Law on Making Amendments to the TGB Law and Some Other Laws

LAW ON AMENDING THE LAW OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ZONES AND CERTAIN OTHER LAWS**Law No. 7263****Acceptance Date: 28/1/2021****ARTICLE 1-** The phrase "by considering the decisions of the Supreme Council of Science and Technology" in the first paragraph of Article 1 of the Technology Development Zones Law No. 4691 dated 26/6/2001 has been removed from the text.**ARTICLE 2-** The subclauses (a), (s), and (ee) of the first paragraph of Article 3 of Law No. 4691 have been amended as follows and the following subclauses have been added."a) Ministry: Ministry of Industry and Technology,""s) Incubation Center (Incubator): Structures that provide office services, equipment support, management support, access to financial resources, and critical business and technical support services to entrepreneurs under one roof, both within and outside the region, aimed particularly at developing young and new businesses,""ee) Supported Programs: Undergraduate programs in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology of higher education institutions, and other programs determined by the Ministry based on the opinion obtained from the Council of Higher Education,""ff) Incubation Entrepreneur: Early-stage entrepreneurs engaged in R&D, technological innovation, software, and design activities located in incubation centers whose qualifications and the duration of their stay in these centers are determined by the Ministry through regulations,""gg) R&D Building: The structure where offices allocated for entrepreneurs conducting R&D, design, and innovation activities in the regions, common areas, and units related to providing Regional services are located,""hh) Workshop: The structure or area where machinery and equipment needed by entrepreneurs within the scope of R&D, innovation, and design activities are located,"II) Intern: Students engaging in vocational work in businesses to develop professional knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors envisaged to be gained through curricula, outside of theoretical and applied courses specific to each level deemed suitable for delivery at higher education institutions by the Council of Higher Education or at vocational and technical education schools and institutions by the Ministry of National Education, aimed at recognizing the sector, adapting to business life, and training in real production and service environments."**ARTICLE 3-** The second sentence of the first paragraph of Article 4 of Law No. 4691 has been amended as follows, and the phrase "or boundary change of the Region" in the first sentence of the second paragraph has been changed to ", boundary change of the Region or cancellation of the Region area"."To evaluate applications, an Evaluation Committee is formed with the participation of representatives from the Ministry chaired by a Ministry representative, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, the Presidency of Strategy and Budget, the Council of Higher Education, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development and Support Administration, and two institutions or organizations to be specified by the Ministry, provided that at least one of them is a private organization."**ARTICLE 4-** After the fourth paragraph of Article 5 of Law No. 4691, a new paragraph has been added, new paragraphs have been added after the existing seventh paragraph, the following sentences have been added to the existing ninth paragraph, and a new paragraph has been added following the existing eleventh paragraph."For the main contract and amendments to the main contract of the management company, the approval of the Ministry is required.""An incubation center can be opened outside the regional areas by the Technology Development Zone management company based on the decision of the Evaluation Committee if permitted by the Ministry. Only incubation entrepreneurs may be present in these incubation centers. Centers to be opened in this context and the criteria required for the entrepreneurs who will be located there are determined by the Ministry. Supports, incentives, exemptions, and exceptions provided under this Law are applied similarly in these centers. All transactions and operations related to these centers, including the duties and responsibilities of the management company, are subject to the provisions of this Law and relevant regulations.The workplace opening and working license for firms engaged in R&D and design activities in the region and the Technology Development Zone management company is issued by the Ministry's provincial directorates under the relevant legislation and is inspected within this scope.""In addition, if activities are suspended for one year outside of force majeure situations in the Regional area, the decision of the President regarding the announcement of the said area is nullified along with its provisions and results. This situation is notified by the Ministry to other relevant institutions and organizations.""If entrepreneurs operating in the Region do not present a new project within the conditions determined by regulation from the date their projects are completed, and if they fail to submit the information and documents they are obliged to deliver to the management company within the framework of the relevant legislation within the time limit, the contract is deemed terminated. Termination is a reason for eviction."