- →
-
Contact Form
-
ShelfCompanies24 has been forming Turkish companies for international clients since 1995. Our Istanbul team handles every step of company formation in Turkey on one agreed service contract, from picking the right legal form through Trade Registry registration, Revenue Administration tax registration, MASAK beneficial-ownership filing and your first Turkish bank account. Most clients are trading inside 2 to 4 weeks via Trade Registry electronic filing, or in 5 to 10 working days via a ready-made off-the-shelf Turkish company.
Our service covers Trade Registry filings, Notary, registered office.
Turkish company + registered office + Turkish banking + mali müşavir under one roof.
Standard formation 2 to 4 weeks. Turkish/English-speaking case manager.
e-imza, Turkish consulate, or vekaletname.
We draft esas sözleşme, file Trade Registry, register vergi, file MASAK BO.
The Ltd. Şti. is the workhorse of Turkish commerce. Governed by the Turkish Commercial Code (Türk Ticaret Kanunu).
For larger structures and listed entities (Borsa İstanbul). Min capital TRY 250,000.
| Form | Min. capital | Formation time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ltd. Şti. | TRY 50,000 | 2 to 4 weeks | Default, SMEs, holdings |
| A.Ş. | TRY 250,000 | 4 to 8 weeks | Listed groups, banking |
| Free Zone Company | Varies by zone | 4 to 8 weeks | Manufacturing, R&D |
| Şube | Parent-dependent | 4 to 8 weeks | Foreign multinational presence |
| Off-the-shelf Ltd. Şti. or A.Ş. | Varies | 5 to 10 days | Need immediate trading |
Company registration in Turkey runs through the Ticaret Sicil Müdürlüğü, the Trade Registry attached to the local chamber of commerce, and for foreign founders the two items that set the pace are the vergi numarası and the notary appointment. In outline: confirm the legal form and the activity codes, obtain a vergi numarası for every foreign shareholder and müdür, draft and notarise the esas sözleşme, arrange the capital, file with the Trade Registry, register with the Revenue Administration for tax and KDV, file the beneficial owners with MASAK, and open the bank account. The nine steps below show what each stage involves.
Confirm legal form, shareholder structure, business activity (NACE codes), merkez, capital, banking preferences.
Foreign shareholders and müdürler need a Turkish tax number before incorporation.
Articles drafted by our Istanbul attorney, bilingual Turkish-English.
Articles notarised. Foreign founders can sign at Turkish consulates, via e-imza or via vekaletname.
Open a deposit account at a Turkish bank, deposit TRY 50,000+ (Ltd. Şti.) or TRY 62,500+ (A.Ş., 25% of TRY 250,000). Bank issues confirmation.
Filed with the Trade Registry via the relevant chamber of commerce (Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Ankara CC, etc.). Trade Registry issues registration certificate typically within 5 to 10 working days.
Vergi numarası activated for tax filing. KDV (VAT) registration if relevant.
Beneficial owners filed in the MASAK BO Register.
Convert deposit account to operating account. Turkish banks: Garanti BBVA, İş Bankası, Yapı Kredi, Akbank, Ziraat, Halkbank, Vakıfbank.
Turkish company law leans on the noter, the notary, more than most European systems do: the esas sözleşme is notarised at formation, and a Ltd. Şti. share transfer has to be notarised as well. That does not mean flying to Istanbul. Foreign founders sign at a Turkish consulate in their own country, use a Turkish e-imza qualified electronic signature, or grant a vekaletname, a notarised power of attorney that lets our Istanbul attorney sign, file and collect on their behalf. Documents issued outside Turkey need an apostille and a sworn Turkish translation, which we arrange. The route works the same way from the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, Singapore and the Gulf, and it is the one most foreign founders take.
A foreign parent has three ways into Turkey and they are not interchangeable. A subsidiary is an ordinary Turkish company, usually a Ltd. Şti., owned by the parent: it is a separate legal person, it files its own Turkish returns at 25% corporate tax, and it can be wholly foreign owned. A şube, a branch, is not a separate legal person, so the parent carries the liability and registration turns on the parent’s own corporate documents, apostilled and sworn-translated, which is why it takes longer than a subsidiary. An irtibat bürosu, a liaison office, may not trade at all: it represents, researches and coordinates, and earns no income in Turkey. Manufacturing and R&D groups should also weigh the free zones and the technology development zones, where qualifying activities carry a corporate tax exemption.
