Turkish Finance Ministry eases tax conditions for innovators

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

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The Finance Ministry will not charge value added tax to innovators or software developers as long as they sell, rent or transfer their products or the ownership rights of their products, according to an amendment to be issued soon.

Some 50 percent of earnings from these transactions will be exempted from corporate and income taxes, Minister Mehmet Şimşek said.

“Such innovative activities are of great importance in increasing the products with added value, creating local brands and rising export levels so as to decrease the current account gap. We’ll keep supporting initiatives that will accelerate our country’s transition to an economy that creates higher added value,” he said.

“With a regulation that became effective in February 2014, we have supported our citizens who develop products with high quality. Innovators or software developers are exempted from value-added tax as long as they sell, rent or transfer their products or the ownership rights of their products. Some 50 percent of the income from their acquisitions from these transactions will be exempted from corporate and income taxes,” Şimşek added.

“We’ll elaborate how the regulation will be realized in a notification soon. After the notification becomes effective, our inventors will have a serious tax advantage,” he said.

Şimşek also stated that Turkey’s R&D spending has increased significantly over the last decade.

“Despite improving figures in spending, we need progress in patenting, branding and commercialization of the inventions. The government has taken several measures to make progress here,” he said.

He added that tax exemptions will also be enacted for research and development activities in Turkey.