**ARTICLE 5-** The first paragraph of Article 8 of Law No. 4691 has been amended as follows, the phrase "Basic sciences" in the first sentence of the fourth paragraph has been changed to "Supported programs", the phrase "Science," in the sentence has been removed from the text, the third sentence of the paragraph has been amended as follows, new paragraphs have been added after this paragraph, and the existing fifth paragraph has been amended as follows."Expenses related to the construction of infrastructure, administration buildings, R&D buildings, workshops, and incubation centers in the regions, and machinery, equipment, and software to be used in the workshops, and R&D and innovation activities, and design activities to be supported by the management company conducting or to be conducted are limited to the allocation included in the Ministry budget for aid purposes.""This support is also applied similarly to personnel employed in incubation centers and technology transfer office services within Technology Development Zones manager companies who are graduates of supported programs.""To companies in regions, for the R&D personnel who are doctoral students employed by them, support can be provided for two years limited to the allocation included in the Ministry budget within the framework of the conditions determined by the Ministry through regulations.Firms employing interns within the scope of this Law can be supported, provided that it is limited to the allocation included in the Ministry budget and under the conditions determined by the Ministry through regulations.""The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this article are determined by a regulation prepared by the Ministry with the opinion of the Presidency of Strategy and Budget and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance."**ARTICLE 6-** The following additional article has been added to Law No. 4691."ADDITIONAL ARTICLE 3- From 1/1/2022, entrepreneurs subject to income and corporate tax whose income exempted from the annual declaration under temporary Article 2 amounts to 1,000,000 Turkish lira and above must transfer two percent of this amount to a temporary account in the passive. The obligation of the amount required to be transferred under this paragraph is limited to 20,000,000 Turkish lira annually. This amount must be invested in shares of venture capital investment funds established for the purpose of investing in Turkey-based entrepreneurs, or be committed as capital to venture capital companies or other entrepreneurs operating in incubation centers under this Law until the end of the year the temporary account is formed. If this amount is not transferred by the end of the relevant year, twenty percent of the income exempted on the annual declaration under this Law cannot be subject to income and corporate tax exemptions for the relevant year. Taxes not collected on time due to this amount are imposed without a tax loss penalty. The President is authorized to reduce the amounts and rates specified in this paragraph to zero or increase them up to five times. The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this paragraph are determined by regulation."**ARTICLE 7-** The phrase "31/12/2023" in the first paragraph of temporary Article 2 of Law No. 4691 has been changed to "31/12/2028", the phrase "Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology" in the first sentence of the second paragraph has been changed to "Ministry of Treasury and Finance and Ministry of Industry and Technology", the first sentence of the third paragraph has been amended as follows, a sentence has been added to follow the first sentence of the paragraph, a sentence has been added after the existing second sentence of the paragraph, the phrase "for at least one year" in the current sixth sentence has been deleted from the text, and the following sentences have been added after the existing sixth sentence of the paragraph."Until 31/12/2028, income tax calculated after applying the minimum subsistence allowance on the wages of R&D, design, and support personnel working in the region related to these tasks is annulled by deducting it from the tax accrued on the declaration to be submitted.""The documents issued regarding these wages under this scope are exempt from stamp duty.""This rate is applied as 20 percent for regional firms with a total personnel number of up to fifteen.""In addition, provided that it does not exceed 20 percent of the total working times of the employees subject to the income tax withholding incentive at the enterprises in the Region, the times spent by the relevant personnel outside the Region in cases other than those specified in this paragraph are evaluated within the scope of the income tax withholding incentive. This rate, set at 20 percent, can be increased to 50 percent by the President."