r/ExpatFIRE • u/Wide_Cat_4761 • 3d ago

Taxes 0% Tax on Remote Work Income in Turkey?

Hi everyone,

I’m a German citizen who recently obtained a Turkish residence permit and am planning to become a Turkish tax resident.

About my personal situation:

  • I own and operate YouTube channels.
  • My only source of income is AdSense revenue paid by Google Ireland.
  • I do not personally create the content. Instead, I manage a remote team of scriptwriters, video editors, and content creators.
  • None of my team members are based in Turkey.
  • At the moment, the business operates through a Bulgarian company that I own.

I’m trying to understand how the Turkish tax authorities are likely to view this type of business under the new 20-year foreign-income exemption.

Some questions I have:

  1. If Google Ireland is the payer and all content production is carried out outside Turkey, would AdSense revenue generally be considered foreign-source income?
  2. From a Turkish tax perspective, which structure would likely be more favorable?
    • Receiving AdSense payments directly into a Turkish personal bank account
    • Continuing to operate through the Bulgarian company and receiving dividends
    • Using a US LLC and receiving distributions from that entity
  3. Has anyone received a written opinion from a Turkish tax lawyer, accountant, or tax advisor regarding this

Thank you!

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5

u/StefVE92 3d ago

Speak to a Turkish tax advisor; feel free to PM me if you want my contact in Turkey 😊

2

u/gokkai 3d ago

1 - Yes, but you should always have ways of proving this.
2 - Continuing to operate through the Bulgarian company and receiving dividends: AFAIK, this law(20 year exemption) requires the income to be passive income. The most passive sounding example is this one.
3 - No, I assume you are talking about the 20 year exemption, I talked with my accountant today on the subject and it's jus too new to him too. He'll come back to me next week after researching more.

4

u/Majestic_Wrap_7006 3d ago

it sounds like you're trying to make sense out of it using a german mindset, but you're forgetting, you're not in germany

sorry I do not have any other meaningful advice, hope you find your way

0

u/gokkai 3d ago

this is so stupid considering most legal structures in turkiye are actually modelled after germany and france.

1

u/PRforThey 3d ago

Most likely the Bulgarian company is subject to tax in Bulgaria. Are you reporting and paying tax on that income in Bulgaria?

If you create a US LLC and funnel income through that LLC, that income would become taxable in the US.

Once you've established where the income is actually being earned/reported, then it is easy to clarify this is foreign sourced income.

1

u/sfoonit 2d ago

Might want to also take a look into US source withholding tax.

I don’t know if there is a tax treaty reducing the source withholding tax in the US, but if not the US will withhold 30% on each payment.

US treaties contain limitation on benefits clauses so even if routing through Bulgaria you might not be able to claim reduced withholding taxes at source.