Türkiye vs Canada for a software or game company
Canada's support is generous, provincial, and aimed almost entirely at labour. The interactive digital media credits reimburse a share of eligible salaries, which suits a large production team and does nothing for a small team with a large media budget. The combined corporate rate runs about 23% to 26% depending on the province.
The short verdict
01Where each one wins, 5 measures to 2
Where Türkiye wins
- Marketing, app store commissions and hosting, none of which the provincial credits reach.
- Dividends to a foreign parent, 15% against 25%.
- The cost base, about 52% below Canada's, and rent less than half.
- Income from customers abroad, untaxed under the export regime.
Where Canada wins
- Provincial interactive digital media credits, which are substantial if your costs are mostly local payroll.
- The federal SR&ED programme for genuine research work.
- A deep pool of experienced developers built over three decades.
- Local purchasing power, 60% higher than Türkiye's.
02How do Türkiye and Canada compare, line by line?
Of 9 measures, Türkiye takes 5 and Canada takes 2, with 2 level. Every figure links to its source and carries the date we last checked it.
Public money
| Measure | Türkiye | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back on ads, hosting and platform fees | better for the company50% of what you spend, rising to 70% when the customers you are targeting are in one of the twenty countries on Türkiye's target listsource | Nothing comparablesource |
| Support for development costs | Yes, through two separate programmes: TÜBİTAK, which funds defined research projects, and teknopark status, which removes corporate tax on software developed inside a technology parkBoth are applied for separately from the export refund, and a company can hold them at the same time.source | better for the companyProvincial interactive digital media credits on eligible labour, plus the federal SR&ED programmesource |
What it costs to live there
| Measure | Türkiye | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living index | better for the company40.2Numbeo index, mid-2026.source | 61.3, 52% higher than Türkiyesource |
| Rent index | better for the company12.3source | 29.1, 137% higher than Türkiyesource |
| Local purchasing power index | 71.8Salaries buy less locally, which is the other side of a low cost base.source | better for staff114.8, 60% higher than Türkiyesource |
Tax
| Measure | Türkiye | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax on ordinary profit | 25%source | 15% federal, roughly 23% to 26% once provincial tax is addedsource |
| Tax on income from software sold abroad | better for the company0% under the IT export regimeApplies to income earned from customers outside Türkiye.source | Taxed the same as any other profitsource |
| VAT, standard rate | 20%Exported services are outside the scope, so this rate matters less to an exporter than the headline suggests.source | Combined federal and provincial sales taxes of 5% to 15%source |
| Withholding tax on dividends to a foreign parent | better for the company15%A double tax treaty can reduce it.source | 25%source |
03What is it like to run a company in Canada?
Vancouver is ten hours behind Istanbul and Toronto is seven, so a shared working day is difficult and most groups run the two as separate shifts. What Canada does have is thirty years of console and mobile experience and immigration routes that make international hiring realistic.
04What does the Turkish programme pay back, and what are the limits?
| What you spend it on | Programme item | Paid back | Annual cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ads and player acquisition | Digital product promotion: ads & marketing (up to 10 products/yr) | 50% to 70% | 50 000 000 ₺ ≈ $1,043,841 |
| App store and platform commissions | App store & platform commissions (up to 10 products/yr) | 50% | 20 000 000 ₺ ≈ $417,537 |
| Hosting and servers | Hosting costs | 50% | 5 000 000 ₺ ≈ $104,384 |
What Türkiye would pay back on your spending
Türkiye runs a government programme that refunds part of what a software company or game studio spends on reaching customers abroad. It covers advertising, app store and platform commissions, and hosting. The refund is paid in cash against invoices the company has already settled, so it does not depend on the company making a profit. The standard rate is 50%, and it rises to 70% when the customers being targeted are in one of the twenty countries on the Turkish Ministry of Trade's target list.
Put your own yearly figures in below. The rates and the annual caps come from the same file as our full calculator, and the total updates as you type.
05Questions we get asked
Which province pays the most?
It depends on your labour mix and whether you qualify as an interactive digital media producer. British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec all run credits with different rates and rules, so it is worth modelling rather than assuming.
Do the credits cover contractors or offshore staff?
Generally they favour employees on payroll inside the province, and restrict or exclude contractor and offshore costs.
Does claiming in Türkiye affect our provincial credit?
No. The claims are made by a separate Turkish company on its own spend. The Canadian entity and its credits carry on unchanged.
Where this comparison comes from
CyberScope Solutions is an Istanbul consultancy that manages Türkiye's IT export incentive claims for software companies and game studios. We build these comparisons because clients ask for them before deciding, and we keep the rows where the other country wins because a comparison nobody believes is worth nothing.
- Every figure is sourced. Each number links to the page it came from and carries the date we last checked it.
- These pages get rebuilt, not left. Rates and caps come from the same file as our calculator, so when one changes the page changes with it.
- You find out early if it is not for you. The first call is thirty minutes and we will say plainly if your spend pattern does not suit the programme.
Turn that number into money
Send us the rough shape of your spend. You get back what it is worth, what setting it up involves, and how fast the first claim can go in. Companies already operating here treat this as routine, and the six month window means the clock is running on invoices you have already paid.
- A reply from a person within one working day
- No mailing list, no drip sequence
- Thirty minutes, and you keep the numbers either way
Got it.
We will read it properly and reply within a working day. If you would rather get it over with now, pick a time that suits you.
Book a 30 minute call06Where these numbers come from
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/turkey/corporate/taxes-on-corporate-income checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/canada/corporate/taxes-on-corporate-income checked 2026-08-20
- https://cyberscope.solutions/blog/zero-percent-tax-on-it-exports/ checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/value-added-tax-vat-rates checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/turkey/corporate/withholding-taxes checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/withholding-tax-wht-rates checked 2026-08-20
- https://cyberscope.solutions/guides/ checked 2026-08-20
- https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp checked 2026-08-20