"Gift Product" Tax for Social Media Content Creators: Details of In-Kind Income Regulation

Income Limits and Exemption Requirements To benefit from the tax exemption, social media content creators must comply with annual income limits.
For 2025, the limit is set at 4.3 million TL, and for 2026, it will be 5.3 million TL.
If these limits are exceeded, taxpayers are required to report all their income through an annual income tax return.
Taxation Process for In-Kind Income According to the Income Tax Law, taxable earnings are not limited to cash payments.
Gift products or free services received by content creators in exchange for promoting a brand are considered "in-kind income." The General Communiqué on Income Tax, dated September 26, 2024, clarified the taxation procedures for such earnings.
Accordingly, the fair market value of the received product or service must be deposited into a bank account opened within the scope of the exemption.
The bank then deducts a 15 percent withholding tax from the deposited amount and transfers it to the tax administration.
Audits and Penalties Content creators who fail to deposit the fair market value of the in-kind income into their bank accounts may lose the right to benefit from the advantageous 15 percent withholding regime.
In such cases, the income will be taxed according to general provisions, and sanctions such as tax loss penalties and delay interest may be applied.
Since the actual nature of the transaction is fundamental in tax law, audits are being tightened based on concrete evidence.