Every joint stock company and limited liability company in Türkiye founded before 2024 with capital below the current legal minimum must increase its capital by December 31, 2026. A company that misses the deadline is deemed dissolved by operation of law. Because tens of thousands of foreign-owned companies were set up with the old minimums of 10,000 TL or 50,000 TL, this is the most important corporate deadline of the year for foreign investors. This guide explains who is affected, what happens if nothing is done, and how to complete the increase from abroad.
Presidential Decree No. 7887, published in the Official Gazette on November 25, 2023, raised the minimum capital amounts in the Turkish Commercial Code with effect from January 1, 2024:
New companies have had to meet these amounts since 2024. For existing companies, Provisional Article 15 of the Commercial Code set a transition period that ends on December 31, 2026. The Ministry of Trade is authorised to extend the period twice, by one year each time, but no extension had been announced at the time of writing, and relying on one is a gamble with the company's existence.
Any A.Ş. with capital below 250,000 TL (or below 500,000 TL if it uses the registered capital system) and any Ltd. Şti. with capital below 50,000 TL. In practice this covers most companies that foreign nationals established between 2012 and 2023 to obtain a work permit, run a small trading or consultancy business, or hold property, since the typical Ltd. Şti. of that period was registered with exactly 10,000 TL.
Check the figure on your latest Trade Registry Gazette entry or on MERSİS. If the registered capital is below the minimum, the company must act even if it is dormant.
Under Provisional Article 15, a company that has not raised its capital by the deadline is deemed dissolved (infisah etmiş sayılır) without any further decision. The consequences follow quickly:
Reviving a dissolved company is possible in some cases but costs far more than the increase itself.
Shareholders who are abroad do not need to travel. A notarised and apostilled power of attorney, with a sworn Turkish translation, allows our office to pass the resolution and complete the registration. Where a foreign company is the shareholder, its corporate documents must also be apostilled and translated, which is the step that takes longest.
Since 2025 the work permit criteria for foreign company partners require the company to have at least 500,000 TL paid-in capital and the partner to hold a share of at least 20 percent worth at least 500,000 TL. Partners who need a work permit should consider going straight to 500,000 TL rather than stopping at the legal minimum, so that one registration serves both purposes. See our guide to work permits for foreign business partners.
The registries become congested in December as thousands of companies file at once, and apostille and translation of foreign documents can take several weeks. We recommend passing the resolution by October or November 2026 at the latest. Companies that intend to close rather than continue should also decide now: a voluntary liquidation started before the deadline is orderly, whereas a deemed dissolution is not.
We check the registered capital of your company, prepare the resolution and the amended articles, obtain the CPA report where the increase is funded from internal resources, and complete the registration with the Trade Registry on the basis of a power of attorney. For groups with several Turkish entities we handle all of them in one coordinated filing. For background on the two company forms, see our comparison of Anonim Şirket and Limited Şirket and our guide to company registration in Turkey. Contact us before the year-end rush.
