With the Act No. 7349, the exemption from the income tax and the stamp duty to be applied to the national minimum wage, which has been applied since 1st of January 2022, will remain in effect together with the minimum wage determined for the period of July to December 2022. In the related regulation, the income tax and the stamp duty are not collected on income equal to the minimum wage amount for the wage earners who earn more than the minimum wage.
The minimum wage to be applied for the period of 01.07.2022 and 31.12.2022 has been re-determined with the Decision No. 2022/1 of the Minimum Wage Determination Commission which is being published in the 1st repeated issue of the Turkish Official Gazette dated 1st of July 2022 and issue number 31883.
The Minimum Wage Determination Commission has determined the national minimum wage TRL 6,471.00 as gross and TRL 5,500.35 as net as of 1st of July 2022. The net minimum wage increased by 29.32 percent in this regard.
With the increase in the minimum wage, the income tax and the stamp duty amount of the minimum wage have also changed. As of 1st of July 2022, the income tax amount of the minimum wage is TRL 825,05. However, the stamp duty amount is TRL 49,11. Therefore, the income tax deduction and the stamp duty exemption will be applied as much as the relevant amounts.
While determining the Income Tax deduction figures, the cumulative income tax base of the minimum wage earner must be followed. Because the discount amount applied is directly related to the income tax of the minimum wage. If the minimum wage earner starts working after 1st of January 2022, the cumulative income tax base and the amount of income tax deduction to be applied may change. The important thing is to follow the cumulative income tax base of the minimum wage earner as much as the number of actually worked months and to calculate the deduction figure as the income tax of the minimum wage earner at most.
For example, when a minimum wage employee works as of January 2022; in the period of August 2022, it reaches a cumulative income tax base of TRL 36,521.10. When the income tax is calculated with the transition to the second tax bracket in August, the calculated income tax is calculated as TRL 1,051.11 TL and the applied income tax reduction is calculated as TRL 1,051.11. As of September, the calculated income tax is TRL 1,100,07 and the income tax deduction is TRL 1,100,07.
However, if the employee starts working in July 2022, the account will change. If a minimum wage employee had started to work in June 2022, only in December 2022, he would have been able to switch to the second income tax bracket with TRL 37,255,50. When the income tax of the minimum wage earner is calculated over TRL 37,255,50, it will be TRL 1,087,83, therefore, an employee who started working in the June 2022 period will benefit from TRL 825.05 income tax deduction until December 2022, and the tax deduction to be benefited in the December 2022 period will be TRL 1,087.83 at most.
Therefore, the system to be implemented in payroll programs is to follow the cumulative income tax base of the minimum wage earner and reach the income tax reduction figures.
If the income tax calculated on behalf of the employee is lower than the tax reduction figure, the tax reduction is applied up to the income tax already calculated.
Starting from 1st of January 2022, the income tax bracket will be changed from August, taking into account the cumulative income tax base of the minimum wage earner. Therefore, the amount of income tax deduction will also vary.
