November 2026 and SGK by Monday 30 November 2026. Deadlines do move: for April 2026, SGK moved the insurance part of the return from 26 May to 3 June and payment to 5 June (notice of 20 May 2026), so read GİB and SGK notices each month. GİB's table also lists a three-monthly return; ask your accountant if it applies.
Late steps have a price under Law 5510 Art. 102. A late entry notice costs one monthly minimum wage per employee, TRY 33,030 in 2026, and two if an inspection reveals it; filed on your own within 30 days of the deadline and paid within 15 days of notice, it falls to a quarter. A late monthly return costs one-fifth of the minimum wage per employee, TRY 6,606 in 2026, capped at two minimum wages (TRY 66,060) per workplace. Unpaid premiums carry a 3% penalty in each of the first three months plus a compounding monthly surcharge until paid (Art. 89). Payroll services and accountants can do the work, but Law 5510 Art. 88 keeps the payment duty on the employer.
Turkey employer social security contributions, line by line
A hypothetical TRY 150,000 gross salary costs a qualifying private non-manufacturing employer TRY 182,625 a month in 2026, at SGK's rates less the 2-point support.
Hypothetical example, 2026, same salary all year:
| Line | TRY a month |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | 150,000.00 |
| Pension insurance, employer 12% | 18,000.00 |
| Short-term insurance 2.25% | 3,375.00 |
| General health insurance 7.5% | 11,250.00 |
| Unemployment insurance 2% | 3,000.00 |
| Treasury support, 2 points | −3,000.00 |
| Cost to the employer | 182,625.00 |
Without the support the month costs TRY 185,625; at the 5-point manufacturing rate, TRY 178,125. The employer sends SGK TRY 55,125 a month: TRY 22,500 withheld from the employee plus TRY 32,625 of its own, which is 36.75% of gross.
The employee's side changes during the year, because income tax runs on a cumulative base.
| Month | SGK and unemployment | Income tax | Stamp tax | Net pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22,500.00 | 14,913.67 | 887.80 | 111,698.53 |
| December | 22,500.00 | 31,209.90 | 887.80 | 95,402.30 |
| Year | 270,000.00 | 320,118.77 | 10,653.60 | 1,199,227.63 |
The logic of the Turkey salary calculator gives the same figures in all 12 months.
A net-pay promise moves the bracket risk to you. If the contract fixes net pay at January's TRY 111,698.53 for all of 2026, the required gross reaches about TRY 194,221 in December and the year costs the employer about TRY 2,506,884, which is TRY 315,384 more than the constant-gross case. Write contracts in gross, or budget for that rise.
Pay in euros or dollars. Residents may not agree pay in foreign currency unless an exception applies, such as a foreign-national employee, or an employer that is a non-resident's branch or office or at least 50% owned or controlled by non-residents (Communiqué 2008-32/34 Art. 8(6), (14) and (19)).
When the 2-point and 5-point reductions apply
The Treasury pays 2 points of the employer's 12% pension share, and 5 points in manufacturing for periods through December 2026, only if the conditions below are met (SGK circular 2026/1, 6 January 2026).
- Manufacturing test. Section C of NACE Rev.2.1 decides, through the workplace's activity code; a code change counts from the following period.
- Conditions. Return and contributions on time; no premium, fine or late-payment debt unless it is rescheduled and being paid. An inspection that finds unreported or fictitious workers removes the support for a year (Art. 81).
- Not covered. Working pensioners on the support premium, employees working abroad, and certain public-sector workplaces and procurement works.
- Tax effect. Amounts the Treasury pays are not a deductible expense for income or corporate tax (Law 5510 Art. 81/ı).
Budget the reductions as conditional. SGK's 2026 guide lists 13 premium incentives for employers, so check which others fit.
Premium ceiling and minimum wage support
Employer contributions stop at the 2026 ceiling of TRY 297,270 a month (SGK), so the most an employer pays before reductions is TRY 70,601.63 per employee, however high the salary.
Minimum wage support (asgari ücret desteği) gives private-sector employers TRY 42.33 per premium day for January to December 2026, or TRY 1,269.90 for 30 days, offset against later months' premiums (Law 5510 temporary Art. 112; SGK circular 2026/8, 5 March 2026). It is counted in days, not by whether a given employee earns the minimum wage:
- Days that count. The month's reported days, up to the days of employees reported at TRY 1,300 a day or less in the same month of 2025; the figure is TRY 2,600 for workplaces under a collective agreement.
- New workplaces. A workplace first covered in 2026, or covered earlier but with no employees in 2025, counts its days without that 2025 test.
- Headcount. The support is lost for a month in which reported employees fall below the lowest month of 2025.
- Other conditions. On-time filing and payment, and no SGK debts.
For a newly formed 2026 company meeting those conditions, the support brings the example's 30-day month to an effective TRY 181,355.10, credited a month later. The salary calculator and the Ministry of Labour's cost figures leave this support out.
Income tax and stamp tax withheld from pay
The employer withholds income tax on the cumulative base since January and 0.759% stamp tax, and the part of every salary equal to the minimum wage is exempt from both (GİB wage guide, February 2026; Income Tax Law Art. 23/18; Stamp Duty Law No. 488, Tables 1 and 2).
In the example, the monthly tax base is TRY 127,500, gross less the 15% employee share. The base crosses the first bracket in February, the second in April and the third in December, which is why net pay steps down; it rises slightly in July and August, as the exempt minimum-wage part reaches the 20% bracket. The tariff is in Turkey income tax brackets.
Severance pay: the liability payroll does not show
Severance (kıdem tazminatı) is paid by the employer when a qualifying contract ends; no monthly contribution funds it, so it never appears on the payroll return but builds up as an unfunded liability.
