Regulatory updates - Türkiye

On November 21, 2024, the Turkish Revenue Administration (“Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı” or “GİB”) announced the transition to the New Central Application of e-Invoice (e-Fatura) and e-Waybill (e-İrsaliye). This transition will begin at 00:01 (GMT+3) on December 14, 2024.

The New Central Application provides and controls the communication between the "Sender Unit" (“Gönderici Birim”) and the "Mail Box" (“Posta Kutusu”) used in e-Invoice and e-Waybill documents.

During the transition, the e-Invoice and e-Waybill portals, as well as e-Document inquiry services, will be temporarily unavailable. Taxpayers registered for e-Invoice and e-Waybill applications, and those using the e-Invoice and e-Waybill portals, can issue documents as printed paper (e-Arşiv invoice).

To ensure documents reach recipients on time, it is advisable to create and send any planned documents electronically before the transition begins.

Changes regarding e-Arşiv invoice

Starting 1 July 2024, e-Arsiv reports must include the following fields:

• Signature Time
• Tax Rate
• Shipment Information (applies only to Internet sale invoices)

These changes have been stipulated in the updated versions of the e-Arşiv Technical Guide and e-Arsiv Package.

Changes regarding e-Ledger (“e-Defter”)

With the development made in the e-Ledger application, the e-Ledger Application screens have been renewed and made available for use.

From 22 May 2024, the e-Ledger and its secondary copies shall be made available simultaneously for submission to the GIB Information Processing System via the e-Ledger application or web service.

These changes have been stipulated in the updated version of the e-Ledger Application Guide.

Additionally, amendments to the Electronic Ledgers General Communiqué consider the new requirements for certain persons to switch to e-Ledger applications and the updated deadline requirements for e-Ledger submissions.

The deadline for e-Ledger submissions has been extended to the end of the tenth day of the fourth month following the relevant month. The submission deadline based on interim tax periods has been extended to the tenth day of the third month following the accounting period.

GIB will open the e-Ledger accounts of taxpayers who are obliged to be included in the e-Ledger application by the start of this mandate. This will be effective from the beginning of the month following the date when the taxpayers are notified.

As of 1 September 2023, it will be mandatory to include Quick Response codes (QR codes) when issuing the following document types:

• E-Fatura Invoice
• E-Arşiv Invoice
• E-Waybill
• E-Self-Employment Receipt (E-SMM)
• E-Producer Receipt (E-MM)
• E-Insurance Commission Expense Document
• E-Currency and Precious Metal Trading Document
• E-Stake Document

A QR code is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode). They contain data and can be quickly scanned and read by machines for fast processing.

Information on QR code required content can be found in the guide published by GIB.

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Earlier in November last year, the Turkish Revenue Administration (GIB) released a draft Communiqué amending the provisions of the Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 509 on electronic documents. The draft law was subject to public consultation until 1 December 2021.

On 22 January 2022, the draft Communiqué was approved, and the General Communiqué of the Tax Procedure Law No. 535 was published in the Official Gazette.

An extensive summary of the relevant proposed amendments has been reported in an earlier update. No major changes have been made to what the draft earlier proposed.

However, some minor revisions entitled the invoices that must be issued as e-Arşiv invoices. As of 1 March 2022, the total amount of invoices issued to non-taxpayers must be TRY 5 000 (ca. EUR 322). In addition, if the invoices issued to taxpayers are above the invoice issuance limit, i.e., TRY 2 000 (ca. EUR 130) for the year 2022, these must also be issued as e-Arşiv invoices.

On 10 November 2021, the Turkish Revenue Administration (GIB) released a draft Communiqué amending the provisions of the Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 509 on electronic documents. We have prepared an overview of the key highlights.

Amended scope of e-Fatura

The following categories are required to issue e-Fatura invoices:

• Taxpayers with annual gross revenue > TRY 5 million (ca. EUR 370806,51)* in the FY (financial year) 2018, 2019 and 2020;
• Taxpayers with annual gross revenue > TRY 4 million in FY 2021;
• Taxpayers with annual gross revenue > TRY 3 million in FY 2022 and subsequent years;
• Taxpayers in the e-commerce, real estate and motor vehicle sectors with annual gross revenue > TRY 1 million in FY 2020 and 2021, and TRY 500 000 in FY 2022 and all subsequent years;
• Taxpayers providing accommodation services as a form of investment and/or operation licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Municipalities.

Amendments to the scope of e-Arşiv

As reported in an earlier update from 5 November 2019, companies that issue invoices over TRY 30 000 to non-taxpayers in a single day and over TRY 50 000 (including taxes) to taxpayers must issue e-Arşiv invoices. The new draft Communiqué proposes to lower the total amount of the invoice threshold to TRY 10 000; therefore, more taxpayers will be required to use e-Arşiv invoices.

