What Are SGK Incentives in Turkey? Supports That Reduce Employers’ Premium Costs

SGK incentives are the legal supports, reductions and incentives under which part of the social security premiums payable by private sector employers is covered by the Treasury, the Unemployment Insurance Fund or the budget of the relevant ministry. Some of these supports apply to every employee, while others come into play when you employ specific groups such as young people, women, persons with disabilities or R&D staff. What they have in common is this: none of them is paid in cash; all are deducted from your monthly premium debt.

In this article, we explain the six main employer supports in force in 2026, along with the conditions and duration of each. We also cover, under separate headings, the programs that have ended, situations in which more than one incentive applies to the same employee, and the right to claim for past months.

What are SGK incentives, and who can benefit?

SGK incentives are premium supports granted by law to increase registered employment and make it easier for specific groups to enter employment. The beneficiary is the private sector employer that employs insured persons under subparagraph 4/1-(a) of Law No. 5510. Workplaces belonging to public institutions and procurement and construction works under public tenders cannot benefit from most incentives.

According to the 2026 incentive guide published by the Social Security Institution (SGK) General Directorate of Insurance Premiums, there are 14 social security premium incentives still in effect; 13 of them are aimed at workplaces employing 4/a insured persons, and one at 4/b insured persons. Because a support specific to the tourism sector was added in July 2026, this number rose to 15 on SGK’s current list.

So many headings can make the subject of employer incentives look complicated at first glance. In practice, the items most commonly encountered in a company’s payroll are the six supports listed below. The others are aimed at specific sectors or special groups of employees.

6 employer supports in force in 2026

The order below is based on breadth of coverage. The first support concerns almost every private sector employer, while the last is open only to companies with an investment incentive certificate.

1. General premium reduction: 2 points, 5 points in manufacturing

Under subparagraph 81/1-(ı) of Law No. 5510, a certain portion of the employer’s share of the disability, old-age and survivors’ insurance premium paid by private sector employers is covered by the Treasury. This rate, which was 4 points for non-manufacturing employers in 2025, fell to 2 points from January 1, 2026 under Law No. 7566, published in December 2025. The principles of implementation were set out in SGK Circular No. 2026/1.

The situation is different in the manufacturing sector. Under Provisional Article 108 of the Law, the reduction is applied as 5 points for employers operating in the manufacturing sector, and this practice continues until December 31, 2026. The President is authorized to extend this period until December 31, 2027; we recommend following this decision when preparing your 2027 budget.

According to the sample calculations in the SGK guide, for an employee reported at the lower limit of earnings subject to premium, the 2-point reduction amounts to 660.60 TL per month and the 5-point reduction to 1,651.50 TL. There is no application requirement for this support; at an eligible workplace, it is applied automatically with the monthly notification.

2. Incentive for employing young people, women and holders of vocational certificates (6111)

Known publicly as the “6111 incentive,” this support is based on Provisional Article 10 of Law No. 4447. For employees hired from among the unemployed who are additional to the workplace’s average number of insured persons over the last six months, the entire employer’s share of the social security premium is covered by the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The support is calculated on the employer’s share remaining after the general premium reduction is applied.

The support period varies depending on the employee’s age, gender and certificate. For women over 18 and men aged 18-29, it is 48 months for holders of a vocational qualification certificate, 36 months for graduates of vocational and technical education or those who have completed an İŞKUR course, and 24 months for those without a certificate. For hires from among the unemployed registered with İŞKUR, 6 months are added to the period; for this reason, SGK summarizes the period as between 6 and 54 months.

The period under the Law was due to expire on December 31, 2025. With Presidential Decree No. 10769, published in the Official Gazette of December 25, 2025, the program was extended to December 31, 2026. Because the Law does not grant authority for extensions beyond this date, we recommend monitoring SGK announcements toward the end of the year to see whether new legislation will be needed for 2027 hires.

3. The entire employer’s share for employing persons with disabilities

Under Article 30 of Labor Law No. 4857, private sector workplaces employing fifty or more workers are required to employ persons with disabilities at a rate of three percent of their workers. For insured persons with disabilities employed under this requirement, the entire employer’s share calculated on the lower limit of earnings subject to premium is covered by the Treasury.

