How to Change a Company Address in Turkey: Registry, Tax and SGK

A company address change starts with a resolution of the competent corporate body, is legally completed by registration with the trade registry and publication in the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette, and is then notified to the tax office and, where necessary, to SGK. A company address change is the process of replacing a capital company’s registered head office address with a new address and recording this change in all official records. If the move stays within the same district, it is generally handled with a management resolution. If you are moving to another district or to the area of a trade registry office in another province, the articles of association change and a general assembly resolution is required.

In this article we divide address changes into three scenarios by type of move, then set out the resolution, registration, tax office and SGK notifications in six steps. The problem we see most often in practice is not complex legislation but a notification forgotten between institutions. The registry is updated, and the tax office goes to the old address for an on-site inspection.

When does a company address change require amending the articles of association?

You decide by looking at how the head office clause is worded in the articles of association. If the articles state only the district and province, a move within the same district does not change the articles. If the articles state a full address, or the new address is in another district, the head office clause changes and a general assembly resolution is required.

This distinction matters because the decision-making body, documents and timeline of the two routes differ. The Turkish Commercial Code requires the location of the head office to be stated in the articles of association of a joint stock company and in those of a limited liability company. When the “location” of the head office changes, a mandatory element of the articles also changes.

In practice, three scenarios arise:

• Moving within the same district: If the articles state only the district, the new address is registered by resolution of the board of directors in a joint stock company, or of the manager or board of managers in a limited liability company.
• Moving to another district within the same registry area: Since the head office clause changes, a general assembly resolution is adopted and the change is registered at the same registry office.
• Moving to the area of another trade registry office: This is what the legislation calls a relocation of the head office; in addition to the general assembly resolution, a registry summary is obtained from the old registry office and registration is made at the new registry office.

A municipality changing the street name or building number is a different matter. The company has not moved at all; in this case, registry offices generally accept a petition together with the municipality’s address numbering letter.

Relocation of the head office: what changes when moving to another registry area?

A relocation of the head office is the move of the company’s head office from the jurisdiction of one trade registry office to that of another. Under Article 111 of the Trade Registry Regulation, this application must include, in addition to the documents relating to the amendment of the articles of association, a registry summary obtained from the registry office at the old head office. Registration is made at the new registry office, and the location of the old head office is also entered in the new registry record.

The old record does not close by itself, but you do not need to apply separately either. Under Articles 112 and 113 of the Regulation, the new registry office notifies the old registry office of the registration, and the old office deletes the record upon this notification. Article 114 provides that the old registry office sends the original registry file to the new office within ten business days at the latest.

In a relocation of the head office, the company’s legal personality, tax identification number and MERSİS number continue. What changes is the registry office the company is attached to, and often its tax office and chamber of commerce. We therefore recommend planning the relocation decision together with registration at the chamber in the new province and tax office procedures.

What majority is required for the general assembly resolution?

For address changes requiring an amendment to the articles of association, the resolution comes from the general assembly. In a joint stock company, Article 421 of the Turkish Commercial Code applies: resolutions amending the articles of association are adopted at a general assembly where at least 50% of the company’s capital is represented, by a majority of the votes present. If this quorum is not met at the first meeting, representation of one-third of the capital is sufficient at a second meeting held within one month.

In a limited liability company, a change of head office is among the “important resolutions” under the law. Under Article 621 of the Turkish Commercial Code, a resolution to change the company’s head office can be adopted when at least two-thirds of the votes represented and an absolute majority of the capital with voting rights are both present. In a single-shareholder limited liability company, this resolution is easily adopted in practice with the shareholder’s signature, but it must still be documented.

Moving the head office abroad is an entirely different matter. In a joint stock company, the law requires the unanimous vote of the holders of all shares making up the capital for this resolution; the scope of this article is limited to moves within Turkey.

How is a company address change completed in 6 steps?

The order below has been prepared for a limited liability or joint stock company moving within Turkey. The steps are interdependent; in particular, the lease agreement and the resolution date determine the start of all subsequent deadlines.

Step 1: Match the new address with the UAVT record

MERSİS validates the address field against the National Address Database (UAVT, the official address record maintained by municipalities). Check at the outset that the new address is defined in UAVT with its building and unit number. If the address is not defined, you will need to apply to the municipality for address numbering, which may extend the timeline by a few days.

At the same stage, prepare the basis for using the new address: a lease agreement, title deed or virtual office service agreement. This is the first document requested when the tax office conducts an on-site inspection at the new address. If the new address is in a business center, make sure the agreement explicitly grants the right to use it as a legal address.

Step 2: Obtain the resolution from the correct body

For a move within the same district, a resolution of the board of directors or board of managers is adopted; where an amendment to the articles of association is required, a general assembly resolution is adopted. The resolution must state the new address exactly as written in UAVT. If a general assembly resolution is being adopted, also attach the new text of the amended head office clause to the resolution.

Articles 71 and 92 of the Trade Registry Regulation require a notarized copy of the general assembly resolution and the new text of the amended article for an amendment to the articles of association. Registry offices may not require notarization for resolutions adopted in the MERSİS resolution module with the electronic signatures of all participating shareholders or members. Since this practice may vary by registry office, we recommend asking your registry office before applying.