The amount is 30 days' gross pay per year of service, part years pro rata (Law No. 1475 Art. 14), and pay used for each year is capped at TRY 73,729.87 for employment ending from 1 July to 31 December 2026, according to the Ministry of Labour. For budgeting, set aside one-twelfth of the capped pay: on the TRY 150,000 salary above, that is 73,729.87 ÷ 12 = TRY 6,144.16 a month, a planning figure, not a payment. Eligibility and worked cases are in Turkey severance pay and the severance pay calculator.
For scale, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK, also TurkStat) found in its 2024 Labour Cost Statistics that severance and termination payments were 15% of employers' social security payments, themselves 13.9% of labor cost: roughly 2.1% (calculated). These are payments to leavers that year, not accruals; agriculture, public administration and apprentices are not covered. Whether a foreign parent's accounts need a provision is a question for its auditor.
Hiring in Turkey without a Turkish company
A foreign company with no Turkish entity should have a lawyer settle registration and permanent-establishment questions before the first hire, since they decide who files and which taxes apply.
- Permanent establishment. Whether an employee in Turkey creates a taxable presence depends on the facts, Turkish law and any tax treaty.
- Income tax. Income Tax Law Art. 23/14 can exempt foreign-currency wages paid out of earnings abroad by an employer with no legal or business center in Turkey that earns nothing there, on GİB's conditions; other unwithheld wages go on the employee's annual return.
- SGK. Employment in Turkey is insured under Law 5510 unless an agreement says otherwise, and Art. 6/1-e excludes people sent by a foreign company for up to three months who prove cover abroad.
Employer of record. In this model a third party employs the worker on its own Turkish payroll and invoices the client. Labour Law Art. 7 lets a third party supply workers only as a private employment office licensed by the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR), in listed cases such as cover for absences or unforeseen capacity increases, several of them limited to four months, renewable at most twice to a total of eight; the office is then the employer. Long-term staffing does not obviously fit those cases. Ask a Turkish employment lawyer who appears as employer on the SGK filing, who carries severance and what happens if an authority treats the client as the real employer.
Turkey payroll in 2027: what will change
No 2027 payroll values had been published as of 6 November 2026; each follows a method set in law.
- Floor and ceiling. The floor equals the new gross minimum wage, once published in the Resmî Gazete, and the ceiling nine times that.
- Tax brackets. They rise by the revaluation rate, and the President may raise or lower the result by up to 50% (Income Tax Law repeated Art. 123).
- Manufacturing. Without a Presidential extension to 31 December 2027, manufacturers fall to 2 points in January 2027; none appears in Law 5510 as consolidated on 6 November 2026.
- Minimum wage support. Temporary Article 112 ends with December 2026, so 2027 would need a new provision.
Hypothetical example, not a forecast: a daily gross minimum wage of TRY 1,200 would put the floor at TRY 36,000, the ceiling at TRY 324,000 and the employer's maximum before reductions at 324,000 × 23.75% = TRY 76,950.
Frequently asked questions
What is the employer social security rate in Turkey?
23.75% of gross pay before incentives in 2026: 12% pension, 2.25% short-term, 7.5% health and 2% unemployment. A qualifying private employer pays 21.75%, or 18.75% in manufacturing through December 2026, up to the TRY 297,270 monthly ceiling.
How much does an employee cost an employer in Turkey?
Gross pay times 1.2175 for a qualifying private non-manufacturing employer in 2026, up to the ceiling. A hypothetical TRY 150,000 salary costs TRY 182,625 a month, before severance, benefits and any minimum wage support.
When is the Turkish payroll return due?
The combined return is due by 23:59 on the 26th of the following month, with income and stamp tax paid by the same date. SGK contributions for wages covering the 1st to the 30th are due by the last day of that month.
Can a foreign company run payroll in Turkey without a Turkish entity?
That depends on registration, permanent-establishment and social security questions that need a Turkish lawyer. Employer-of-record arrangements need checking against Labour Law Article 7, which limits temporary agency work to listed cases and periods.
Sources
- SGK: Employer premium rates, 23.75% employer and 15% employee (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SGK: Premium-base earnings limits for 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SGK: Employers' premium payment deadlines and late-payment charges (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SGK: Circular 2026/1 on the 2-point and 5-point reductions, 6 January 2026 (Turkish, KAYSİS) (opens in a new tab)
- SGK: Circular 2026/8 on the minimum wage support, 5 March 2026 (Turkish, KAYSİS) (opens in a new tab)
- SGK: Insurance premium incentives 2026, conditions and worked figures (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SGK: Notice of 20 May 2026 extending the April 2026 return and payment deadlines (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Return filing and payment deadlines table (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Tax guide for wage earners, February 2026, with the Income Tax Law Art. 23 exemptions (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Law No. 5510, Articles 6, 8, 9, 11, 81, 88, 89, 102 and temporary Articles 108 and 112 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Labour Law No. 4857, Articles 7, 32 and 37 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Ministry of Labour and Social Security: Wage and union statistics bulletin, September 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- TÜİK (TurkStat): Labour Cost Statistics, 2024, press release and metadata, published 25 December 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Stamp Duty Law No. 488, Table 1 (wage rate) and Table 2 (exemption) (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Ministry of Treasury and Finance: Communiqué 2008-32/34 under Decree No. 32, Article 8, consolidated text, July 2025 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
This guide is general information, not investment, legal or tax advice. Amounts, rates and rules in Turkey change often: check the date given for each figure and the official source before you rely on it, and ask a licensed adviser about your own situation. Sources, checks and corrections: see the editorial policy.