FATİH FURKAN AKGÖZ · CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, NEF FORTIS · NOVEMBER 2026 · READING TIME: 8 MIN
IN BRIEF
- Prizes and bonuses paid to amateur athletes taking part in sports competitions, and fees paid to referees, are exempt from income tax under Article 29 of the Income Tax Law (GVK).
- Income tax is withheld from athletes’ salaries according to the league: 20% for the top league, 10% for the league below it, and 5% for other leagues and for sports not organised in leagues (GVK provisional Art. 72, until 31.12.2028).
- If the total of these salaries exceeds TL 5,300,000 in 2026, an annual income tax return must be filed; only the withholding tax actually paid to the tax office can be offset against the tax calculated on the return.
- In practice, the filing obligation is frequently overlooked.
Introduction
Sport is essentially the whole of the mental and physical activities people engage in to make use of their free time. The concept of sport is a very old one, dating back to the first humans. Many of the movements made by early hunter-gatherers, both to hunt and to protect themselves against outside dangers, form the foundations of sport.
In the final period of the Ottoman Empire, the concept of sport did not go much beyond a definition; because of the economic crises triggered by social and political events around the world, the public could not fully embrace sport. Although the reign of Abdülhamid II is recorded as a period of autocracy, the growing importance given to physical culture, the first participation of Ottoman athletes in some international competitions, the founding of sports clubs and the organisation of competitions in some modern sports show the value the sultan placed on physical activity and sport. For example, the Mekteb-i Sultani, under the sultan’s patronage, contributed to many sporting events. Clubs such as today’s Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club (1903), Galatasaray (1905) and Fenerbahçe (1907) were founded in this period. However, at a time when large gatherings were considered a danger, collective activities were kept under control. The new era that began with the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Monarchy brought freedoms and new openings in sport as in every other field, and from 1908 onwards young Turks began to engage more closely with sport.
After the founding of the Republic, the importance given to sport in development plans increased over time. Like many other areas, the five-year development plans set out principles and policies describing the position of sport and what needed to be done to develop it further.
Financial incentives for athletes
Türkiye has legal provisions for the protection of young people and the promotion of sport and athletes. To make sport part of society’s daily activities, the state has introduced a number of rules through legislation. In particular, sport and athletes have been encouraged through financial incentives so that large sections of the public can benefit from sports facilities.
The importance of encouraging and supporting amateur sport is also reflected in the Municipal Law. Article 14(1)(b) of Municipal Law No. 5393 reads:
“Where necessary, in order to promote sport, it provides sports equipment to young people, gives in-kind and cash aid and the necessary support to amateur sports clubs, organises all kinds of amateur sports events, and may, by decision of the municipal council, award students, athletes, technical managers and coaches who show outstanding success or win places in national and international competitions.” (unofficial translation)
In this way, sport is also promoted by local governments. Metropolitan municipalities in particular are seen to place emphasis on sport and to set up sports clubs for this purpose. Many of these clubs compete in sports with leagues, such as football, wrestling, handball and basketball, as well as in individual sports such as karate, taekwondo and boxing. Criticism of local governments’ sports policies argues that sports facility planning should follow a “sport for all” approach, and that spending should not be allocated only to a limited number of athletes but should take account of active participation in sport by all residents.
Under Article 23(15) of the Income Tax Law, wages paid to one amateur athlete at workplaces with 100 or fewer employees, and to two amateur athletes at workplaces with more than 100 employees, are exempt from income tax, provided that participation in national competitions is documented each year and the wages do not exceed twice the minimum wage. Although this exemption may be seen as specific to national amateur athletes, it can also be regarded as an incentive for those who employ amateur athletes. This provision, aimed at supporting successful athletes, exempts only the athlete’s wage income, not all of their income.
Under Article 29 of the Income Tax Law, certain bonuses and awards given as incentives are exempt from income tax. Paragraph 3 of the article lists “prizes and bonuses paid to amateur athletes taking part in sports competitions” and paragraph 4 “fees paid to referees officiating sports competitions”. The Law states explicitly that amateur athletes benefit from this exemption; the condition is that the amateur athlete taking part in a sports competition earns income in the nature of a prize or bonus. Professional athletes, by contrast, must pay tax on the prizes and bonuses they earn. The first condition for the exemption is therefore amateur status.
Taxation of athletes in the Turkish tax system
Today, sport is high on the public agenda. With club budgets, transfer fees and bonuses, as well as sponsorship, merchandise sales, marketing and advertising, sport has become a commercial sector in its own right. Sporting activities, which matter for the state’s taxing power, are therefore also an area of interest for tax law. Within tax law, sport is promoted through exemptions and benefits provided to athletes, while the taxation of athletes is set out explicitly in the Income Tax Law.
It is natural that an athlete who contributes labour to a sporting activity should derive a financial benefit from it. Athletes are natural persons under Turkish Civil Code No. 4721. Under Article 8 of Tax Procedure Law No. 213, a taxpayer is a natural or legal person who owes tax under the tax laws; under Article 9 of the same Law, legal capacity is not required for tax liability. Article 1 of Income Tax Law No. 193 also provides that “the income of natural persons is subject to income tax”. Under Article 61 of the Law, “payments made and benefits provided to athletes as transfer fees or under other names” are treated as wages.