Amendments to the e-Waybill scope

Taxpayers with 2021 year-end gross sales of TRY 10 million, instead of the current threshold of up to TRY 25 million, will be required to use the e-Waybill. Furthermore, a new taxpayer group is introduced: taxpayers manufacturing, importing or exporting iron and steel (with the HS tariff code 72 for materials and 73 for goods) will also be in the scope of obligatory e-Waybill issuance. The requirement to issue the e-Fatura will not apply to this group.

Right now, the draft Communiqué is subject to public consultation. Comments can be sent to [email protected] by the latest 1 December 2021. The new regulation will take effect only after it is finalised and published in the Official Gazette.

* TRY 1000 equals ca. EUR 73,82

TRY 1 million equals ca. EUR 73 918,09

Earlier this year, the Turkish Revenue Administration (GIB) has introduced new tax obligations with the Communiqué No. 526 as an amendment to the Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 509.

The amendment covers healthcare service providers who have signed contracts with the Social Security Institution and all taxpayers who supply medicines, medical supplies and active substances. These are the taxpayer categories bound to use the invoice applications for issuing e-Fatura and e-Arşiv invoices as of 1 July 2021.

Following taxpayer groups are added among others to the scope of the e-invoicing mandate:

• Hospitals, medical centres, branch centres, dialysis centres;
• Diagnosis, examination and imaging centres;
• Laboratories, pharmacies;
• Suppliers of medical devices and supplies;
• Opticians, hearing centres, spas;
• Private legal entities providing/producing human medical products, including their unincorporated branches, pharmaceutical warehouses, etc.;
• Other specialised treatment centres licenced by the Ministry of Health.

Learn more about different types of e-invoices in Turkey and their use cases in our previous article.

The communiqué expands the scope of taxpayers required to switch to certain e-documents such as e-invoice (e-Fatura), e-arşiv invoice (e-Arşiv), e-ledger (e-Defter) and e-waybill (e-İrsaliye). The new requirements take immediate effect and impact business owners based not only on total revenues, but also on sector. Documents not complying with the new rules will not be accepted as official documents, and businesses will face varying penalties for non-conformity.

E-invoice

One of the most noteworthy changes regarding the e-invoice is the turnover threshold, which has been reduced from 10M Turkish Lira (TRY) to TRY 5M. According to the new communiqué, companies with at least TRY 5M turnover in 2018 or 2019 will have to switch to e-invoices by July 1, 2020 at the latest. Taxpayers exceeding this limit in 2020 or later will have to switch to e-invoices by July 1 of the following accounting year.

The communiqué makes e-invoices mandatory for certain sectors, regardless of yearly turnover. Companies licensed by the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority; middlemen or merchants trading fruits or vegetables; motor vehicle manufacturers, importers and dealers; and internet banner publishers and web advertisers are some of the taxpayers that must switch to e-invoices.

E-arşiv invoice

According to the new communiqué, those taxpayers required to switch to e-invoicing are also obliged to implement e-arşiv invoices from January 2020 forward. In addition, companies that issue invoices over TRY 30k to non-taxpayers in a single day and over 5k TRY (including taxes) to taxpayers have the same obligation.

E-ledger

Those required to adopt e-invoices and companies with year-end gross sales of more than TRY 5M must also switch to the use of an e-ledger as soon as e-invoice usage has been initiated. Furthermore, companies that are subject to independent audit will have to use an e-ledger starting from January 2020.

E-waybill

As of January 2020, middlemen or merchants trading fruits or vegetables must start using e-waybills. By July 2020 the e-waybill requirement will expand to the following entities: companies with 2018 year-end gross sales of TRY 25M and up; companies licensed by the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority; motor vehicle manufacturers, importers and dealers; internet banner publishers and web advertisers; companies acting as middlemen in internet sales; iron and steel manufacturers; and companies that are registered to the Turkish Fertilizer Tracking System.

A quick guide to e-document terminology

E-invoice: an invoice that is issued, transmitted and stored electronically. An e-Invoice can only be issued to recipients that can receive invoices in an electronic environment.E-arşiv invoice: an invoice created electronically and delivered to the customer via email, SMS or as a printed document. E-arşiv invoices allow suppliers to send invoices to recipients that are not electronically enabled. E-arşiv invoices do not have to be sent to the GIB immediately but are sent directly to the recipients. However, companies must still issue a monthly report to GIB.E-ledger: known as e-book in some countries, e-ledger is the system that allows accounting ledger accounts to be prepared and transmitted to the GIB electronically.E-waybill: a document that is issued, sent and stored in an electronic environment. It serves the purpose of monitoring the movement of goods during the entire supply chain process. E-waybills can only be used between registered e-waybill users and they have to be issued before the transportation of the goods occurs.