سفير تركيا
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2025
- Messages
- 127
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 16
Store Invoices in Türkiye: e-Fatura, e-Arşiv, Tax and Withholding
Connect orders, tax documents and payouts without confusing commission and withholding
Connect orders, tax documents and payouts without confusing commission and withholding
Successful payment does not mean an invoice was issued correctly, and money received from a marketplace does not necessarily equal sales or profit. Store owners need three connected records: sales to customers, amounts withheld or paid for services, and money reaching the bank account. When these records separate, distinctions between value-added tax, platform commission, tax withholding and returns are lost.
This guide organizes discussions with a Turkish accountant and invoice-software configuration. Decisions start with taxpayer and buyer status, year and activity, then identify the document and its issuance, delivery and retention timing. Rules vary by case: there is no single 'e-commerce invoice threshold' for every taxpayer, and calling a store small does not establish an exemption or document type.
Required outcome: a clear taxpayer profile, a correct invoice for each transaction, links between orders, documents and payments, and monthly reconciliation separating KDV, commission, withholding and returns.
Payment records do not replace invoices and tax documents. — General illustrative photo.
Start with the taxpayer and business profile
Ask the accountant for a brief profile covering the entity, tax number, bookkeeping and invoicing systems, registered electronic applications and obligation start dates. Add the activity, product categories and channels used. This anchors software configuration in known circumstances rather than letting employees choose invoice types solely from a customer's name or order value.
Having a company or sole proprietorship does not settle every detail, and foreign ownership does not create one special invoicing system. If an exemption or simplified regime applies, retain its evidence, limits and covered activity rather than automatically extending it to new goods. Review the profile when adding a channel or category or changing bookkeeping, and specify who informs the accountant before the first transaction appears in the software.
Select the document by seller and buyer status
e-Fatura is more than a PDF emailed by the store: it has an issuance, transmission and retention framework within the application. Where the business uses the relevant applications, distinguish buyers registered for e-Fatura from unregistered buyers or final consumers, for whom e-Arşiv is used under the rules. Verify registration officially rather than relying on a customer saying it is a company.
Customers may request a paper copy of e-Arşiv, but printing does not turn it into a paper invoice created outside the application, and the electronic source copy remains subject to retention obligations. Participants in e-Arşiv must send invoices for internet sales electronically; paper copies are additional and do not replace electronic delivery. A payment-company receipt, order-success page or marketplace report does not automatically replace a sales invoice. Link the document number to the order and software, and prevent duplicate invoices caused by retrying email delivery.
| Situation | Required decision | Verification |
|---|---|---|
| Seller in the applications and registered buyer | e-Fatura within its scope | Check buyer registration |
| Seller in the applications and unregistered buyer | e-Arşiv under the rules | Buyer's status and details |
| Seller not registered in the application | Check whether the document requires e-Arşiv | Taxpayer category, year and amount |
| Printed copy or PDF | A delivery method for the correct document | Does not replace original issuance |
Monitor the annual e-Fatura transition condition
The internet-selling provisions of Communiqué 509 include a gross sales revenue condition of at least five hundred thousand lira for periods from 2022 onward for the covered category, with transition at the beginning of the seventh month following the relevant accounting period. This concerns period revenue and entry into the application; it is neither a single-invoice threshold nor the net amount paid by the platform.
For example, a business with a calendar accounting year meeting this condition in 2025 would transition through this route on July 1, 2026, unless another ground requires a different transition. Do not assess the condition from profit after commission or assume it covers only one channel without matching the revenue definition with the accountant. Monitor sales during the year to prepare certificates, providers, integration and training before the deadline rather than after a late notice.
Distinguish 2026 e-Arşiv rules by category
For taxpayers outside the e-Arşiv application, the current rule varies by tax regime. During 2026, those whose commercial income is assessed under basit usul or who keep books on the işletme hesabı basis are subject to the condition that relevant invoices exceed three thousand lira including taxes. For other taxpayers, electronic issuance of these invoices is required without an amount threshold from January 1, 2026, subject to specified statutory exceptions.