**ARTICLE 8-** The phrase "31/12/2023" in the first sentence of the first paragraph of temporary Article 4 of Law No. 4691 has been changed to "31/12/2028", "for the financing of their projects deemed suitable by the Ministry" is changed to "for the financing of projects under this Law", the phrase "500,000" in the second sentence of the paragraph has been changed to "1,000,000", and the fourth sentence of the paragraph has been amended as follows."If the capital supports provided by income and corporate tax liable entities for the financing of projects under this scope do not stay in the relevant companies for at least four years, and if the shares are sold or the capital invested is partially or completely withdrawn from the transfer, taxes not accrued on time due to the discount are collected with delay interest."**ARTICLE 9-** The following temporary article is added to the Turkish Currency Protection Law No. 1567 dated 20/2/1930."TEMPORARY ARTICLE 1- Banks will not face proceedings under Article 3 if they notify open export accounts which were not reported to the relevant tax office directorates within their term under the general and regulatory transactions enacted according to this Law within sixty days from the date this article comes into force. This provision of the paragraph applies to violations that were notified after the deadline but were not yet reported to the public prosecutor's offices as of the date this article came into force.For transactions falling under the first paragraph and submitted to public prosecutor's offices but not yet decided upon administrative fines as of the date this article comes into force, no administrative sanction decision will be made by the public prosecutor's offices, and decisions that have been made but not yet finalized or finalized but not yet paid will be nullified along with all results, and payments made are not refunded."**ARTICLE 10-** The fifth paragraph of Article 54 of the Public Procurement Law No. 4734 dated 4/1/2002 has been changed as follows, and the seventh paragraph has been repealed."The Authority is authorized to determine other information required in complaint and objection complaint application petitions, the documents to be attached to these petitions, and the procedures and principles regarding the submission of these applications in an electronic environment."**ARTICLE 11-** The following paragraph has been added to Article 10 of the Electronic Signature Law No. 5070 dated 15/1/2004."If the electronic certificate service provider has reliably identified the identity information of persons to whom it issued qualified certificates via the Republic of Turkey identity card remotely, it can reliably load the qualified certificate into the identity card remotely."**ARTICLE 12-** Article 20 of Law No. 5070 has been changed as follows."ARTICLE 20- The procedures and principles regarding the application of this Law shall be regulated by regulations to be issued by the Authority, taking the opinion of relevant institutions and organizations."**ARTICLE 13-** Article 21 of Law No. 5070 has been changed as follows."ARTICLE 21- The provision of Article 19 of this Law is not applied to public institutions and organizations that perform electronic certificate service provisioning activities."**ARTICLE 14-** The following additional article has been added to Law No. 5070."Electronic SealADDITIONAL ARTICLE 1- An electronic seal is an electronic data that is added to or logically linked with another electronic data, used for verifying the information of the seal owner.Seal owners include public institutions and organizations, public administrations, professional organizations with public institution status, their umbrella organizations, public and private legal entities, judicial authorities, and notaries.An electronic seal is a proof record guaranteeing that the electronic document or data is created by the seal owner, ensuring the source and integrity of the document or data.An electronic seal has the same legal nature as any physical seal, including official seals.Any person who, without the consent or request of the relevant seal owner, obtains, delivers, copies, or recreates seal creation data or a seal creation tool for the purpose of creating an electronic seal, or uses these tools to create unauthorized electronic seals, shall be punished with imprisonment from one to three years and a judicial fine of not less than fifty days. If the crime is committed by employees of the electronic certificate service provider, these penalties may be increased by up to half.The provisions regarding electronic signatures in the laws apply mutatis mutandis to electronic seals.The rights, powers, and obligations of electronic certificate service providers related to electronic signatures in the laws apply to electronic seals. About electronic certificate service providers acting contrary to these obligations, the administrative fines specified in Article 18 shall apply."**ARTICLE 15-** The following additional article has been added to Law No. 5070."Internet Site Identity Verification Certificate and Other Electronic CertificatesADDITIONAL ARTICLE 2- An Internet site identity verification certificate is an electronic record linking the information of a website with its owner, whether a natural or legal person.Other electronic certificates using similar infrastructure, produced by electronic certificate service providers through public key infrastructure for purposes such as encrypting electronic data or determining the integrity, non-repudiation, and origin of data.The provisions regarding electronic signatures in the laws apply mutatis mutandis to internet site identity verification certificates and other electronic certificates using similar infrastructure.The rights, powers, and obligations of electronic certificate service providers related to electronic signatures in the laws apply to internet site identity verification certificates and other electronic certificates using similar infrastructure, and about electronic certificate service providers acting contrary to these obligations, the administrative fines specified in Article 18 shall apply."