Social Security Law and Legislation

30April2015

Amendments in Labour Legislations with the Bill Omnibus Nr. 6645

6645 enumerated 'Law amending Work Place Health and Safety and other laws and enactments' has been published in the Reiterated Official Gazette on 23/04/2015 and entered into force on the date of publishing. With the Bill Omnibus, which includes 89 articles, many regulations, including Labour Law, Social Security and Income Tax have been subject to important changes. This article consists of briefing on the most significant amendments concerning employees and employers.

Category Social Security Law and Legislation, Taxation Law, Labor Law

10April2015

Inconsistencies in Headcount between Tax and SSI Declarations

The headcount reported in monthly SSI premium declarations and in withholding tax returns is subject to cross-check by the state auditors. Therefore, inconsistencies between these declarations pose a risk.

It has been noted that state auditors have been forwarding random audit reports to related SSI Offices and seeking information from companies based on the cross-checked results.

This is a fairly recent practice given that inconsistencies between headcount reports in withholding tax and SSI declarations were not scrutinized before.

Category Social Security Law and Legislation, Taxation Law

08April2015

Regulation on the Social Security Insurance of Domestic Service Workers

A communiqué regarding the social security insurance of domestic service workers within the scope of supplementary article 8 of the law on Social Security enumerated 5510 has been published and is in effect as of 01/04/2015. Domestic service work comprises domestic help such as cleaning, cooking, child as well as elderly care.

Domestic service workers are now categorized according to the days worked in a calendar month, threshold being 10 days. Accordingly, employers who employ domestic service workers 10 days or more are obliged to contribute the full SSI amount.

Category Social Security Law and Legislation, Taxation Law

31March2015

SSI Circular no. 2015/10 Concerning the Application for SSI Employer Incentives Retroactively

There are about ten different employer incentives in the social security and labour laws and regulations in Türkiye. These incentives serve the purpose of encouraging growth and sustainability of employment.

Employers are eligible to claim the incentive for a percentage of the 'employer' SSI premium portion. This portion is then subsequently paid by the Treasury.

In cases where the insured employee is eligible under multiple incentive laws and regulations, employers are only allowed to apply for one – not every applicable – incentive and indicate the applicable law in their monthly premium declarations.

Until recently, it was possible for employers to change the applicable incentives on a monthly basis and demand a retroactive application / calculation of the most recent incentive.

The recent SSI circular dated 18/03/2015 puts an end to retroactive application of SSI incentives in cases where an employer applies to change one SSI incentive in lieu of another.

Category Social Security Law and Legislation