Services

Services

Most people arriving here know their situation but not the name of the service that answers it. A group deciding whether to open in Turkey, a parent that needs local figures on international standards, a company about to hire its first employee, a buyer looking at a Turkish target — each needs something different, and none of them is searching for the term we would use internally.

Below, the questions come first and the services follow. As Ozbek CPA we have advised foreign-owned companies in Turkey since 2002, and the work divides into seven areas.

Start from the situation

We are considering Turkey but have not decided on a structure
Consulting services — the eight decisions, in order, before anything is registered

We know we are coming; set us up
Company formation, or a liaison office where there will be no commercial activity

We need one or two people in Turkey but no entity yet
Employer of record — and the tax question it does not remove

Our parent consolidates on international standards
IFRS and TFRS — which framework applies and where it diverges from the tax books

We have crossed the audit thresholds
Independent audit — the two-year test and what unaudited statements mean

We are buying a Turkish company
Due diligence, then mergers and acquisitions

We are hiring, and need the employment side right
Payroll and employment contracts

We are bringing someone from abroad
Work permits, and residence permits for the family

There is a transaction with a related company abroad
Transfer pricing and double taxation agreements

We have a tax assessment or a dispute
Tax advisory — rulings, settlement and the routes available

Something has gone wrong internally
Fraud examination — and the six working day deadline that runs first

We are restructuring or winding down
Corporate restructuring and trade registry procedures

The seven areas

Setting up
Company formation · Joint stock company · Limited liability company · Branch · Liaison office · Bank account

Accounting
Accounting services · Bookkeeping · ERP solutions · IFRS and TFRS

Tax
Turkish taxation system · VAT · Corporate tax incentives · Investment incentives · Transfer pricing · Double taxation agreements

Management and consulting
Consulting services · Tax advisory · Corporate restructuring · Mergers and acquisitions · Business valuation · Due diligence · Trade registry procedures

Audit
Auditing in Turkey · Independent audit · Internal audit · Fraud examination

People
Employer of record · Payroll services · Work permits · Work permits for shareholders · Residence permits · Salary taxation

Employment law
Employment contracts · Working hours · Weekend and holiday pay · Sickness reports · Mutual termination

How the work usually runs

Before entry — structure and tax analysis. What the company will actually do in Turkey decides the structure, and the structure decides almost everything after it. Whether an employee will conclude contracts, whether goods will be invoiced locally, whether the parent will consolidate on international standards — these questions are cheaper to answer before registration than after.

Setting up — registration and first filings. Formation itself is quick once the file is complete. What sets the pace is the document chain for foreign shareholders — power of attorney, apostille, translation — and where a work permit is involved, that process runs on its own calendar and should start in parallel.

Running — monthly compliance. Bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and withholding returns, social security filings and the annual corporate tax return. Where the parent reports internationally, a second reporting basis runs alongside the tax books and the two are reconciled each period.

Events — transactions and disputes. Acquisitions, restructurings, audits, assessments and employment disputes each have their own deadlines, and several of them are short. The cost of advice at the start of one of these is small against the cost of taking a position that cannot later be changed.

Three deadlines that decide outcomes

Six working days to terminate for conduct contrary to good faith, running from when the authorised body learns of it.

Thirty days to respond to a tax assessment, with the available routes being alternatives rather than sequential steps.

One month that must pass before a release signed by a departing employee is valid.

Each of these is short, each is missed regularly, and none of them can be recovered afterwards. Where one of these situations arises, the first call matters more than the tenth.

Who we work with

Foreign groups entering Turkey for the first time · Turkish subsidiaries of foreign parents, on local compliance and group reporting · Liaison offices and branches · Companies with foreign employees, on permits and payroll · Buyers and sellers in transactions involving Turkish companies · Companies coming into the scope of independent audit for the first time · Groups with related party transactions requiring transfer pricing documentation · Companies taking over an engagement from another adviser

Frequently asked questions

Do we need a company in Turkey to employ someone there?
Not necessarily. An employer of record allows a foreign company to employ staff without forming an entity. The arrangement does not remove the tax question, though: where the employee concludes contracts or runs a sales process locally, a permanent establishment issue can arise regardless of how the employment is structured.

Which entity type suits a foreign investor?
It depends on what will happen in Turkey rather than on size. A liaison office cannot carry on commercial activity. Between a joint stock company and a limited liability company the differences that matter are liability for public debts, how shares transfer and the tax treatment on exit — not the headline tax rate, which is the same.

When does independent audit become compulsory?
Where two of three criteria are met in two consecutive accounting periods, or where the company is in a regulated sector regardless of size. Because the test looks backwards at the two preceding periods, a company can determine at the start of a year whether it will be audited for that year.

Do we have to keep two sets of accounts?
In effect, yes, once a reporting framework applies. The tax-basis statutory books continue for every company, and the framework is applied on top of them. The two are prepared on different bases and reconciling them becomes part of each closing.

Can you take over from our current accountant?
Yes, and it is a regular part of the work. A handover normally begins with a review of the position being inherited — open balances, filings made, provisions and any exposure carried forward — so that what is taken on is understood before it is taken on.

Do you provide legal services?
No. We are a certified public accountancy firm. Where a matter requires legal drafting or representation — a contract, a criminal complaint, litigation — we work alongside counsel rather than in their place, and we say so at the outset rather than afterwards.

Contact

As the Ozbek CPA team we have advised foreign-owned companies in Turkey since 2002, from entry structure and formation through monthly accounting, payroll and tax compliance to transactions, audits and disputes. If you are not sure which of the areas above covers your situation, describing it in a sentence is usually enough for us to point you to the right one.