SGK incentives 2026: a current guide for employers
The 5/2 point Treasury incentive, minimum wage support, incentives for hiring benefit recipients and additional employment, disabled and R&D incentives; common conditions and the most common mistakes.
SGK incentives reduce the employer's premium; they do not change the employee's net pay. A well-chosen incentive can cut the annual cost of a minimum wage employee by tens of thousands of lira. A wrongly applied incentive is reclaimed retroactively with late payment surcharges.
Common conditions
For most incentives:
- Documents filed on time (withholding and premium service return by the 26th).
- Premiums paid on time. If premiums, including the employee share, are not paid on time, that month's incentive is lost.
- No overdue debt (premiums, administrative fines, surcharges). Restructured debts with regular instalments are not an obstacle.
- No unregistered employment found. If found, incentives stop for a period.
Main incentives
| Incentive | Basis | Support | Duration / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury incentive (5 / 2 points) | Law 5510 art. 81/ı | 5 points of the employer pension share in manufacturing, 2 points elsewhere | Indefinite; 4/a insured, excluding retirees |
| Minimum wage support | Law 5510 prov. art. 112 (Law 7573) | TRY 42.33 per eligible day | 2026; same month of 2025 as reference. Details |
| Hiring someone receiving unemployment benefit | Law 4447 prov. art. 10 | Entire employer share for the remaining benefit period | The person must be receiving benefit |
| Additional employment and youth/women's employment | Relevant articles of Law 4447 | Premium support | Must be in addition to average headcount; renewed periodically, check current scope before applying |
| Disabled employment | Law 5510 art. 30, Law 4857 art. 30 | Entire employer share paid by the Treasury | Within and outside the quota. Quota calculator |
| R&D and design staff | Law 5746 | Half the employer share; income tax and stamp duty exemptions | R&D / design centres and technoparks |
| Investment incentive certificate | Law 6486 / investment incentive decision | Employer share support | Period and region on the certificate |
| Cultural investments | Law 5225 | Premium support | Certified cultural investments |
| Employment after İŞKUR on-the-job training | İŞKUR legislation | Premium support | Hiring programme graduates |
Can two incentives be used at once?
As a rule, one incentive is used per employee per month. The Treasury incentive and minimum wage support can be combined (the support is a separate amount offset against premium debt). We check the most favourable combination in the system every month.
Example: minimum wage employee outside manufacturing
| Monthly | |
|---|---|
| Employer cost without incentives | TRY 40,874.63 |
| With the 2-point Treasury incentive | TRY 40,214.03 |
| Minimum wage support (30 days) | − TRY 1,269.90 |
| Net cost | TRY 38,944.13 |
Annual difference: about TRY 23,166 (per employee). Salary calculator
Most common mistakes
- The premium was paid a day late and the month's incentive was lost.
- The wrong incentive law number was selected in the return; retroactive correction led to surcharges.
- The 5-point incentive applied to a retired employee (not allowed).
- The reference period headcount for additional employment was calculated wrongly.
Incentive checks are a standard part of our payroll service: Payroll and social security · Payroll check