Under the current text, the first category moves to a no-threshold rule from January 1, 2027, but the text should be rechecked when that year begins. Do not use an outdated general figure such as five thousand or thirty thousand from an old technical-guide image. A document-type rule also does not mean every small sale can remain undocumented: whether a document must be issued and which type are separate issues governed by the provisions and circumstances.
| Not registered in e-Arşiv | Rule in 2026 | What must be established |
|---|---|---|
| basit usul or işletme hesabı | More than 3000 lira including taxes | Whether the taxpayer falls in this category |
| Other taxpayers | No amount threshold from January 1, 2026 | Document and any statutory exception |
| First category in 2027 | No amount threshold under the current text | Recheck when the year begins |
| Business already registered in the application | Application rules and buyer status apply | The table does not permit leaving registration |
Do not apply the 3000-lira condition to every store in 2026 or confuse the single-invoice condition with the annual-revenue condition for moving to e-Fatura.
Matching orders and documents helps control stock and accounts. — General illustrative photo.
Determine KDV by product, then calculate the price
Value-added tax depends on goods or service classification and applicable rules rather than a desire to display a lower price. Rates may differ or special treatment may apply, so link every product code to an accountant-approved rate and classification reason. Do not copy the rate of a similarly named product without matching its characteristics or automatically change the rate when moving a product between website and marketplace.
For tax-inclusive prices, derive the tax base by dividing the total by one plus the rate rather than subtracting the percentage directly. In a hypothetical example with a twenty-percent rate and a 1200-lira price, the base is 1000 and tax is 200. Subtracting twenty percent of 1200 gives 960, which is incorrect for this purpose. Do not treat all 1200 as net revenue or the tax as spendable profit; its reconciliation also depends on input tax and tax returns.
Complete internet-sales information
Review required electronic-invoice fields for internet sales, including the sales website address, payment method and date, carrier details for goods, dispatch or service-performance date, and the required internet-sales statement for the relevant document. e-Arşiv also provides for return information within its scope. These fields need actual operational data rather than fixed wording inconsistent with the order.
Agree with the developer on each field's source. The customer's payment date is not always the date a marketplace transfers your receivables, and the marketplace name is not necessarily the carrier's. Keep a change record when updating delivery addresses before shipping rather than altering buyer and invoice details arbitrarily. Also review shipment-accompanying documents and conditions allowing certain invoices to replace dispatch documents; do not assume every invoice copy automatically qualifies.
Understand intermediary withholding separately from commission
Since January 1, 2025, covered payments by e-commerce intermediaries to service providers are subject to one-percent income or corporate tax withholding within the applicable scope and exceptions. The base excludes KDV and is not merely the net transfer after deducting commission, shipping and services. Certain benefits provided by the intermediary may also fall within their defined scope, so reports must separate them.
Commission is a contractual cost for platform services, whereas withholding receives tax treatment and credit against provisional and annual tax under the provisions. Do not classify them as equivalent charges or treat the one percent as a final tax removing all business obligations. Nor should you apply this withholding to every collection on an independent website merely because a payment gateway is involved; examine the payer's capacity, relationship and transaction with the accountant.
Reconcile a hypothetical order step by step
The following educational example concerns a transaction subject to withholding: the store sells goods for a tax-inclusive 1200 lira, assuming twenty-percent KDV, a platform service costing 120 in total and shipping costing 60 in total. These costs are assumptions rather than platform tariffs. The withholding base is 1000, yielding 10 lira withheld and a transfer of 1010 after only the listed items.
The transferred amount is not profit: goods, packaging, advertising and other expenses have not been deducted, nor have input tax or annual reconciliation been calculated. Keep service invoices separate from customer invoices and make each marketplace deduction traceable to a document or explanation. If the transfer differs, investigate payment timing, returns, holds or additional services rather than changing the sales invoice merely to match the bank balance.
| Hypothetical item | Amount in lira | Calculation or description |
|---|---|---|
| Total sale | 1200 | Price including assumed KDV |
| Sales base excluding KDV | 1000 | 1200 ÷ 1.20 |
| KDV on the sale | 200 | 1200 − 1000 |
| Total platform service | 120 | Assumed separately documented expense |
| Total shipping | 60 | Assumed separate expense |
| One-percent withholding | 10 | 1000 × 1% |
| Expected transfer | 1010 | 1200 − 120 − 60 − 10 |
The shipment file connects to the sales invoice and delivery documents. — General illustrative photo.
