Caretaker Pay in Turkey 2026: Gross and Net Pay, Social Security, Tax Exemption and Employer Cost

Short answer: in 2026 a caretaker (kapıcı) on the minimum wage earns ₺33,030.00 gross and ₺28,075.50 net a month. The monthly cost to the management is ₺40,214.03 if the conditions for the premium support are met and ₺40,874.63 if they are not. The figures come from the table the Ministry of Labour and Social Security published for 01/01/2026–31/12/2026.

Last checked: 27 September 2026. If the minimum wage changes during the year, these figures change too. Check the current official values before you prepare the payroll, and ask your accountant about individual cases.

2026 minimum wage: from gross to net

The 14% employee share is made up of disability, old-age and survivors' insurance (9%) and general health insurance (5%). Pay up to the minimum wage is exempt from income tax (Income Tax Law, Art. 23/18) and stamp duty for every employee, so a caretaker on the minimum wage has no tax deduction. The exemption specific to caretakers matters once pay goes above the minimum wage (see below).

Monthly cost to the management

The employer share is made up of disability, old-age and survivors' insurance (12%), short-term insurance branches (2.25%) and general health insurance (7.5%): 21.75% in total. The employer's unemployment insurance share (2%) is added on top.

Article 81 of Law No. 5510 provides private-sector employers with Treasury support for 2 points of the employer's disability, old-age and survivors' insurance share. Conditions include filing the returns on time and paying the premiums on time. Apartment and complex managements fall under "other sectors" in the Ministry table.

The caretaker income tax exemption (Income Tax Law, Art. 23/6)

Article 23(6) of the Income Tax Law exempts the wages of domestic staff from income tax. The law defines them as people employed by private individuals "in homes, gardens, apartment buildings and other places that are not commercial premises" in private services such as caretaking and gardening. Documents relating to wages covered by this exemption are also exempt from stamp duty (Stamp Duty Law, Table 2, IV-34).

In practice:

• Residential building or complex: the caretaker's pay can use this exemption; no income tax is withheld even above the minimum wage.
• Business centre, office tower or fully commercial building: the "not commercial premises" condition is not met. Only the minimum wage exemption that applies to everyone is available; the part above the minimum wage is taxed.
• Buildings with both homes and shops or offices: the law does not address this case separately. Confirm it with your accountant or with the Revenue Administration's advance rulings.
• Outsourced services: if a company provides your cleaning or security, the worker is that company's employee and this exemption is not relevant to the management.

Example: a caretaker in a residential complex earning ₺40,000.00 gross. Employee SGK share ₺5,600.00, employee unemployment share ₺400.00; with the exemption no income tax or stamp duty is deducted and net pay is ₺34,000.00. The cost to the management is ₺48,700.00 if the support conditions are met.

The caretaker's flat: tax and social security

Under the Condominium Law, caretakers' flats are common areas (KMK Art. 4).

• Income tax: the benefit of giving an employee a home owned by the employer with a gross area of up to 100 m² is exempt; the benefit relating to the area above 100 m² is not (Income Tax Law, Art. 23/9).
• Social security: benefits in kind are not included in the earnings subject to premiums (Law 5510, Art. 80/b). If cash is paid instead, for example as a rent allowance, it is subject to premiums (Art. 80/c).
• When the contract ends: a place given to a caretaker because of the job must be vacated within 15 days after the contract ends; otherwise it can be vacated by order of the local administrative authority (KMK Additional Article 2).

Severance and notice

First check whether the caretaker is covered by the Labour Law. Law No. 4857 excludes domestic services (Art. 4/e). Caretakers employed by apartment and complex managements are generally treated as covered by the Labour Law in practice; if your contract leaves any doubt, ask an employment lawyer.

Severance pay (Law No. 1475, Art. 14): paid to an employee with at least one year of service when the contract ends in one of the cases listed in the law, at 30 days' gross pay for each full year. Regular cash benefits and benefits with a money value are included in the calculation. For 1 July–31 December 2026 the maximum for one year of service (the severance ceiling) is ₺73,729.87 (Ministry of Treasury and Finance circular on financial and social rights). The ceiling does not bite for a caretaker on the minimum wage: one year of severance is ₺33,030.00.

