Minimum wage ‘exempt from income tax’

MINIMUM wage workers who paid income tax on their earnings last month can apply for a rebate after the government announced a retrospective tax exemption.

The gross monthly minimum wage rose from 7,000TL to 9,885TL last month, or 8,600TL after deductions for social security.

However, income tax bands were not adjusted accordingly meaning that people earning the minimum wage also had varying amounts of income tax deducted from their July earnings, depending on their individual circumstances.

Last Friday the Council of Ministers approved a legislative decree that would make the new minimum wage exempt from income tax, with the decision backdated to August 1.

It was stated that minimum wage earners can get back the July tax cuts by applying to the Finance Ministry by the end of January 2023.

However main opposition Republican Turkish Party MP Devrim Barçın claimed on social media that, according to the full details of the decree published in the Official Gazette on Monday, some minimum wage earners will continue to be liable for income tax.

He claimed that “tens of thousands” of single people with work permits who earn the minimum wage and who started working after 2008 will “continue to pay 396TL”

a month in income tax.