The support is not limited to employees within the quota. Employers who employ persons with disabilities above the quota, or who employ persons with disabilities even though they are not required to, also benefit from the same support for each employee with a disability. The conditions listed for this incentive in SGK’s 2026 guide are employing an insured person with a disability, submitting documents within the legal period and paying the premiums.

4. Employer premium support for R&D and design staff

Under Article 3 of Law No. 5746 on Supporting Research, Development and Design Activities, half of the employer’s share of the social security premium calculated on the wages of R&D and design staff is covered by the Treasury. Support staff are also covered, but their number must not exceed 10% of the number of R&D staff.

The same rate applies to staff working in technology development zones (technoparks) whose wages are exempt from personal income tax under Provisional Article 2 of Law No. 4691. According to SGK, this support continues until December 31, 2028. In the calculation, the general premium reduction is applied first, and then half of the remaining employer’s share is covered.

5. 2026 minimum wage support

The minimum wage support is based on Provisional Article 112, added to Law No. 5510 by Law No. 7573 dated January 23, 2026. For each premium day reported by eligible workplaces in the months of January-December 2026, 42.33 TL is calculated; for an employee working 30 days, this amounts to approximately 1,270 TL and is offset against premiums. The source is the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

The support is limited to the number of days of employees reported in the same month of 2025 with daily earnings subject to premium of 1,300 TL or less. At workplaces where a collective bargaining agreement applies, this threshold is 2,600 TL. Workplaces newly opened in 2026, on the other hand, receive the support for all their employees without a wage limit.

Don’t overlook one condition: the support is not granted in months in which the number of employees falls below the number in the month of 2025 in which the workplace reported the fewest insured persons. If unregistered employees or fictitious insured persons are identified, the support received is reclaimed.

6. Social security premium support tied to an investment incentive certificate

The sixth support does not originate from SGK but is tied to the investment incentive system, although its payment runs through SGK. Under Additional Article 2 of Law No. 5510, for employment created by an investment with an incentive certificate, a certain portion of the employer’s share calculated on the lower limit of earnings subject to premium is covered by the budget of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. For certificates under Decision No. 9903, this rate is half of the employer’s share in Regions 1-5 and the entire share in Region 6.

To benefit from this support, the completion visa of the incentive certificate must have been obtained. For this purpose, SGK requires that there be no overdue tax debt and that the e-Borcu Yoktur (no-debt) activation be in place. We explained the durations that vary by region and the other support elements in detail in our investment incentives guide .

SGK premium incentive table: rate, duration and legal basis

The table below summarizes the six supports based on SGK’s 2026 guide and the relevant legislation. Amounts vary with the lower limit of earnings subject to premium; the exact calculation is made based on each month’s notification.

According to the example in SGK’s 2026 guide, the total premium rate for an employee reported at the lower limit is 38.75%. This rate falls to 36.75% with the 2-point reduction, and to 17% when the 6111 incentive is also applied for the same employee. In other words, the right incentive structure can affect more than half of the premium cost.

Other employer incentives and programs that have ended

There are also other, narrower incentives on the SGK list: support for employers hiring recipients of unemployment benefits, an unemployment insurance premium reduction at workplaces in the very hazardous class, the cultural investments incentive, employment of social assistance or social services beneficiaries, and occupational health and safety support for hazardous workplaces with fewer than ten employees. Because these depend on specific conditions, they should be examined separately for each company.

Update (October 2026): After this article was published, Provisional Article 36 was added to Law No. 4447 by Law No. 7590, published in the Official Gazette of July 31, 2026. Under this article, accommodation facilities holding a tourism operation certificate receive support of 116.67 TL for each premium day reported in the May-December 2026 period.

Some programs, however, can no longer be used for new hires. The additional employment incentive introduced by Law No. 7103 (4447 Provisional 19) closed to new hires on December 31, 2022, at the end of its period extended by Presidential Decree. The normalization support of the pandemic period is also not on SGK’s 2026 list. In practice, we still come across calculations made with the information “4 points outside manufacturing” or “5 points for everyone”; these rates do not apply in the 2026 payroll.