Step 3: Start the address change registration in MERSİS

The application for registration of the address change is prepared in MERSİS, after which an appointment is made through the system and the documents are submitted to the registry office. Under Article 33 of the Trade Registry Regulation, the period for requesting registration is, as a rule, fifteen days from the date on which the transaction or event occurs; for those residing outside the registry office’s jurisdiction, this period is one month. In most cases, the period starts from the date of the resolution.

Failing to apply on time has a cost. Under Article 33 of the Turkish Commercial Code, if the registry director learns of a matter for which registration has not been requested, the director calls on those concerned to register it. A person who does not apply within the given period is subject to an administrative fine of 22,194 TL under the Ministry of Trade’s communiqué on administrative fines for 2026.

The application file depends on the type of move. We have gathered the general framework of the documents required at formation in our documents required to set up a company article; for an address change, only a narrow part of this list is used, consisting of the resolution, the petition and, where necessary, the amended text of the articles of association.

Step 4: Check the TTSG announcement

The registered change is announced in the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette. Article 35 of the Turkish Commercial Code states that announcements are made in this gazette. Article 36 provides that registration takes effect against third parties from the business day following the day the announcement is published.

When the announcement is published, read the text: are the new address, neighborhood and building number correct, and is the old address shown correctly? An error in the announcement replicates the same error everywhere, from banks to tender files. Keep the gazette issue number and date; the tax office, SGK and banks will ask for this document.

Step 5: Notify the tax office of the address change within one month

Notifying the tax office of an address change is an obligation separate from registry registration. Article 157 of the Tax Procedure Law (VUK) requires taxpayers who change their known business address to notify the tax office of the new address. Article 168 provides that companies must themselves make notifications of changes other than commencement of business within one month of the date of the event.

At formation, the trade registry office itself notifies the tax office of the commencement of business; there is no such automatic flow for an address change. Under Article 169 of the law, notifications are made in writing. If the new address is in the area of another tax office, your taxpayer file moves to that office and the new office is expected to conduct an on-site inspection at the new address.

If no notification is made, the old address remains the “known address” for the tax administration. Notices and on-site inspections are made at the old address; a taxpayer who cannot be found at its known address during an inspection and whose activity cannot be identified at another address may be deemed to have ceased business under Article 160 of the law.

Step 6: Update the SGK workplace address and other records

The SGK workplace address change is made in one of two ways, depending on which boundaries the move crosses. Under Article 11 of Law No. 5510, if the workplace moves to an address in another province, a new workplace registration form is submitted within ten days of the move. If the workplace moves within the same province to the area of another SGK unit, notifying the address change in writing is sufficient.

The cost of missing the deadline can be high. Under Law No. 5510, Article 102 provides for an administrative fine of three times the minimum wage for an employer that keeps books on the balance sheet basis and fails to submit the workplace registration form on time. Based on the 2026 gross minimum wage of 33,030 TL, this amounts to 99,090 TL.

The job is not done once the registry, tax office and SGK are complete. We recommend also updating the following records for the new address:

• Banks and payment institutions (signature circular and customer information)
• e-Invoice, e-Archive and e-Waybill user information; the business address on the invoice template
• Registered e-mail (KEP) account and electronic notification e-mails
• Business opening and operating license from the municipality (reassessed at the new address)
• Chamber of commerce or industry registration (transfer to the new chamber when moving to another province)
• If you employ foreign staff, the workplace details in the work permit system

The invoice item looks minor but carries a sanction. Article 230 of the Tax Procedure Law (VUK) requires the issuer’s business address to appear on the invoice; invoices issued with the old address also raise questions in the other party’s accounting.

Notification deadlines by institution

The table below brings together in one place which institution to apply to in a company address change, by when and on what legal basis.

The periods in the table run independently of each other. A delay at the registry does not stop the tax office’s one-month period; so the safest course is to handle the notifications in parallel within the same week rather than one after another.

Common mistakes before moving

The delays we encounter in our clients’ address change files cluster around a few recurring points:

• A mismatch between the lease start date and the resolution date, making it disputable from which date the periods run
• Requesting registration with only a board resolution even though the articles state a full address, and the file being returned
• Not separately notifying the tax office after registration
• A company moving to another province not submitting a new workplace registration form to SGK within ten days
• Terminating the virtual office or lease agreement at the old address before arranging the forwarding of official notices

The last item is especially common among companies moving from a virtual office to a physical office. For the rules on using a business center as a legal address and the points to check in the agreement, see our what is a virtual office article. Ending the agreement at the old address after the announcement has been published and the tax office has been notified prevents correspondence arriving during the transition from being lost.

For example, consider a software company set up with a virtual office in a business center in Çankaya that decides to move to Istanbul as its team grows (a hypothetical scenario). For this company, the move is a relocation of the head office: the general assembly resolution, the registry summary obtained in Ankara, registration in Istanbul, notification to the tax office and a new workplace registration form to SGK within ten days should all be put on the same timeline. Even if the articles say only “Ankara”, the head office clause changes because the province changes.

Treat an address change as part of your company plan

A company address is not information written once at formation and then forgotten. Decisions such as growth, moving the team or switching from a virtual office to a physical office give rise to a series of official procedures on the registry and tax side. You can find our other guides on company formation in Turkey in our Company Formation in Turkey category.

If you would like us to handle securing the new address, reviewing the agreement and preparing for the on-site inspection on your behalf, our virtual office and legal address service covers these steps. For those who want to review the legal basis for the registration and notification documents, the fifth part of the Trade Registry Regulationon changes of head office is a good starting point.