Check withholding exceptions without broadening exemptions
Some payments are not subject to this withholding, including specified categories of persons not subject to tax on commercial, agricultural or professional activity, legally covered exempt tradespeople, those assessed under the simplified regime, and certain activities covered by the exemption in Article 20/B (mükerrer). Each case has a definition, conditions and covered activity; merely calling a business a home store does not place all its sales within an exemption.
Specific provisions also concern cash payment at the door or payment through the seller's new-generation EFT-POS device when an order is created through an intermediary. Do not extend the exception to every cash-on-delivery arrangement or carrier collection. Ask the accountant and provider to identify who receives and pays the money and which documents apply. Absence of intermediary withholding does not itself mean the business has no tax, invoice or reporting obligations.
Connect returns to invoices, payments and withholding
Canceling an order in the store dashboard does not automatically cancel an invoice issued in GİB, and refunding a card does not automatically update stock or documents. Establish a procedure identifying whether a document was issued, the buyer type, and the required cancellation, objection or return-documentation route. Use the appropriate current guidance and scope rather than a delete button that makes transactions disappear from team records.
Withholding treatment for a return depends on its timing relative to the intermediary's declaration; do not assume the tax automatically returns to your account with every item. Cases where declaration precedes the return have different rules from returns before declaration. Give the accountant the return report, original invoice and payment, declaration and refund dates, allowing correction or credit through the proper route without undermining the customer's refund entitlement.
| Return stage | Record to link | Operational owner |
|---|---|---|
| Return request received | Order, reason for the route and date | Customer service |
| Goods returned | Quantity and receipt condition | Warehouse |
| Tax document | Original and cancellation or return route | Accountant and invoicing |
| Refund | Original transaction and refund evidence | Finance or provider |
| Intermediary reconciliation | Withholding, declaration date and deduction | Accountant with platform report |
Give the accountant a reconcilable monthly file
Collect sales, service and purchase invoices, payment and settlement reports, returns and cancellations, account statements and any withholding, benefit or hold. Link files by order, document and transaction numbers, using matching currency, dates and scope. Monthly sales may legitimately differ from transfers when payouts move into a later month; explaining the difference is essential.
Agree an internal closing date allowing review before official deadlines. Assign follow-up for missing documents, broken integrations and unsent invoices rather than relying on an employee's personal telephone folder. Retain electronic originals, retrieval methods and backups, and verify viewing and export access when changing providers. A document missing from a new dashboard may still have been issued, so check before recreating it.
FAQs and verification checklist
Test a consumer sale, a sale to an e-Fatura-registered buyer, a return and a document-delivery failure in the appropriate test environment without unnecessarily issuing real tax documents. Review results with the accountant before launch and after application changes. Keep tax decisions written and current so operators can implement them without guessing.
Does the 3000-lira threshold apply to every taxpayer in 2026?
No. It concerns the stated basit usul or işletme hesabı route for those not registered in e-Arşiv; the other mentioned categories have a no-threshold rule.
Does platform commission reduce the one-percent withholding base?
The base does not decrease merely because commission or shipping is deducted from the payment. Review the transaction value excluding KDV, its scope and exceptions.
Is the bank transfer the profit?
No. It is cash flow after settlement items. Separate goods and service costs, taxes and timing before calculating profit.
The accountant established the taxpayer category, applications and deadlines. I verified buyer status and document type. I monitored the annual-revenue condition and invoice-year rules. I matched KDV and internet-sales information to the product and order. I separated commission, withholding, transfers and returns. I retained originals, reports, testing and reconciliation records.
Related topics
Online Store Obligations in Türkiye: The Seller Compliance File- Merchant Account Approval in Türkiye: Documents, Checks and Follow-Up
- Payment Gateways in Türkiye: From Card Approval to Merchant Settlement
- Choosing a Payment Provider in Türkiye: Licensing, Fees and Settlement
- Payment Problems in Turkish Stores: Declines, Pending Payments and Order Status
- Small Online Stores in Türkiye: A 90-Day Pilot and Scaling Decisions
- Common E-Commerce Problems in Türkiye and Practical Solutions
- Selling from Türkiye to Arab Markets: Market and Entry Strategy
- Reconciling Store Sales in Türkiye: Fees, Refunds, Payouts and Cash Flow
Last edited by a moderator: