New legislation to facilitate foreign money transfers
Posted by meb at October 18th, 2008
The officials of economy-related ministries have completed a draft set of regulations to provide a guarantee to foreigners that they will face few obstacles if they transfer funds into Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
The officials plan to present the draft to the Cabinet for approval shortly. Under the proposed legislation, the government will apply three different deduction rates to money transfers from abroad to encourage foreigners to bring capital into the country. These deductions will allow them to bring in an unlimited amount of capital without facing questions into the source the money. Foreign nationals will have three months to declare their intention to bring their cash holdings into the country. The three-month period will begin when the law is promulgated and published in the Official Gazette.
Foreigners will first apply to a bank or a tax office and declare the amount of money they brought or are planning to bring, under the assurance of being exempt from questioning. They will also declare their intention to spend the money. For money to be deposited in a bank account for at least a one-year period, spent on Treasury bills or state bonds or used in buying real estate, there will be a 0.5 percent deduction.
If foreign capital owners fail to declare how they will invest their holdings, a 1 percent cut will be applied to their money. As a third option, a 2 percent deduction will be taken from those who have not yet brought their money into the country, but have declared their intention to do so. An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the legislation aims to provide foreign capital owners with options and flexibility.
source: Today’s Zaman
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