Severance is not a premium; it is a debt that arises on termination. It is not part of the monthly employer cost; the management can set aside a separate provision in the budget if it wishes.

Notice periods (Law No. 4857, Art. 17): the party ending an open-ended contract must give the notice below or pay the wages for that period. These are minimums and can be extended by contract.

Paid annual leave

Under Art. 53 of Law No. 4857, an employee with at least one year of service is entitled to paid annual leave:

Employees aged 18 or under and 50 or over get at least 20 days. Because leave is paid, it does not normally create an extra payment. A cost arises if someone covers for the caretaker during leave, or if the contract ends with leave unused.

Annual budget example

Assumptions: the minimum wage does not change during the year; the caretaker has 3 years of service and 14 days' leave; no overtime or bonuses; the premium support conditions are met; the management has decided to set aside a severance provision every year. The building has 20 units.

1. Actual payments (12 months)

2. Budget provision (for a debt that may arise later, not payable this year)

3. Amounts that arise only in certain cases (not added to the budget)

• If someone covers during leave: 14 days × ₺1,101.00 (daily gross) = ₺15,414.00 plus premiums.
• If the management ends the contract without giving notice: 8 weeks (56 days) × ₺1,101.00 = ₺61,656.00.

Effect on the maintenance fee: the budget total is 482,568.36 + 33,030.00 = ₺515,598.36, or ₺42,966.53 a month. Unless owners have agreed otherwise, caretaker costs are shared equally between unit owners (KMK Art. 20/1-a). For 20 units the monthly share is ₺2,148.33. Because of rounding, the 20 shares add up to ₺42,966.60, 7 kuruş more than the monthly amount.

Common mistakes

1. Budgeting with last year's figures. Check that the figures in a table headed with a year really belong to that year.
2. Adding employer premiums to the severance provision. Severance is calculated on gross pay; it does not include the employer's SGK share.
3. Applying the caretaker exemption in a business centre. Income Tax Law 23/6 covers places that are not commercial premises.
4. Paying a cash rent allowance instead of the flat. Providing the flat in kind is not subject to premiums; cash paid instead is.
5. Using a leave figure that does not match the table. The number of days must match the employee's entitlement under Art. 53.

Where Yonevo fits in

Yonevo keeps staff records (role, start and end dates, monthly salary) and opens a ledger account for each staff member. Salary and advance payments are tracked on that account, and the screen shows the monthly salary total. You can record the caretaker cost as an expense type and use it in the budget and the operating budget (işletme projesi).

Yonevo does not calculate payroll. It does not calculate SGK premiums or tax deductions, and it does not prepare SGK returns or withholding tax returns. Use the payroll prepared by your accountant or a payroll program, and record the payment in Yonevo.

Frequently asked questions

Can a caretaker be given benefits in kind, such as fuel or food? Yes. For social security, benefits in kind are not included in the earnings subject to premiums (Law 5510, Art. 80/b); cash paid for the same purpose is. For income tax, the outcome depends on whether the Art. 23/6 exemption applies.

Can a caretaker work part-time? Yes, with a written part-time contract. The monthly premium days are then the total hours worked in the month divided by the daily working hours, with fractions counted as a full day (Law 5510, Art. 80/h). The missing days must be reported to SGK with the correct reason code.

What if the caretaker's flat is larger than 100 m²? The housing exemption in Income Tax Law 23/9 does not apply to the benefit relating to the area above 100 m². If the caretaker's pay is already covered by the Art. 23/6 exemption, review the outcome with your accountant.

Is the minimum living allowance (AGİ) still applied? No. Since 2022 it has been replaced by an income tax and stamp duty exemption for pay up to the minimum wage (Income Tax Law, Art. 23/18).

Sources (in Turkish)

• Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Net minimum wage and cost to the employer (01/01/2026–31/12/2026)
• Income Tax Law No. 193, Art. 23/6, 23/9, 23/18
• Stamp Duty Law No. 488, Table 2, IV-34
• Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, Art. 80, 81
• Labour Law No. 4857, Art. 4, 17, 53
• Labour Law No. 1475, Art. 14 (severance)
• Condominium Law No. 634, Art. 4, 20, Additional Article 2
• Ministry of Treasury and Finance, July 2026 circular on financial and social rights (severance ceiling)