Registration is filed with the Ticaret Sicil Müdürlüğü through the local chamber of commerce and published in the Türkiye Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi. For a Ltd. Şti. you need a notarised esas sözleşme, a merkez, the activity codes, the capital, at least one ortak and one müdür, and a vergi numarası for each foreign principal. The registry issues the registration certificate, typically within 5 to 10 working days, and tax registration, KDV where relevant and the MASAK filing follow.
Yes, and it comes first. Every foreign shareholder and every müdür needs a Turkish tax number before the company can be registered, and the company itself receives one when the Trade Registry entry is made. We apply for the personal numbers through a Turkish consulate or a tax office, so no travel is involved, and the same number is what the bank asks for when the corporate account is opened.
Ltd. Şti.: 2 to 4 weeks. A.Ş.: 4 to 8 weeks. Off-the-shelf transfer: 5 to 10 working days.
TRY 50,000.
For most foreign owners, the Ltd. Şti.: minimum capital TRY 50,000, 1 to 50 ortaklar, one müdür or more of any nationality, and simple governance. The A.Ş. suits capital raising, regulated finance and listing, with minimum capital TRY 250,000 and a board. A free zone company fits manufacturing and R&D, a şube extends a foreign parent without creating a new legal person, and an irtibat bürosu may represent but not trade. Neither ortaklar nor müdürler need Turkish residency, only a vergi numarası.
Turkish industrial goods enjoy tariff-free access to the EU single market under the Customs Union (in force since 1995). For manufacturing operations targeting EU markets, this provides cost-of-goods advantages over EU-based peers (lower Turkish labour and operational costs) while preserving preferential market access.
Turkish lira has experienced significant inflation in recent years. International clients should consider FX-hedging strategies and may benefit from operating partly in EUR/USD via foreign-currency Turkish bank accounts (permitted).
25% CIT. KDV 20% standard. 0% if structured under Free Zone regime for qualifying activities.
Tax registration, KDV registration, MASAK BO filing, bank account opening, mali müşavir engagement.
Ready to register your Turkish company? Contact our Turkish desk.
Turkey is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick Turkey for your Ltd. Şti. specifically? Bridge EU/Asia, manufacturing, free zones is the headline reason, but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you are weighing a structure decision against the actual operating profile of your business.
Cross-border corporate structuring in 2026 is governed by a tighter web of rules than in any previous decade. Three forces shape every decision:
For Turkey specifically: 25% CIT; EU Customs Union since 1995 for industrial goods; free-zone CIT exemptions.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in Turkey:
Yes. A name change is filed with the TTSG via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing, typically clears in 48 hours. We include up to one name change as standard for both shelf-company purchase and new formation.
Turkey is outside the EU and the EEA, so the Parent-Subsidiary and Interest and Royalties Directives do not apply to a Turkish Ltd. Şti. Turkey relies instead on its own network of roughly 90 comprehensive double taxation agreements, published by the Revenue Administration, covering most EU member states and its main trading partners. Rates on dividends, interest and royalties vary treaty by treaty, and the Multilateral Instrument has added a principal purpose test.
Client information is held under contractual non-disclosure plus the professional-secrecy obligations applicable to corporate-service providers in our home jurisdiction. We do not share client identity or transaction details with third parties beyond what is statutorily required (KYC reporting, beneficial-owner-register filings, AML/CTF reporting where triggered). Our internal access to client files is logged and access-restricted by need-to-know.
Material tax changes (rate moves, new minimum-tax regimes, treaty amendments) get communicated to active clients with our analysis of impact. Where the change is structural, for example the OECD Pillar Two implementation in Turkey or a domestic tax-base reform, we proactively flag clients whose structures may need restructuring and set out the remedial options. The client is not left to discover material regulatory change from their accountant or from media reports.
A Ltd. Şti. is a separate legal entity Turkish-tax-resident with its own corporate tax filings and beneficial-owner record. A branch is an extension of a foreign parent, the foreign parent is the legal entity, the Turkey branch books local-source income but the parent’s overall tax liability cascades. Most foreign owners pick a Ltd. Şti. for liability ring-fencing and clean tax accounting; branches are sometimes preferred where the parent has specific group-relief or treaty considerations that depend on common legal personality.
Engaging us for your Turkish new Ltd. Şti. formation covers the following deliverables under one service:
The deliverable scope is identical regardless of whether you are based in the EU, the US, the UK, the Middle East, or APAC, we operate the same service globally for Turkish corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are scoped separately, so the incorporation or transfer work stays exactly as agreed.