Terms, Limits, and Accounting Treatment of the Audit Assurance under the New Wealth Amnesty

The wealth amnesty is a voluntary compliance mechanism periodically utilized within the Turkish tax system; however, each new regulation introduces different terms and a unique incentive architecture compared to the previous one. The Provisional Article 19, added to the Corporate Tax Law by Article 10 of Law No. 7582 and published in the Official Gazette dated June 4, 2026, can also be evaluated within this framework.

General Communiqué Serial No. 1 on Bringing Certain Assets into the Economy determines the implementation procedures and principles of this article. It establishes the application by outlining the critical thresholds that corporations and individuals must consider when making decisions (such as the commitment structure determining the tax rate, the scope and limits of the audit assurance, the accounting record system, and the consequences of violating terms).

The regulation concerns a wide spectrum of individuals and entities with unrecorded domestic or foreign assets, regardless of whether they are income or corporate tax payers. For the taxpayer, the main issue is determining under which conditions the provided protection truly transforms into a shield.

1. Scope

As explicitly stated in Article 5/2 of the Communiqué, assets located abroad that do not fall within the scope (e.g., real estate) can be brought into the country by converting them into eligible assets until July 31, 2027. For companies, the practical meaning is this: there is no opportunity to directly declare real estate located abroad; however, the regulation can be utilized once it is sold and converted into cash or marketable securities. This means that planning must begin long before the notification date.

1.1. Notification Period and the Single Notification Principle

Notifications are made to banks or intermediary institutions in Turkey until July 31, 2027 (including this date). The core rule is a single notification; however, since each month is considered a separate taxation period, multiple notifications can be submitted within the timeframe. The point to clarify here is the distinction between a correction and a new notification: reducing the notified amount always requires a correction of the previous notification, whereas increasing the amount in subsequent months triggers a new and independent notification. Since new notifications are not linked to previous ones, care must be taken to only declare the additional amount. No corrections will be taken into account after the notification period expires.

2. The Structure Determining the Tax Rate: Commitment and Time

The most distinct feature separating this regulation from previous practices is the tiered rate system based on the holding period instead of a fixed rate. While the general rate is 5%, the rate gradually decreases if it is committed that the declared asset will be held for specific periods in time deposits, government domestic debt securities and lease certificates issued under Law No. 4749, or venture capital investment funds.

In addition to this, there are two temporal increases: a half percentage point is added to the rates for notifications made from January 1, 2027, onwards, and if the July 31, 2027 deadline is extended by the President, a total of one percentage point is added during the extended period.

Source: General Communiqué Serial No. 1 on Bringing Certain Assets into the Economy, Art. 4/5, 4/9, 4/10. In case of an extension by the President, an additional half point is applied, resulting in a total increase of 1 percentage point.

The practical meaning of this table for the taxpayer is a cost-flexibility balance. Although the 0% rate looks attractive, it brings a five-year lock-up period and the risk of violating the commitment terms; conversely, a shorter commitment preserves liquidity at the expense of a higher tax rate. The decision should be made based on the timing of the taxpayer's cash needs rather than the size of the asset. Withdrawing the asset from the relevant investment vehicle within the committed period removes not only the reduced rate but also the audit assurance discussed below.

3. Operation: Flow from Notification to Assurance

Securing the process requires maintaining a chain rather than performing a single step. The notification, the transfer of the asset to an account in Turkey within two months, the timely payment of the tax, registration in the statutory books, and the conversion of the committed amounts into the relevant investment vehicle within ten days are all interconnected links.

Figure 1. Wealth amnesty process flow and critical timeframes.

Source: Formulated based on General Communiqué Serial No. 1, Art. 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12.

4. Scope and Limits of the Audit Assurance

This is where the actual value of the regulation lies for the taxpayer: when the conditions are met, no tax audit or assessment will be conducted under any circumstances regarding the amounts corresponding to the assets subject to notification. However, this protection has two important limits, and both must be understood so the taxpayer does not harbor a false sense of security.

