What was AGİ (Asgari Geçim İndirimi)?

AGİ was a monthly tax credit: rather than a payment on top of salary, it reduced the income tax withheld from an employee's pay, and the size of the reduction depended on the employee's family circumstances. It was in force from 2008 through 2021 under Article 32 of Turkey's Income Tax Law (No. 193).

The credit was calculated from the annual gross minimum wage: 50% for the employee, plus 10% for a non-working spouse, 7.5% for each of the first two children, 10% for the third child and 5% for each further child. Fifteen percent of that base formed the annual credit, applied to net pay in twelve monthly instalments.

Law No. 7349 repealed AGİ with effect from 1 January 2022 and introduced a broader relief in its place: the portion of every employee's salary up to the gross minimum wage is exempt from income tax (Income Tax Law Art. 23/1-18) and from stamp tax. Minimum-wage earners pay neither tax on their salary at all. Higher earners receive the exemption on the minimum-wage slice of their pay.

Unlike AGİ, the exemption is flat: marital status and dependants no longer change an employee's net pay through the tax system.

Gross-to-net calculations for Turkish employees must use the minimum-wage exemption, not AGİ tables. Many salary calculators and country guides published before 2022 still include AGİ and will misstate net pay — if a payroll quote or salary breakdown lists an AGİ line today, it is built on repealed rules.