Society 365 / 2014

Turkish-Austrian
Agreements
2014 is a special year in the bilateral relations between
Turkey and Austria with the celebration of important
anniversaries.
WIRTSCHAFT
RECHT
Text: Sezen Ergen
Fotos: LGP, SOCIETY
Austria and Turkey have strong ties
by means of bilateral agreements.
Ever since the establishment of its republic,
Turkey has enjoyed a very stable and
fruitful economic and social relationship
with Austria. Over fifty agreements have
been signed between the two countries
to date that set forth their bilateral relations. 2014 is
a special year in this bilateral history, marking the
celebration of a few important anniversaries:
In 1924, the newly founded Republic of Turkey
signed its first trade agreement with Austria.
It was aimed at re-establishing the relations that
had Turkey been and Austria lost throughout have the First World War. This
very good business
agreement shows the importance of Austria to Turkey
as a trade partner. The two countries not only
relations
established commercial relations, but also signed a
very important immigration agreement fifty years
ago. In 1964, Turkish migrants came to Austria for
the first time to support the Austrian economy in
an effort to recover from the recession of the Second
World War. Since then, more than 180.000
Turkish immigrants have come to live in Austria.
This situation pushed both countries to regulate
their respective tax and social situations.
Turkish-Austrian bilateral relations are governed
by many more agreements, such as the double taxation
agreement, which allows businesses to be active
in both countries but to pay taxes in only one of
them. The double taxation agreement applies in particular
to income tax and corporation tax. Taxation
of commercial income in this context is set forth in
Article 7: „The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting
State shall be taxable only in that State, unless the
enterprise carries on business in the other Contracting
State through a permanent establishment situated
therein. If the enterprise carries on business as
aforesaid, the profits of the enterprise may be taxed
in the other State, but only so much of them as is
attributable to that permanent establishment.“ This
means that income taxation is limited in the other
country. Which activities shall be considered as permanent
workplace or permanent representation has
been dealt with in detail in Article 5 of the double
taxation agreement. For example, if an individual located
in Turkey is carrying out business in Austria by
means of workplace or permanent representation, as
mentioned above, any related income shall be taxed
by Austria and according to Austrian regulations.
Another important agreement that regulates
Austro-Turkish relations is the social security agreement,
which allows nationals of both countries to
enjoy social security rights in whichever country
they work in. The agreement ensures equal treatment,
with the working period for a national of one
country in the other being added up to calculate retirement
periods. Nationals of both countries also
enjoy insurance rights.
•
Supporting the migration process
Migration has pushed both countries to regulate
their relationship according to the needs of
their people. Nowadays, there is increased qualified
immigration towards Austria from Turkey.
Austria’s safe hub position and Schengen visa
possibilities attract wealthier and highly qualified
immigrants. However, the migration system
of Austria is still very complicated. Here, Lansky,
Ganzger + partner can provide support in all steps
and aspects of the migration process. The LGP migration
team is the first point of contact for residence
and employment permit applications, visa
applications and asylum seekers, as well as measures
for terminating residence. Our team also offers
competent support in all matters relating to
Austrian citizenship. In addition to supporting
private individuals, we also provide legal representation
for companies when it comes to obtaining
residence and employment permits for their non-
Austrian employees.
•
THE AUTHOR
SEZEN ERGEN, LL.M., is
Legal Counsel and Regional
Manager for Turkey at
Lansky, Ganzger + partner
Attorneys at Law
INFO
LANSKY,
GANZGER +
PARTNER
With its 140 attorneys and
employees from more than
20 countries, Vienna-based
law firm Lansky, Ganzger
+ partner has established
itself as one of the leading
law firms in Austria and
the Slovak Republic. The
firm, with offices in Vienna
(Austria), Bratislava (Slovak
Republic), Baku (Azerbaijan)
and Astana (Kazakhstan),
has longstanding and
profound experience that
enables it to deliver an allencompassing,
interdisciplinary
and cross-regional
service of the highest level.
CONTACT
Lansky, Ganzger
+ partner Rechtsanwälte
GmbH
Biberstraße 5
1010 Wien
Tel.: +43-(0)1-533 3330
E-mail: office@lansky.at
www.lansky.at
SOCIETY 1_2014 | 105