Social security contribution rates in North Cyprus have been permanently revised. Decree No. 83/2026, published in Official Gazette No. 143 of 30 July 2026, resets the contribution shares payable for every person insured under the Social Security Law (73/2007) with effect from 29 July 2026. The decree is not one of the temporary July-September relief measures published in the same issue: it is a standing change to the rate structure itself. Employers in the TRNC must reflect the revised shares in payroll from the effective date.
What Changed and Why It Matters
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus operates its own social security system, entirely separate from that of Turkey. Two regimes coexist: the Cyprus Turkish Social Insurance Law (16/1976), covering persons insured before 2008, and the Social Security Law (73/2007), covering everyone since. Decree 83/2026 concerns only the second. Its stated purpose is the redetermination of contribution shares for the sickness branch and for the invalidity, old age and death branch, and it is executed by the ministry responsible for labour affairs (Article 5), effective 29 July 2026 (Article 6).
A distinction runs through every rate below. Insured persons who are TRNC citizens, or nationals of a country holding a social security agreement with the TRNC containing a reciprocity-of-treatment condition, receive a State Budget contribution; insured persons outside that description do not, and their own share is correspondingly higher (Article 4(1)(B)(a)). The test applies to both groups.
Contribution Rates for Payroll-Registered Insured Persons
These rates apply to persons insured under Article 5(1), (2), (3) and (4) of Law 73/2007 — employees whose contributions are calculated on actual earnings and remitted by an employer.
| Insurance Branch | Total Rate | Allocation of Shares |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational accidents and occupational diseases | 0.5% - 6% (per tariff) | Paid in full by the employer |
| Sickness insurance | 6.5% | TRNC citizen / national of a reciprocity-agreement country: 2.25 insured person + 2.25 employer + 2 State Budget. All other insured persons: 4.25 insured person + 2.25 employer |
| Maternity insurance | 1% | 0.5 insured person + 0.5 employer |
| Invalidity, old age and death insurance | 16.5% | TRNC citizen / national of a reciprocity-agreement country: 5.5 insured person + 7 employer + 4 State Budget. All other insured persons: 8.25 insured person + 7 employer + 1.25 State Budget |
| Unemployment insurance | 1.5% | 0.75 insured person + 0.75 employer |
Under Decree 83/2026, sickness insurance is charged at 6.5% of the insured person's earnings for every payroll-registered insured person in North Cyprus, but the allocation differs by status: a TRNC citizen contributes 2.25 and the employer 2.25, with the remaining 2 met from the State Budget, whereas an insured person outside that category contributes 4.25 against an employer share of 2.25 and no State contribution at all. Invalidity, old age and death insurance is charged at 16.5%, allocated 5.5 insured person, 7 employer and 4 State Budget for TRNC citizens, and 8.25 insured person, 7 employer and 1.25 State Budget for others. Maternity insurance is 1%, split 0.5 and 0.5, and unemployment insurance is 1.5%, split 0.75 and 0.75 (Article 4(1)).
Contribution Rates for Self-Employed Insured Persons
Persons insured under Article 5(5) and (6) of Law 73/2007 pay on a self-declared income band rather than actual earnings. The branch structure and total rates are the same; the only difference is that no employer share exists. No unemployment insurance contribution is prescribed for this group.
| Insurance Branch | Total Rate | Allocation of Shares |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational accidents and occupational diseases | 0.5% - 6% | Paid in full by the insured person |
| Sickness insurance | 6.5% | TRNC citizen / national of a reciprocity-agreement country: 4.5 insured person + 2 State Budget. All other insured persons: 6.5 insured person |
| Maternity insurance | 1% | Paid in full by the insured person |
| Invalidity, old age and death insurance | 16.5% | TRNC citizen / national of a reciprocity-agreement country: 12.5 insured person + 4 State Budget. All other insured persons: 15.25 insured person + 1.25 State Budget |
What This Means in Practice
In practice, this means the total contribution burden for self-employed insured persons is identical to that of payroll-registered insured persons, with the single difference that no employer share exists to absorb part of it. Sickness insurance is charged at 6.5% in both cases. A payroll-registered TRNC citizen contributes 2.25 of that total while the employer contributes a further 2.25; a self-employed TRNC citizen contributes 4.5 alone, with the remaining 2 met from the State Budget. The same asymmetry applies to invalidity, old age and death insurance, where a self-employed TRNC citizen pays 12.5 of the 16.5% total against 5.5 for a payroll-registered counterpart. For professionals practising on their own account and for partners in unincorporated businesses, monthly cash outflow is therefore higher than for an employee at the same level of declared earnings.
For employers, the consequence is a payroll systems question. Any payroll configuration still using the previous shares will produce incorrect deductions and incorrect employer liability for every pay period from 29 July 2026 onward. Businesses employing a mix of TRNC citizens and other nationals must apply two distinct allocations within the same payroll run, since the total rate is unchanged between the categories while the split is not. No separate regulation or circular on the application of the decree has been published.
