NEWSLETTER-2020-metin

54 NEWSLETTER 2020 Calculation of Dividends Pursuant to Article 7 of the Communiqué, in the calculation of dividends, for the companies that are required to prepare their finan- cial statements in compliance with the standards determined by the Public Oversight Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority, i.e. companies that are subject to independent audit, financial statements prepared according toArticle 88 of the TCC shall be taken as the basis; whereas, for other companies, financial statements prepared according to the Tax Procedure Law No. 213 (“TPL”) shall be taken as the basis. In addition, the dividend amount that is foreseen to be distributed can- not exceed the total amount of the resources subject to the dividend distribution available in the records that are kept according to the TPL. It can be said that through this Article, the Communiqué not only introduces a provision within the scope of provisional Article 13 of the TCC but, as well, sets a general rule regarding the method for the calculation of dividends. Conclusion Within the scope of the measures taken against Covid-19, sig- nificant limitations have been introduced regarding the distribution of dividends through provisional Article 13 added to the TCC on 17April 2020. Exceptions to these limitations have been regulated with the Communiqué published on 17 May 2020. Upon review of the provi- sions of the Communiqué, one may notice that the scope of exceptions is not extensive. In addition, it can be said that the fact that the general assemblies within the scope of exceptions can be made only upon the affirmative opinion of the Ministry, instead of automatic application of exceptions, will significantly reduce the number of companies to benefit from the exceptions. This is because when there is less than four months until the expiry of the limitation, as of the date of this Newsletter, taking into consideration the processes such as collection of the necessary documents, application to the Ministry, awaiting a response and, subsequently, awaiting the general assembly invitation and announcement periods to expire, it would not be wrong to say that the exceptions will not (be able to) find a field of application. It should also be mentioned that the Communiqué falls short in terms of advance