Türkiye vs Singapore for a software or game company
Singapore holds the strongest tax position in this comparison: 17% corporate tax, nothing withheld on dividends, and a 400% deduction on qualifying innovation spend. It is also the most expensive place on the list to run a team, with rents about 455% above Türkiye's, and it reimburses none of the advertising and platform fees that Türkiye pays back at 50% to 70% in cash.
The short verdict
01A close one, 4 measures to 4
Where Türkiye wins
- Advertising, hosting and platform fees, reimbursed at 50% to 70% where Singapore reimburses nothing.
- A cost base roughly 126% below Singapore's, and rents about 455% below.
- Income from customers abroad, untaxed under the export regime.
- A talent pool priced for a development studio rather than for a financial centre.
Where Singapore wins
- A 17% corporate rate, eight points under Türkiye's.
- Nothing withheld on dividends at all, which no other country in this comparison offers.
- The Enterprise Innovation Scheme, a 400% deduction on qualifying spend, with a cash payout for companies too small to use a deduction.
- A base inside the Asian market and its time zones, with the banking to match.
02How do Türkiye and Singapore compare, line by line?
Of 9 measures, Türkiye takes 4 and Singapore takes 4, with 1 level. Singapore is strongest on tax, so that group comes first. Every figure links to its source and carries the date we last checked it.
Tax
| Measure | Türkiye | Singapore |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax on ordinary profit | 25%source | better for the company17%source |
| 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 or equivalent, standard rate | 20%Exported services are outside the scope, so this matters less to an exporter than the headline suggests.source | 9% GSTsource |
| Withholding tax on dividends to a foreign parent | 15%A double tax treaty can reduce it.source | better for the company0%source |
Public money
| Measure | Türkiye | Singapore |
|---|---|---|
| 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 companyThe Enterprise Innovation Scheme, a 400% deduction on qualifying innovation spend with a cash payout option worth up to 20%source |
What it costs to live there
| Measure | Türkiye | Singapore |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living index | better for the company40.2Numbeo index, mid-2026.source | 90.8, 126% higher than Türkiyesource |
| Rent index | better for the company12.3source | 68.3, 455% 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 staff91.3, 27% higher than Türkiyesource |
03What is it like to run a company in Singapore?
Singapore is five hours ahead of Istanbul and about eleven by plane, so a team split between the two overlaps for part of an afternoon. The tax position is genuinely excellent and the cost of standing a team up there is what companies underestimate: the rent index alone is five and a half times Türkiye's. Publishers with an Asian market focus tend to keep a small commercial office there and put development somewhere cheaper.
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
Is a 400% deduction as good as it sounds?
It is a deduction rather than cash, so it is worth 400% of the spend multiplied by the 17% rate, and it is capped per category. The cash payout option converts a slice of it for companies with no profit to deduct against, at up to 20% of the cost.
Does Singapore really withhold nothing on dividends?
Yes. Singapore operates a one-tier system where corporate profit is taxed once at the company and distributions leave untaxed, which is why so many Asian holding structures sit there.
What does a studio give up on cost?
A great deal. Living costs run about 126% above Türkiye's and the rent index is 68.3 against 12.3, so the same engineering payroll buys a much smaller team.
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 2026-08-21
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/corporate-income-tax-cit-rates checked 2026-08-21
- https://cyberscope.solutions/blog/zero-percent-tax-on-it-exports/ checked 2026-08-21
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/value-added-tax-vat-rates checked 2026-08-21
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/turkey/corporate/withholding-taxes checked 2026-08-21
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/withholding-tax-wht-rates checked 2026-08-21
- https://cyberscope.solutions/guides/ checked 2026-08-21
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/singapore/corporate/tax-credits-and-incentives checked 2026-08-21
- https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp checked 2026-08-21