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.