4.1. Offset Logic in Audits Initiated for Other Reasons

Notification does not grant the taxpayer absolute immunity. If a tax base discrepancy is found as a result of an audit initiated for another reason, and it is determined that this difference stems from the declared assets, no assessment is made if the declared amount is equal to or greater than the tax base discrepancy. If the difference is larger, only the exceeding portion is taxed. Example 6 in the Communiqué clarifies this: since 40 million TL of a 75 million TL tax base discrepancy originated from the declared asset, no assessment was made for that portion only; the remaining amount arising from depreciation and exemption errors was taxed.

The practical conclusion is this: the wealth amnesty provides a shield regarding the source of the unrecorded asset; it does not grant a general amnesty for all other transactions of the taxpayer. Therefore, the notification does not replace a review of existing tax risks; at best, it complements it.

4.2. The Decisiveness of Timing

The second limit is timing. A notification made after a tax audit has commenced or after a referral to the Tax Assessment Commission has been made does not prevent an assessment on the discovered tax base discrepancy, and the notified amounts cannot be subject to an offset. In other words, the protection only comes into play before the audit door is knocked on. This is the most concrete risk of leaving the notification to the last day: an intervening audit commencement can render the assurance entirely useless.

5. Accounting and Recording System

Tax assurance is not legally complete unless the correct accounting entry is made; registration is one of the conditions of the assurance. Taxpayers keeping books under Tax Procedure Law No. 213 are obliged to record the notified assets in their statutory books.

Those keeping books on a balance sheet basis open a special fund account under liabilities for these assets. This account is considered an integral part of the capital; it cannot be withdrawn from the business unless two years have passed from the notification date, and it cannot be used for any purpose other than addition to capital. After two years, these amounts can be withdrawn from the business without being taken into account when determining taxable income or distributable income for corporations. These amounts are not taxed in the event of liquidation of the business, or in transfers and spin-offs falling under Article 81 of the Income Tax Law (GVK) and Articles 19–20 of the Corporate Tax Law (KVK). Those keeping books on a Self-employment earnings ledger or an operating account basis show the assets separately in their books.

Two constraints are important regarding income and expenses: losses arising from the subsequent disposal of declared assets are not accepted as expenses or deductions, and taxes paid due to the notification can under no circumstances be written off as expenses or offset against another tax. This is the point where professionals must warn their clients beforehand: the 5% tax paid is final as a cost item; there is no recovery.

6. Special Cases

The collective result of these three topics is that while the regulation defines a flexible scope, it leaves the cost of this flexibility to the taxpayer as a burden of proof. If the documentary infrastructure is not established at the time of notification, the assurance may become controversial in the future.

7. Consequences of Violating Terms

The most frequently overlooked aspect of the regulation is the revocability of the assurance. If the declared assets are not brought to Turkey or transferred to the account within two months, if the assessed tax is not paid on time, if the commitments are not complied with, or if other conditions in the article are not fulfilled, the protection regarding the non-performance of audits and assessments cannot be utilized.

A special mechanism operates in the case of a commitment violation: amounts must be converted into the committed investment vehicle within ten days from the transfer/investment date for foreign assets, and from the notification date for domestic assets. If the timeframe is not observed, the tax not collected on time and the delay interest will be collected by the bank or intermediary institution via withholding; however, a tax loss penalty is not applied in this case. The example in the Communiqué shows that a taxpayer who benefited from a 1% rate with a four-year commitment completely loses the assurance upon violating the condition after two years.

What this means for the taxpayer is that the lower rate is not a discount, but a conditionally allocated rate. If the discipline to keep the asset in the relevant vehicle throughout the commitment period cannot be demonstrated, it is often safer to choose a higher but unconditional rate from the start.

Conclusion and Tangible Recommendations

While the new wealth amnesty reduces the cost of bringing unrecorded assets into the system via a tiered rate system, it ties the provided audit assurance to numerous conditions. The regulation is a true shield when structured correctly; however, when poorly structured, it can turn into a transaction that provides no protection despite the tax paid.

For taxpayers: Make the decision based on the timing of your cash needs rather than the size of the asset; keep the commitment period sustainable without getting caught up in the allure of the 0% rate. Do not leave the notification to the last day—an intervening audit commencement invalidates the assurance. Reflect in your budgeting from the very beginning that the paid tax cannot be written off as an expense and cannot be recovered.

Muhsin GÜNYELİ

Sworn-in Certified Public Accountant