What is Turkish KDV?
Katma Değer Vergisi (KDV) is Turkey’s tax, governed by 3065 sayılı Katma Değer Vergisi Kanunu (enacted 1985). KDV is a consumption tax levied at each stage of production and distribution; final burden falls on the consumer while businesses act as collection agents. Turkey’s KDV framework largely mirrors EU VAT design but with Turkey-specific exemption regimes and rate structures.
Current rate structure
- Standard rate: 20% — applies to most goods and services (raised from 18% in July 2023).
- Reduced rate: 10% — basic foodstuffs, books, certain agricultural inputs.
- Super-reduced rate: 1% — basic groceries, certain agricultural products, periodicals.
- Zero rate (with input VAT recovery): exports, international transport, certain financial services.
- Exempt (no input VAT recovery): health, education, some financial services.
KDV mechanics
- Tahsil (collected) KDV: seller collects from buyer at invoice level.
- İndirim (input) KDV: seller deducts KDV paid on inputs.
- Net ödenecek KDV: Tahsil − İndirim = monthly KDV declaration via KDV-1 beyanname.
- İade (refund) regime: exporters and certain other categories can claim refunds for excess input KDV.
Türk e-ticaret ve SaaS bağlamı
Türk e-ticaret ve SaaS şirketleri KDV uyumunda e-Fatura/e-Arşiv altyapısına entegre çalışır. Yurt dışı SaaS hizmetlerine 6745 sayılı Kanun ile “elektronik hizmetler” KDV kategorisi getirildi: Türk tüketicilere SaaS satışı yapan yabancı sağlayıcılar (Netflix, Spotify, AWS) KDV tahsil etmek ve GİB’de KDV mükellefi olarak kaydolmak zorundadır. Türk SaaS’lerin AB’ye satışında ise AB Tek Pencere (OSS) sistemi kullanılır.
Do: integrate KDV calculation into invoice automation; reconcile collected vs. input KDV monthly; track refund-eligible export transactions separately.
Don’t: assume zero-rated and exempt are the same — only zero-rated allows input VAT recovery; exempt does not.