How to Open a Liaison Office in Turkey: A Guide for Foreign Companies

A liaison office (irtibat bürosu) lets a foreign company keep a legal, non-commercial presence in Turkey for activities such as market research, representation and coordination, without forming a taxable company. It is set up under Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4875, supervised by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, and the initial permit runs for up to three years. This guide walks you through the permit, what the office may and may not do, tax and staffing, renewal terms, and how to close it cleanly.

What Is a Liaison Office in Turkey?

A liaison office (Turkish: irtibat bürosu, sometimes called a representative office) is a non-trading presence that a company incorporated abroad can establish in Turkey. Unlike a branch or a subsidiary, a liaison office is not a separate legal entity and is not permitted to carry on commercial activity or earn income in Turkey.

It exists only to support the foreign parent through activities such as market research, promotion, coordination with local suppliers or distributors, and technical support. It cannot invoice, sign sales contracts for its own account, or hold trading stock. Every cost it incurs — rent, salaries, professional fees — must be funded from abroad by the parent in foreign currency.

Legal Framework and Who Approves It

Liaison offices are set up and run under the Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4875 (Doğrudan Yabancı Yatırımlar Kanunu) and its Implementation Regulation. These rules define the permitted activity types, the permit term, the annual reporting duty and the renewal limits.

The competent authority is the General Directorate of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Investment within the Ministry of Industry and Technology (this function previously sat with the Ministry of Economy). It issues the permit, monitors compliance and decides on extensions and closures.

Because the parent is a company organised abroad, recognition of its legal personality and corporate documents in Turkey is governed by Law No. 5718 on International Private and Procedural Law (MÖHUK). The internal corporate affairs of the office stay anchored to the parent's home-country law.

What a Liaison Office Can and Cannot Do

The application must declare the office's intended field of activity, and the Ministry assesses it against a defined list of permitted, non-commercial functions. The activity type you choose is not just a formality — it controls how long your permit can later be extended (see the renewal table below). Permitted functions include:

• Market research and gathering information on the Turkish market;
• Promotion and marketing of the parent's goods or services;
• Representation and hosting — acting as the parent's contact point;
• Control and inspection of Turkish suppliers, sourcing and quality oversight;
• Technical support for distributors or dealers;
• Communication and information transfer with the parent's network;
• Regional management — coordinating and managing the parent's units across a region (a higher-tier category covered separately below).

What it may never do

A liaison office cannot:

• Engage in any commercial or revenue-generating activity;
• Issue invoices, sign sales contracts on its own account, or trade goods;
• Receive Turkish-source income or remit "profit" to the parent.

The Regional Management Center: A Higher-Tier Liaison Office

Most readers picture a small representative office. There is also a distinct, broader category: the regional management center (bölgesel yönetim merkezi). Instead of just watching the Turkish market, it coordinates and manages the parent group's units across several countries from Turkey — functions such as investment and management strategy, planning, promotion, communication, training and reporting for the regional network.

Two features set it apart. First, it is still non-commercial — like any liaison office, it cannot earn income in Turkey and must be funded from abroad. Second, its renewal ceiling is far longer: a regional management center can be extended for up to ten years, against a maximum of five years for the standard activity types. That makes it the structure of choice for a multinational that wants a durable, Turkey-based coordination hub for the wider region.

The Permit Application and Documents

A foreign company applies to the Ministry of Industry and Technology with a defined document set. In practice the file generally includes:

1. The application form and a written undertaking that the office will not carry on commercial activity;
2. The parent's certificate of activity (certificate of good standing) from its home country;
3. The parent's activity report, or its balance sheet and income statement;
4. A power of attorney for the person authorised to run the office in Turkey;
5. A power of attorney for the agent or law firm handling the establishment, where one acts for the company.

The legalisation and translation step

This is the part that trips up most foreign applicants. Documents issued abroad must be:

• Apostilled (for countries party to the Hague Apostille Convention) or consular-legalised at a Turkish mission (for countries that are not); and
• Translated into Turkish by a sworn translator and notarised in Turkey.

