Türkiye’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance Issues Ruling Enabling Ride-Hailing Drivers to Pay Taxes on Income Earned from Ride-Hailing Platforms

ISTANBUL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Türkiye’s leading mobility super app, Marti Technologies, Inc. (“Marti” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: MRT), announced that Türkiye’s Department of Revenue Management within the Ministry of Treasury and Finance (“MTF”) has issued a ruling that enables the Company’s ride-hailing drivers to pay income taxes on the ride-hailing revenue that they earn on its app.

The ruling, which requires that ride-hailing drivers set up corporate entities in compliance with Türkiye’s tax code in order to pay taxes on their income, is a positive step towards clarifying the legality of ride-hailing driver income.

Founder and CEO of Marti, Oguz Alper Oktem, said, “We launched our ride-hailing business twenty two months ago to fulfill the need for affordable, fast, and safe transportation solutions in Türkiye’s largest cities. Demand, and the growth of the service, has exceeded our original optimistic expectations – signalling to us that ride-hailing will be an integral part of urban planning moving forward. We view this ruling as a significant step towards confirmation of those expectations, as government authorities also begin to recognize the ancillary benefits to the broader economy and national budget that would come with fulsome regulation.”

The ruling enables Marti to digitally collect and transmit information regarding rides completed, income earned, and the resulting tax obligations of its ride-hailing drivers to the MTF. In order to facilitate the collection and transmission of this information to the MTF in line with Türkiye’s tax code and the ruling, Marti has begun offering legal guidance and financial support to its ride-hailing drivers to set up corporate entities.

McKinsey & Company, a consultancy group, estimates the potential size of the Turkish ride-hailing market in 2030 at $15 to $20 billion(*). Marti estimates that, at steady state, the ride-hailing sector in Türkiye will produce around $2 billion of annual tax revenue for the MTF. The collection of this tax revenue is enabled by the digital record of all transactions that ride-hailing operators like Marti retain on their systems. This is in contrast to the taxi sector which operates in the overwhelming absence of documentation regarding ride fares, taxi medallion rental income, and driver income, producing massive tax leakage.

(*) Expectations and targets are not necessarily indicative of future attainment.

About Marti:

Founded in 2018, Marti is Türkiye’s leading mobility app, offering multiple transportation services to its riders. Marti operates a ride-hailing service that matches riders with car, motorcycle, and taxi drivers, and operates a large fleet of rental e-mopeds, e-bikes, and e-scooters. All of Marti’s offerings are serviced by proprietary software systems and IoT infrastructure. For more information, visit www.marti.tech.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, also known as the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any express or implied statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact and generally relate to future events, hopes, intentions, strategies, or performance may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including but without limitation statements regarding the anticipated growth, including the potential size of the Turkish ride-hailing market, size of the expected annual tax revenue for the MTF, the legality of ride-hailing driver income, and the expected future performance and market opportunities of Marti and the ride-hailing business. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “might,” “possible,” “believe,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “aim,” “strive,” and similar expressions may identify such forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expressed or implied forwarding-looking statements, including, but not limited to: (i) the effect of the public listing of our securities on our business relationships, performance, financial condition and business generally, (ii) risks that the business combination may disrupt our current plans or divert management’s attention from our ongoing business operations, (iii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us or our directors or officers related to the business combination or otherwise, (iv) our ability to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE American, (v) volatility in the price of our securities due to a variety of factors, including without limitation changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which we plan to operate, variations in competitors’ performance and success and changes in laws and regulations affecting our business, (vi) our ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and identify opportunities, (vii) the risk of downturns in the highly competitive tech-enabled mobility services industry, (viii) our ability to build our brand and consumers’ recognition, acceptance and adoption of our brand, (ix) the risk that we may not be able to effectively manage our growth, including our design, research, development and maintenance capabilities, (x) technological changes and risks associated with doing business in an emerging market, (xi) risks relating to our dependence on and use of certain intellectual property and technology and (xii) and other important factors and risks discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on April 16, 2024, as such factors and risks may be updated from time to time in the Company’s other filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investors Relations section of Company’s website at https://ir.marti.tech. Any investors should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described in the documents filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC as most of the factors are outside the Company’s control and are difficult to predict. As a result, the Company’s actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, such forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as predictions of future events. The Company cautions not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, including projections, which speak only as to management expectations and beliefs as of the date they are made. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than to the extent required by applicable law.