Another step from Ministry of Finance to increase revenues: “Overseas Exit Fee to Increase Tenfold”

The Ministry of Finance has initiated efforts to revise the current overseas exit fee from 150 Turkish Lira to a range between 1000 and 1750 Turkish Lira.

The economic management team, aiming to increase public revenues, is preparing to remove various tax exemptions and exceptions. The discussion of transaction taxes on the stock market and cryptocurrency had been highly debated, but Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek announced yesterday that they had decided to quit the idea of the transaction tax.

However, while the transaction tax on the stock market is being abandoned, there is an extraordinary increase planned for the overseas exit fees. This tax package, expected to be presented to the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) after the holiday break, will include a significant rise in the overseas exit fee as a major revenue-boosting element.

Increase Expected Between 566% and 1066%

According to the plan, the current overseas exit fee of 150 Lira is projected to be revised to a range between 1000 and 1750 Lira. If the fee is set at 1000 Lira, the increase will be 566%, and if it is set at 1750 Lira, the increase will be 1066%.

How Much Was Collected Last Year?

In 2023, 1.311 billion Lira was collected from overseas exit fees. Between January and April of 2024, the revenue from these fees was 427 million Lira. A portion of the overseas exit fees is transferred to TOKİ (the Housing Development Administration of Turkey).

The overseas exit fee, which was 15 Lira in 2018, was raised to 50 Lira in July 2019, and then to 150 Lira in March 2022.

As of the exit date, those who can prove they have a residence permit abroad, those engaged in commercial transport of cargo and passengers by land, sea, air, and railway, and those who are crew members on duty at the time of exit, as well as children under seven years old, are exempt from the fee.