Tax-exempt allowances in 2020 for business travel

Allowances provided by an employer to his employee to cover business travel expenses are tax exempt for the employee (Article 24 of the Income Tax Law) and are deductible expense for the employer.

According to Article 24 of the Income Tax Law, daily lump-sum allowances paid to reimburse expenses incurred during business travel are exempt from tax to the extent they do not exceed the lump-sum per diem allowances granted in the public sector, as determined based on the official published lists.

Please note that daily lump-sum allowances are used to repay employee meal and accommodation expenses. They do not cover transportation costs. Transportation costs can be fully reimbursed based on receipts and are tax-free for the employee.  

Lump-sum allowances for business trips in Turkey

In 2020, the maximum daily lump-sum allowance that can be paid to an employee tax-free for business trips in Turkey is 66.85 TRY.  

Lump-sum allowances for business trips abroad

The lump-sum reimbursements for business trips abroad should be calculated based on the official list of allowances to be paid to civil servants who go on these types of trips. The lump-sum allowance amount varies depending on the country visited. An overview of the applicable allowances currently in place can be seen below. Please note that these amounts were determined in the year 2018 and the same amounts continued to apply also in the year 2019.  With respect to year 2020, so far there is no announcement for new amounts for 2020. In case of an announcement for 2020 we will be providing an update accordingly.