**ARTICLE 16-** The subclause (g) of the first paragraph of Article 14 of the Law No. 5147 on the Protection of Integrated Circuit Topographies dated 22/4/2004 has been repealed.**ARTICLE 17-** The phrase "the original of the signature circular or notarized copy" in the first sentence of the fifth paragraph of Article 81 of the Law No. 5174 on the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, Chambers, and Commodity Exchanges dated 18/5/2004 has been changed to "the registry certificate", and the phrase "signature circular" in the second sentence has been replaced with "registry certificate".**ARTICLE 18-** Subparagraph (o) of the first paragraph of Article 2 of the Law No. 5746 on Supporting Research, Development and Design Activities dated 28/2/2008 has been amended as follows."o) Supported programs: Undergraduate programs in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology of higher education institutions and other programs determined by the Ministry based on the opinion obtained from the Council of Higher Education,"**ARTICLE 19-** The phrases "basic sciences" in the first sentence of the second paragraph of Article 3 of Law No. 5746 have been changed to "supported programs", the phrase "eighty percent of others is exempted from income tax" has been changed to "eighty percent of others is annulled by deducting it from the tax accrued on the declaration", and the phrase "Science," in the fourth sentence of the paragraph has been removed from the text, new sentences have been added, the phrase "Basic sciences" in the tenth paragraph has been changed to "Supported programs", the phrase "Science," in the paragraph has been removed from the text, and the phrase "registration" in the twelfth paragraph has been removed."A doctoral graduate can give lessons in the field of R&D and innovation at universities, or R&D and design personnel can mentor entrepreneurs in technology development zones within Ar-Ge or design centers; in this case, such works are considered under the income tax withholding incentive, provided it does not exceed 8 hours per week. Additionally, up to 20 percent of the total working times of R&D or design center employees, subject to the income tax withholding incentive, spent outside the center in situations other than those specified in this paragraph, are also considered under the income tax withholding incentive. This rate set at 20 percent can be increased to 50 percent by the President.""(13) Venture Capital Support: From the budget of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, a support budget can be transferred to venture capital funds to support technology, technological production, and innovation activities. The portions of capital supports provided by income and corporate tax liable entities to companies benefiting from the venture capital funds in which resources were transferred or to companies supported by the investments of these funds, which do not exceed 10 percent of declared income or corporate profit and 20 percent of equity, are deductible in determining commercial profit under Article 89 of Law No. 193 and corporate profit under Article 10 of Law No. 5520. The total discount to be made under this practice cannot exceed 1,000,000 Turkish lira annually. The President is authorized to decrease these rates and monetary limits by half or increase them up to four times. If the capital supports to companies receiving support through venture capital from income and corporate tax liable entities do not stay in the relevant companies for at least four years, if the shares are sold or the capital invested is partially or completely withdrawn from the transfer, the provisions of the fourth paragraph of Article 4 apply.""(14) From 1/1/2022, taxpayers receiving a deduction of 1,000,000 Turkish lira and above from the annual declaration under Article 3 must transfer two percent of this amount to a temporary account in the passive. This obligation of transferring the amount required under this paragraph is limited to 20,000,000 Turkish lira annually. This amount must be invested until the end of the year in which the temporary account is formed by purchasing shares of venture capital investment funds established for investment in Turkey-based entrepreneurs or committed as capital to venture capital companies or entrepreneurs operating in incubation centers under Law No. 4691. If this amount is not transferred by the end of the relevant year, 20 percent of the deduction of the amount made from the annual declaration under this Law cannot be subject to R&D deduction for the relevant year. Taxes not collected on time due to this amount are imposed without applying a tax loss penalty. The President is authorized to reduce the amounts and rates specified in this paragraph to zero or increase them up to five times. The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this paragraph are determined by regulation."**ARTICLE 20-** The phrase "two