Articles 21 and 22 of Law No. 7194, published in the Official Gazette of 7.12.2019, changed the taxation of athletes’ salaries. For athletes’ salaries earned after 1.1.2020, the withholding rate for athletes in the top league of sports organised in leagues was raised from 15% to 20%, and salaries above a certain amount became subject to filing an annual return. Although withholding is the main method of taxing wages, provisional Article 72 of the Income Tax Law also introduced return-based taxation for athletes’ salaries. Law No. 7491 extended the application of this article until 31.12.2028.
Under provisional Article 72, until 31.12.2028, income tax is withheld from wages and payments treated as wages made to athletes at the following rates:
| Athlete | Withholding rate |
|---|---|
| Sports organised in leagues · top league | 20% |
| Sports organised in leagues · league below the top league | 10% |
| Sports organised in leagues · other leagues | 5% |
| Sports not organised in leagues, and payments to national athletes for international competitions | 5% |
Table 1. Withholding rates on athletes’ salaries under GVK provisional Art. 72.
If the total income under this article exceeds the amount in the fourth bracket of the tariff in Article 103 of the Law, the income is declared on an annual return. The taxes withheld are offset against the tax calculated on the declared income, provided that they have been paid to the tax office by those responsible for withholding. As can be seen, the rules are based on the league in which the athlete plays. In 2026, if an athlete’s total wage income exceeds TL 5,300,000, a return must be filed, and the taxes withheld will be offset against the tax calculated on the return, provided that they have been paid.
The tariff applicable to wage income for the 2026 calendar year is as follows:
| Income bracket (wage income) | Tax rate |
|---|---|
| Up to TL 190,000 | 15% |
| TL 28,500 for the first TL 190,000 of TL 400,000; on the excess | 20% |
| TL 70,500 for the first TL 400,000 of TL 1,500,000; on the excess | 27% |
| TL 367,500 for the first TL 1,500,000 of TL 5,300,000; on the excess | 35% |
| Above TL 5,300,000: TL 1,697,500 for the first TL 5,300,000; on the excess | 40% |
Table 2. 2026 income tax tariff for wage income (General Communiqué on Income Tax, Serial No. 332, Official Gazette 31.12.2025).
Filing of athletes’ salaries and offset of withholding tax: examples
Example 1: Footballer A plays for B Football Club in the Süper Lig, the top league in football, and has a one-year contract effective from 1.1.2026. In 2026, Footballer A is paid TL 6,000,000 in wages and similar payments, from which income tax of TL 1,200,000 is withheld at 20%. The club pays all the withheld tax to the tax office.
As the total wage income exceeds the amount in the fourth bracket of the tariff (TL 5,300,000 for 2026), this income must be declared on an annual return. Because all the tax withheld during the year was paid to the tax office, the full TL 1,200,000 can be offset. The return for 2026 income must be filed by the evening of the last day of March 2027.
| TL | |
|---|---|
| Taxable income (tax base) | 6,000,000 |
| Income tax calculated | 1,977,500 |
| Tax paid through withholding (6,000,000 × 20%) | 1,200,000 |
| Income tax payable | 777,500 |
Example 2: In the same situation, assume that the club paid only half of the TL 1,200,000 it withheld to the tax office. In that case, only the TL 600,000 paid can be offset against the tax calculated on the return.
| TL | |
|---|---|
| Taxable income (tax base) | 6,000,000 |
| Income tax calculated | 1,977,500 |
| Tax paid through withholding (6,000,000 × 20% / 2) | 600,000 |
| Income tax payable | 1,377,500 |
Although TL 1,200,000 was withheld from the salary, only TL 600,000 was paid to the tax office, so the offset is limited to that amount and the tax payable is TL 1,377,500.
Example 3: Footballer C plays for Z Football Club in the 1. Lig and is paid TL 1,000,000 in 2026, from which TL 100,000 is withheld. As the club plays not in the top league but in the league below it, the withholding rate is 10%. Since the total wage income does not exceed the fourth bracket amount (TL 5,300,000 for 2026), Footballer C does not file an annual return for this income.
Conclusion
The state intervenes in the sports economy through laws, development plans and other legal provisions in order to develop, promote and encourage sport. Law No. 7194 raised the withholding rate for athletes in the top league of sports organised in leagues from 15% to 20%, and also introduced an obligation for athletes to file a return in addition to withholding. In practice, however, a significant proportion of athletes who must file a return, and their agents, appear to be unaware of these rules or do not fulfil the obligations introduced.
The original version of this article was published in Turkish on MuhasebeTR on 31.05.2024. The amounts and examples have been updated for 2026.
References
- Municipal Law No. 5393, Art. 14.
- Income Tax Law No. 193, Arts. 1, 23, 29, 61, 103 and provisional Art. 72.
- Tax Procedure Law No. 213, Arts. 8 and 9.
- Law No. 7194, Official Gazette 07.12.2019.
- Law No. 7491, Art. 13 (27.12.2023).
- General Communiqué on Income Tax (Serial No. 332), Official Gazette 31.12.2025, No. 33124 (5th duplicate).
- State Planning Organisation (DPT), Five-Year Development Plans.
- Vergi Sorunları Dergisi.
- Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi.
For information purposes only. This article is provided for general information and does not constitute professional opinion or advice. It is an English translation of the original Turkish article; in case of any discrepancy, the Turkish version prevails.
Request a meeting
Let’s arrange a meeting to discuss what your business needs.