The Türkiye and Singapore tax treaty: what leaving profit costs
A Singaporean parent pays 10% on dividends from a Turkish subsidiary where it holds at least a quarter, and 15% below that. Interest is the notable line: it can fall to 7.5%, the lowest interest rate in this set, against a domestic rate of 10%.
Türkiye refunds half of what a software company or game studio spends on advertising, app store commissions and hosting when it sells to customers abroad, and up to 70% when those customers are in one of twenty target markets. It is paid in cash, against invoices you have already settled. Try it with your own numbers.
01How much is the shareholding threshold worth in Singapore?
A parent in Singapore that clears the shareholding test pays 10% on dividends leaving Türkiye, and one that misses it pays 15%. On $500,000 that is $25,000 decided by the share register. The 25% holding is settled when the Turkish company is formed.
- Dividend leaving Türkiye$500,000
- Withheld with the 25% holding, at 10%$50,000
- Withheld below it, at 15%$75,000
- What the holding is worth$25,000
02What does Türkiye withhold on payments to Singapore?
| Payment leaving Türkiye | What you actually pay | Türkiye's rate with no treaty | The ceiling this treaty sets | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dividends | treaty helps10% | 15% | 10% to 15% | 10% where the parent holds at least 25%, otherwise 15%source |
| Interest | treaty helps7.5% | 10% | 7.5% to 10% | source |
| Royalties | treaty helps10% | 20% | 10% | Türkiye's domestic royalty rate is 20%source |
03How does the Singapore treaty compare with Türkiye's others?
At 7.5%, Singapore sits above 5%, which is where Austria lands, and above 2 other treaties in this atlas.
- 5%3
- 7.5%1
- 10%16
Singapore's dividend rates are mid-range, but its interest cap of 7.5% is the lowest in Türkiye's network, below even Türkiye's own domestic 10%. For a group funding a Turkish company by loan rather than equity, that single line makes Singapore worth modelling.
04What happens to the money once it lands in Singapore?
| In Singapore | Rate |
|---|---|
| Corporate tax on ordinary profit | 17%source |
| Withholding tax on dividends to a foreign parent | 0%source |
Türkiye against Singapore, measure by measure.
05What catches out groups based in Singapore?
- Interest at 7.5% is the lowest in this comparison, which makes loan funding from Singapore cheaper than from most European parents.
- The 25% threshold applies to the dividend rate, and the fallback of 15% is ordinary rather than punitive.
- Singapore's own treatment of received foreign income has conditions, and they matter as much as the Turkish rate does.
06How does this sit alongside what Türkiye pays Singapore groups back?
Withholding sits on distributions and interest. The export incentive sits on spending, is paid in cash and does not care where the parent is, so an Asian holding structure does not weaken the claim.
| 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.
07Questions we get asked
Why is the interest rate so low?
The treaty caps it at 7.5% in some circumstances, which is below Türkiye's own domestic 10% and unusual in its network.
Does a Singapore parent complicate the incentive?
No. The Turkish company claims on its own spending. The parent's jurisdiction changes what distributions cost, not eligibility.
Who is telling you this
CyberScope Solutions is an Istanbul consultancy that manages Türkiye's IT export incentive claims for software companies and game studios. Treaty rates decide what a group pays to move profit, and they come up in almost every first conversation, so we keep them written down rather than looked up each time.
- Every figure is sourced. Each number links to the page it came from and carries the date we last checked 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.
- 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.
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 call08Where these numbers come from
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/turkey/corporate/withholding-taxes checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/corporate-income-tax-cit-rates checked 2026-08-21
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/withholding-tax-wht-rates checked 2026-08-21