Tradespeople who temporarily suspended their insured status and had their Bağkur premium debts written off because they did not pay on time can reactivate their insured periods by paying those premiums. Moreover, when a lump-sum premium payment is made, it may be possible to benefit from a tax advantage.
Can Premium Debts Be Written Off?
The topic of writing off premium debts is often asked by those covered by Bağkur. Authorities frequently offer restructuring options to encourage debtors to pay. Restructuring not only helps collect outstanding debts but also often provides payment relief by indexing late interest and penalties to inflation.
Additionally, under the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 and related regulations introduced in 2008, Bağkur debts unpaid for more than five years from the date the law took effect were allowed to be written off. Subsequent laws enacted in 2015 and 2018 made it possible to write off debts for those with more than 12 months of unpaid premiums. Each of these measures was temporary and applied for limited periods; those who did not take advantage of them kept their debts. A key consequence of these measures was that the insured periods corresponding to the written-off premiums were also suspended. In other words, those periods were treated as if they had not existed. For example, if a person registered with Bağkur in 1990 and failed to pay premiums in 2001, the premium debts for that period could be written off, but the insured period for those years would be disregarded. Thus, to recover the lost insured time, additional working periods would be required.
Written-Off Debts Can Be Paid Later
Although the 2008, 2015, and 2018 regulations appear to write off premium debts, because they also negate the counted working days, they do not always provide a significant advantage for those under Bağkur. The regulations allow for the possibility of subsequently paying the written-off premiums. If the tradesperson—or, in case of death, their heirs—pays the outstanding premiums, the insured periods can be restored and the written-off insurance days can be returned to the record.
When restoring insured time, payments are made based on an amount chosen by the applicant that lies between the legal minimum wage at the time of payment and 7.5 times that minimum wage. All suspended periods may be taken into account to determine the duration to be restored. If the total restoration debt calculated this way is paid within three months from the date the debt is notified, those restored periods are included in the retirement calculation. If the individual does not pay the debt after calculating and receiving notification, those periods are not counted as insured time. If payment is incomplete, any amounts paid are refunded without interest; however, those whose restoration application becomes invalid for failure to pay can submit a new restoration request later.
Don’t Miss the Tax Advantage
When previously suspended insured periods are restored, workers may benefit from a tax advantage. Bağkur premiums paid to restore suspended periods can be deducted from the declared income of the year in which the payment is made. Thus, when filing the following year’s tax return, the restored premium payments can reduce taxable income, potentially lowering the tax owed.
On the other hand, a person who was under Bağkur, did not pay premiums and benefited from a debt write-off without restoring those periods, and later begins work covered by 4A, will be considered a new entrant under 4A. Even if that person restructures debts for the previous periods, they cannot benefit from the tax deduction. In other words, a change in insurance status does not grant a tax deduction for those periods.