State subsidy is the supportive payment the state will make to all private pension participants for the purpose of promoting the private pension system.
As of 2013, you will benefit from state subsidy at the rate of 25% of the amount of the contribution you pay. With state subsidy, you can gain more by paying more contribution. For example, the state will pay a TL50 subsidy when you pay TL200.
Sample chart showing monthly and yearly state subsidy for various monthly contributions:
| Monthly Contribution |
Monthly State Subsidy |
Annual State Subsidy |
|---|---|---|
| TL150 | TL37,5 | TL450 |
| TL200 | TL50 | TL600 |
| TL500 | TL125 | TL1,500 |
| TL900 | TL225 | TL2,700 |
The state subsidy will be kept in a sub-account linked to the participant's private pension account in the clearing house Takasbank and evaluated in mutual funds to be identified by the Undersecretariat of the Treasury.
An extra advantage has been instated regarding the length of time required for eligibility for state subsidy for those who had already joined the system prior to the state subsidy system's effective date of 1 January 2013 and whose contracts are still in effect as of 1 January 2016.
For once only, the length of time you have spent in the system as of 1 January 2013 will be extended by,
All citizens of the Republic of Turkey who have completed 18 years of age and are paying contributions to a private pension contract or an individual pension contract under a collective pension contract may benefit from state subsidy regardless of whether they are taxpayers or not.
To benefit from state subsidy, a participant is not required to be paying their own contributions. State subsidy is incurred for the contributions paid into an individual or collective private pension contract regardless of who the paying party is; and paid to the participant's pension account by the state. Thus, your spouse and children may benefit from state subsidy individually.
The total annual amount of state subsidy for all of the contracts you hold may not be greater than 25% of the gross annual minimum wage. In the case of multiple contracts, the state subsidy will be calculated by taking into consideration the weights of the contributions paid under each contract and the total amount of state subsidy will be divided among these contracts.
A stepped arrangement will be applied to eligibility for state subsidy as of 1 January 2013.
The law does introduce an exception regarding benefiting from state subsidy: A participant who was in the Private Pension System as of 29 May 2012 may not benefit from state subsidy until 31 December 2014 if they terminate their pension contract by recovering their savings between the dates of 29 June 2012 and 29 June 2014.
The state subsidy will be transferred to your pension account within 3 months as of the date you paid your contribution.