What are the conditions for benefiting from the incentives?

The common conditions for most SGK incentives are submitting documents within the legal period, paying premiums within the legal period and having no overdue debt to the Institution. Not employing unregistered insured persons and not reporting someone who does not actually work as insured are equally decisive. If a debt has been restructured or deferred, the incentive can be used as long as the installments are paid regularly.

In practice, you can turn the conditions into a checklist as follows:

• Submitting the withholding and social security premium return (muhtasar) within the legal period every month.
• Paying the employee’s share and the employer’s share not covered by the Treasury on time.
• Having no premium, administrative fine, late payment penalty or late payment interest debt anywhere in Turkey.
• Not reporting unregistered or fictitious insured persons.
• The workplace not being a public institution or a job under a public tender.

The cost of a violation is high. Under Article 81 of Law No. 5510, an employer found not to have reported a person it employs, or whose reported person is found not to actually work, cannot benefit from the supports under this article for one year. The amount used without entitlement is also recovered together with late payment penalties and late payment interest.

Let us add a tax note as well. Premium amounts covered by the Treasury or the Fund are not taken into account as expenses or costs in the personal or corporate income tax calculation. Recording the incentivized premium as an expense is a mistake that requires correction at year end.

Can more than one SGK premium incentive be applied to the same employee?

Partly. The general premium reduction can be applied together with other supports, and under the Law this reduction is calculated first; the 6111, disability or R&D support is applied to the remaining employer’s share. There is also an exception: according to the SGK guide, the incentive for employing recipients of unemployment benefits is not applied together with the 2-point reduction.

If an employee meets the conditions of more than one incentive, you decide which incentive law number to select in the monthly notification. Because this choice cannot easily be reversed once made, the selection should be calculated from the outset by looking at the duration, rate and support cap. For example, for a young female employee, the 6111 incentive generally stands out because it is long-term and covers the entire employer’s share; but the picture may change for R&D staff.

Can incentives be claimed for past months?

No. Since the amendment made by Law No. 7316, Additional Article 17 of Law No. 5510 has set a clear rule: incentives cannot be claimed retroactively for months in which they could have been used but were not. An incentive that has been used also cannot be replaced later with another incentive.

This rule turns incentive management from a “year-end correction” into a monthly task. When the employment start notification is submitted, it must be determined which incentive the employee qualifies for, and the correct law number must be selected in the first payroll. Because the door to retroactive correction is closed, every month missed means a permanent loss.

SGK incentives for newly established companies

For a new company, the most important opportunity comes with the first hires. Workplaces reporting insured persons for the first time in 2026 benefit from the minimum wage support without a wage limit. First hires from among the unemployed naturally meet the “additional to the average number of insured persons” condition and therefore create an advantage under 6111.

At the formation stage, SGK workplace registration takes place together with the notification made to the trade registry; but the decisive moment for incentives is the first monthly notification. We described the general steps of formation in our how to set up a company guide . The same incentives also apply to foreign-owned companies; the beneficiary is the company itself, established in Turkey and employing insured persons.

Mistakes we often see in practice

The question our clients ask most often is “which incentive are we using?” The answer is often hidden in a default setting in the payroll program. The typical mistakes we observe are:

• Selecting 6111 at hiring without checking the employee’s insurance status over the previous six months.
• Delaying the premium payment by a few days and losing that month’s incentive entirely.
• Not realizing that a small premium debt at another branch breaks the Turkey-wide no-debt condition.
• Continuing to apply the 5-point reduction at a workplace whose NACE code is not manufacturing.
• Expecting an incentive without having the employee’s disability information entered into SGK records.

As Akal CPA, we do not view employer incentives as a deduction item checked at the end of payroll. An incentive is a cost item planned together with the hiring decision; full compliance with the legislation comes first, and legal optimization comes after. If you would like to address your payroll and incentive processes together, you can review our SGK incentive consultancy service.

You can follow the current list of incentives, their rates and sample calculations on SGK’s page on current social security premium incentives, supports and reductions . You can find our other guides on investment and employment supports in our Investment Guide category .

The right incentive starts with the first payroll; a missed month does not come back later.