The Ministry decides on a properly prepared, complete application in about fifteen days. For regulated sectors — for example banking, insurance and capital markets — a prior opinion from the relevant supervisory authority may be required before the Ministry rules. For a broader view of structuring options, see our guide on establishing a business in Turkey.

Permit Term, Annual Reporting and Renewals

The initial permit is granted for up to three years, tied to the declared field of activity. An extension must be requested before the permit expires, and what you can get depends heavily on the activity type you registered.

The annual report you cannot miss

Every year, the office must file the Information Form on the Activities of the Liaison Office (the annual activity form) with the Ministry by the end of May, covering the previous year, together with bank evidence that its expenses were met from abroad in foreign currency. Offices that do not file this form on time will not have their extension requests evaluated.

How long you can extend — by activity type

The Implementation Regulation does not allow open-ended renewals, and it does not extend every office. Market-research and promotion offices cannot be extended at all; other types have fixed maximum extension ceilings:

If your office was set up purely for market research or promotion, plan from day one for a finite life: when the permit ends, you either close the office or, if your plans have changed, incorporate a company. Extension decisions also weigh the office's past activity and the expenditure it has brought into Turkey.

Tax Treatment and the Salary Exemption

Because a liaison office is barred from income-generating activity, it has no Turkish-source business income, so it falls outside the scope of corporate tax — not through a special exemption, but because there is simply no taxable profit. As it does not trade, it is not a VAT taxpayer on sales either. It must still obtain a tax number, register with the tax office and the Social Security Institution (SGK) for payroll, and keep proper records.

The income-tax exemption on staff salaries

Salaries paid to the office's employees can be exempt from income tax — but this is conditional, not automatic. The basis is Income Tax Law No. 193, Article 23, first paragraph, subparagraph 14(a), and the Revenue Administration confirmed its application to liaison-office staff in a 2022 ruling (özelge). Where the exemption applies, no Article 94 withholding is taken on those salaries. Five conditions must all be met:

• The employer is a non-resident (limited-taxpayer) entity with no legal or business centre in Turkey;
• That employer does not earn income in Turkey;
• The salary is funded from the employer's foreign earnings;
• It is paid in foreign currency (it may be converted to Turkish lira through an authorised bank, with the exchange receipts attached to the payroll); and
• It is not booked as an expense in the employer's Turkish accounts.

Hiring Staff and Foreign Employees

A liaison office may employ staff, including foreign nationals. It runs payroll and registers its employees with SGK like any Turkish employer, even though it pays no corporate tax.

Foreign employees need a work permit under Law No. 6735 on International Labour Force, issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. A work permit also functions as a residence document for its holder, so in most cases a separate residence permit is not needed; family members and other foreigners not covered by a work permit follow Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection. We cover the practicalities in our guide to hiring staff in Turkey.

Liaison Office vs. Branch vs. Subsidiary

The right structure turns on one question: do you intend to trade in Turkey? If yes, a liaison office is not for you.

A subsidiary is a separate Turkish entity under the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 (TTK) and is the usual choice for active operations. If your group prefers a duty-relief or export-focused base, also weigh the free zone company option. For help choosing and incorporating, see setting up a subsidiary or branch.

How to Close a Liaison Office in Turkey

When the permit ends, your plans change, or you incorporate a company instead, the office is closed through a defined procedure — you cannot simply walk away.

• Deregister with the tax office and SGK. Terminate the office's tax registration and close its social-security file once payroll has ended.
• Obtain a closure note (tax clearance). The tax authority confirms the office has no outstanding liabilities — this document is the gateway to moving any remaining funds.
• Repatriate remaining cash only on closure. Money left in the office's Turkish bank account can be transferred abroad only as part of the closure, and only with the closure/tax-clearance note. It is treated as a return of the parent's own injected funds — never as profit, because the office never earned any.
• Notify the Ministry of the closure so the permit record is updated.

Frequently asked questions