1. Amendments to the Personal Data Protection Law

With the Amending Law, the system stipulating the rules and exceptions that special categories of personal data cannot be processed without explicit consent has been completely changed. Instead, the scope of exceptions to the processing of special categories of personal data has been expanded in line with the general data processing grounds and the GDPR. Accordingly, the scope of the situations in which special categories of personal data may be processed has been expanded.

Prior to the Amending Law, it was regulated that personal data could be transferred abroad with explicit consent. However, personal data could be transferred abroad without explicit consent of data subject upon the existence of one of the conditions of the general data processing or one of the conditions for the processing of special categories of personal data other than health and sexual life. Adequate protection is required in the country where the personal data are to be transferred. If adequate protection is not provided, the existence of commitment for adequate protection in writing by the data controllers in Türkiye and in the relevant foreign country and authorisation of the Board were required.

With the Amending Law, the system stipulating the rules and exceptions that personal data cannot be transferred abroad without explicit consent has been completely changed. Instead, it is regulated that in the presence of one of the general data processing conditions or special categories of personal data conditions and by providing one of the additional conditions gradually and by providing one of the additional conditions gradually explained below, personal data transfer abroad is permitted without explicit consent.

As stated in the general preamble and the preamble of the relevant article, the needs encountered in practice regarding the processing of special categories of personal data have also been taken into consideration. Accordingly, for instance, the fact that the employer can continue to store the health data of its former employee in order to exercise the right of defence in lawsuits that may be filed after the termination of the employment agreement, or that special categories of personal data such as blood type and previous illnesses can be processed for the purpose of protecting the life or physical integrity of a person who is unable to explain his/her consent due to loss of consciousness for any reason, can be considered as positive developments. Further details regarding the amendments, which shall be complied with by June and September, can be found here.

2. Amendment Regarding Pension Mutual Funds’ Ability to Invest in Venture Capital

The Capital Markets Board amended the Guidelines on Pension Mutual Funds. With this amendment, those who are included in the private pension system will be able to prefer to accrue interest on their investments in venture capital funds. Accordingly, at least one per cent of their portfolios shall be directed to venture capital investment funds’ participation shares. The minimum venture capital investment rule shall be met until 30.06.2024.

3. Default Interest Rate to be Applied in Late Payments in the Supply of Goods and Services

Pursuant to the Communiqué on the Default Interest Rate to be Applied in Late Payments in the Supply of Goods and Services and the Minimum Expense Amount that can be Requested for the Collection Costs of Receivables was published by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, in cases where the default interest rate for late payments made to the creditor in the supply of goods and services regulated under Article 1530/7 of the Turkish Commercial Code is not stipulated in the contract or the relevant provisions are invalid, the interest rate to be applied was determined as 48% per annum, and the minimum amount of expenses that can be requested for the collection of the receivable is determined as TRY 1,310. The aforementioned ratio and amount entered into force on the date of publication, effective from 01.01.2024.

4. Minimum Equity Amount of Payment Services has been Increased

Communiqué on Redetermination of Minimum Equity Amounts of Payment Institutions and Electronic Money Institutions has been published. According to the Communiqué, the minimum equity amounts shall be increased to (i) TRY 10,000,000 for payment institutions intermediating invoice payments, (i) TRY 55,000,000 for electronic money institutions, and (iii) TRY 20,000,000 for other payment institutions, except for payment institutions providing the service of providing consolidated information on online platforms regarding the payment accounts. These amendments shall be entered into force on 30.06.2024.

5. Developments in the Tax Regulations

Dividends received from participation shares of the venture capital funds and investment funds, income generated from the refund of these funds’ participation shares and value increase gains of the participation shares of these funds’ have been exempted from the corporate tax. With the Law No. 7456, abovementioned income and gains related to investment fund participation shares except for those related to venture capital funds are excluded from this exemption.

Both legal and real persons participating in foreign joint stock and limited liability companies whose legal and business center is not located in Türkiye are exempted from income or corporate tax at a rate of 50%, provided that they held at least 50% of the paid-up capital of the foreign subsidiary and that the dividends are transferred to Türkiye until the date of submission of the tax return for the accounting period in which the income is received.

It was regulated that 50% of the income obtained by legal and real persons from the services provided abroad in the fields of architecture, engineering, design, software, medical reporting, bookkeeping, call center, product testing, certification, data storage, data processing, data analysis, education and health services can be deducted from income or corporate tax at a rate of 50%, provided that all of the income obtained are transferred to Türkiye until the date when the tax return should be submitted. This deduction rate has been increased to 80%.

It was regulated that the depreciation period to be applied to the machinery and equipment acquired by companies located in Technopolis and R&D and Design Centers to be used exclusively in R&D, innovation and design activities can be calculated over half of the current useful life period. This application has been extended until 31.12.2024.

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