Import Taxes in Turkey and Calculation of Landed Cost
It is one of the most important prerequisites to know the approximate cost of importing a product into Turkey. In order to know this, one has to have a grasp of tax regulations and their calculation methods. You can find below the list and definition of taxes.
Additionally, it is also necessary to know the cost items other than taxes such as freight, insurance, and customs clearance costs (warehouse fee, delivery order fee etc.). Below there are list and definitions of customs clearance costs.
Since these costs (freight, insurance, customs clearance costs) are very variable depending on the quantity, weight and specifications of products, we will use a certain percentage of the product value.
Different products are subject to different taxes and rates in Turkey. Therefore, we need to study the costs of a product depending on its kind. Each product group is studied below under a separate heading. We have below examined the taxes and cost items for basic IT equipment.
For the sake of clarity, unit price of mobile phone is accepted as FOB 150$, of tablet as FOB 100$, of USB modem as FOB 35$, of GPS tracking device 45$. Taxes and costs are calculated on this base value. Freight-insurance and customs clearance cost percentages are received depending on the product unit value; %1 for mobile phones, %1,5 for tablets, %2 for USB modems and GPS tracking device.
Mobile Phone
| Cost Items | Rate | Unit Price | Mobile Phone |
| USD/TRY | 5,30 | 150,00 $ | FOB |
| Freight+Insurance | 1% | 1,50 $ | |
| CIP | 151,50 $ | ||
| Import costs | 1% | 1,52 $ | |
| Base for TRT tax | 153,02 $ | ||
| TRT tax | 10% | 15,30 $ | |
| Base for ÖTV tax | 168,32 $ | ||
| ÖTV | 42,08 $ | ||
| Base for VAT tax | 210,40 $ | ||
| VAT | 18% | 37,87 $ | |
| Total Landed Cost | 248,27 $ |
Tablet
| Cost Items | Rate | Unit Price | Tablet |
| USD/TRY | 5,30 | 100,00 $ | FOB |
| Freight+Insurance | 1,5% | 1,50 $ | |
| CIP | 101,50 $ | ||
| Import costs | 1,5% | 1,52 $ | |
| Base for Culture tax | 103,02 $ | ||
| Culture tax | 0,5% | 0,52 $ | |
| Base for TRT tax | 103,54 $ | ||
| TRT tax | 2% | 2,07 $ | |
| Base for VAT tax | 105,61 $ | ||
| VAT | 18% | 19,01 $ | |
| Total Landed Cost | 124,62 $ |
USB Modem
| Cost Items | Rate | Unit Price | USB modem |
| USD/TRY | 5,30 | 35,00 $ | FOB |
| Freight+Insurance | 2% | 0,70 $ | |
| CIP | 35,70 $ | ||
| Import costs | 2% | 0,71 $ | |
| Base for VAT tax | 36,41 $ | ||
| VAT | 18% | 6,55 $ | |
| Total Landed Cost | 42,97 $ |
GPS Tracking Device
| Cost Items | Rate | Unit Price | GPS tracking device |
| USD/TRY | 5,30 | 45,00 $ | FOB |
| Freight+Insurance | 2,0% | 0,90 $ | |
| CIP | 45,90 $ | ||
| Import costs | 2,0% | 0,92 $ | |
| Base for Customs tax | 46,82 $ | ||
| Customs tax | 3,7% | 1,73 $ | |
| Base for VAT tax | 48,55 $ | ||
| VAT | 18% | 8,74 $ | |
| Total Landed Cost | 57,29 $ |
Definitions of Taxes and Import Costs
| Tax or Cost Name | Definition |
| Customs Clearance Fee: | The fee paid to the customs broker for their clearance services |
| Delivery Order: | The fee paid to the forwarder in order to hand over shipment documents such as AWB to the importer |
| Customs Warehouse Fee: | The fee paid for the storage of the goods at customs |
| Inner Transportation: | The fee paid for transportation of the goods from customs to the service provider's warehouse |
| Customs Officer Attendance Fee: | The fee paid to the Customs Authority for attendance of Customs Officer to the goods. Sometimes samples need to be taken out of customs zone in order for control of other government authorities. Then customs officer must accompany the goods until they are returned to the customs zone after its control. |
| IMEI Registration Fee: | The fee paid to the BTK Authority for registration of IMEI bearing units such as mobile phones, mainboards. Registration fee per IMEI is 0,79 TRY. |
| Stamp Duty: | The fee paid to the Customs Authority for issuance of customs declaration. Issuance fee per each customs declaration is 97,10 TRY. |
| Special Consumption Tax(ÖTV): | The tax paid to the Government for specific products including but not limited to mobile phones. ÖTV Tax rate for mobile phones is 25% but it cannot be lower than 160 TRY for each mobile phone. |
| Customs Tax | The tax paid to the Government for specific products including but not limited to GPS tracking devices with CCC 85269180. Tax rate is not the same for all products. Tax rate for GPS tracking devices with CCC 85269180 is 3,7%, for spare parts with CCC 85177090 is 5%, for batteries is 2,7%, for chargers is 3,3%, etc. |
| Additional Customs Tax | The tax paid to the Goverment for specific goods. Some goods are subject to additional customs tax due to tariff policies applied by the Ministry of Trade. |
| Value Added Tax (VAT) | The tax paid to the Government for all products that are imported to Turkey. Tax rate is generally 18% for products. It is 8% for specific products suh as books or some textile products. There are also products such as newspapers, magazines which apply 1% VAT. |
| TRT Tax | The tax paid to the Turkey Radio-Television Institution in order for import of the mobile phones over which user can get radio and/or television broadcasts. TRT tax rate for mobile phones is 10% while it is 2% for tablet devices. |
| TAREKS Fee | The fee paid to the Ministry of Trade for application to get import permission. The fee per application is 100 TRY. |