At a ceremony in Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan introduced the “Türkiye Century Strong Center for Investment” initiative, a package designed to draw high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs and multinational companies into the country’s financial ecosystem.
Individuals who have not been tax residents in Türkiye for the past three years would pay zero tax for 20 years on income and capital gains generated abroad. The proposal effectively turns Türkiye into a selective, hard-edged tax haven for globally mobile wealth.
The package extends well beyond personal taxation. It includes a 1% inheritance tax for new residents, sharply reduced corporate tax rates for exporters, and near-total exemptions for transit trade companies based in the Istanbul Financial Centre. Multinationals relocating regional headquarters could benefit from tax exemptions of up to 100% for two decades.
A digital “single window” platform for company registration and licensing aims to remove bureaucratic friction, while a repatriation scheme offers low-tax pathways for bringing cash, gold and securities back into the country.
A two-front strategy
Ankara’s approach appears adjusted for two distinct audiences:
- First, it seeks to capture investors reassessing their exposure to Gulf hubs such as Dubai, particularly as regional instability prompts multinational firms to diversify their geographic footprint. Istanbul is being framed as a hybrid alternative, combining European market access with Asian connectivity.
- Second, the plan targets European-based wealth and high-income “digital nomads,” positioning Istanbul as a competitive lifestyle and tax destination within reach of major EU markets.
Competition and credibility
The proposal places Türkiye in direct competition with established regimes such as Cyprus’s non-domicile framework, which offers tax exemptions on dividends and interest for up to 17 years within an EU legal structure. Turkey’s longer duration and broader corporate incentives could prove more attractive on paper.
Yet the gap between announcement and implementation remains significant. The package still requires parliamentary approval, with no clear timeline for submission.
More importantly, investor confidence will depend on legal clarity and policy consistency. Türkiye's track record of abrupt regulatory shifts, combined with persistent inflation and currency volatility, raises questions about the durability of the benefits on offer.
If enacted and sustained, Türkiye’s tax push could redraw the map of capital flows across the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. The combination of fiscal incentives, geographic positioning and infrastructure ambition gives Ankara a credible shot at attracting globally mobile capital.
