INTRODUCTION
With the amendments made on 18.03.2021 on the issues regulated in clauses a, b and c of Article 4 of the Regulation on Definition, Qualifications and Classification of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (“Regulation”) the monetary limits, definition and qualifications in the classification of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (“SME“) were updated.
Accordingly;
- The annual net sales revenue or the annual financial balance sheet, that should not be exceeded which is 3,000,000 TL, has been increased and determined as 5,000,000 TL on Micro-enterprises with less than 10 employees per year.
- The previous net sales revenue amounts or the annual financial balance sheet total, which should not be exceeded the small enterprises with less than 50 employees annually, were increased from 25,000,000 TL to 50,000,000 TL.
- In medium-sized enterprises with less than 250 employees annually, the net sales revenue of the year or annual financial balance sheet total of 125,000,000 TL, which should not be exceeded, has been increased to 250,000,000 TL.
In addition, while an increase was made as defined above in the financial criteria in the Regulation, no changes were foreseen in the current employment limits.
With this revision, which was made in line with the demand from enterprises for updating the financial criteria, the following is aimed: by expanding the business volume of the enterprises receiving support according to their financial segment and increasing their turnover balances, to encourage the production of projects to reduce the current account deficit, include more businesses in the scope of Small and Medium Enterprises Development and Support Administration (“KOSGEB”) supports offered to SMEs and enable them to benefit from other supports provided by the state.
CONCLUSION
According to the SME classification created with the new amendment, those with less than 10 employees and annual net sales revenue or financial balance sheet below 5 million TL are “micro enterprises”, those with less than 50 employees and annual net sales revenue or financial balance sheet below 50 million TL are “small enterprises” and enterprises with less than 250 employees and an annual net sales revenue or financial balance sheet of less than 250 million TL will be considered as “medium-sized enterprises”.
In this context, according to the SME statistics published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (“TurkStat”) in 2021, it was 3 million 419 thousand 773 before the regulation introduced in the Regulation. The number of SMEs is expected to increase by 2 thousand 44 enterprises according to the new SME classification and definition created with the amendment introduced in the Regulation and reach a total of 3 million 427 thousand 891 enterprises. Accordingly, 2 thousand 44 new enterprises will be included in the SME class and will be able to benefit from the support, grants and incentives provided by the state to SMEs.
The relevant legislation can be accessed from the link below.
https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2022/03/20220318-11.pdf
Buse Mercan, Attorney At Law
