Summary of Company formation in Turkey

 If you need or if you decide to start a bussines in Turkey, firstly you must compleate the company formation.

Before starting the establishment of company, you should determine the company’s type, capital, location, partnership structure,etc according to the volume of work you will do.

Any company in Turkey must be registered at a Trade Registry Office in the city where the company is based. This is mandatory for all types of companies in Turkey, whether incorporated by foreign or local investors. After that, Tax Office transactions and social security transactions have to be completed.

The types of companies in Turkey are:

The joint-stock companies,(Anonim Şirket)

The limited liability companies,(Limited Şirket)

The commandite companies,

The collective companies,

Cooperative companies;

The Joint stock company requires minimum one shareholder and  must provide a minimum share capital of 50.000 TL. It must have at least one shareholder and a mandatory board of directors. The Company’s Board of Directors is fully responsible for the tax and social securitiy othorities for the depts.The liability of the members is limited to the amount of invested capital and the capital is divided into stocks which can be made public when the company is listed on the Stock Market. This type of company is more suitable for large businesses.

A limited liability company is formed by at least one shareholder with a share capital of minimum 10.000 TL.. The minimum share capital has to be deposited at once, installments are not allowed. The liability of the shareholders is limited to the amount of share capital invested in the company. The total number of shareholders cannot be above 50.

The limited liability company and The Joint stock company are the most popular form of business in Turkey.

Other business options for investors include branches or subsidiaries in Turkey.

The steps of formation a legal entity in Turkey are;

The first step is drafting the articles of association signed by the company directors. After elaborating and signing the articles of association, this document must be notarized along with the signature declaration of the managers and the commercial books of the entity.

0.04% from the capital has to be deposited at the Competition Authority and the minimum share capital has to be deposited at a bank, which will issue a certificate of paid-in capital. (at least 25% of the capital must be deposited in the bank.)

After that, the applicant must visit the Trade Registry Office and file the incorporation notice form, commitment letter, and Chamber registration statement.

The legal books of the company has to be notarized followed by the last step, the registration for the specific taxes at the Turkish Tax Office and Social Security Administration

If all the documents are deposited at time and correctly, in 5 days a legal entity may start to perform commercial activities.