How to Calculate Duties and Taxes on Imports to Turkey

Since 1 February 2026, goods bought from foreign e-commerce platforms can no longer use Turkey’s Simplified Customs Declaration at any value, including the old EUR 30 band, so they follow normal import rules. KDV (VAT) is 20%, 10% or 1%, on the customs value plus the taxes and charges paid on import. The fixed 30% and 60% rates now survive only for narrow categories: prescription medicines and supplements.

• Valuation basis: CIF
• Tax base: Value used for customs duty, or the CIF value where duty isn't value-based or the goods are exempt, plus taxes and charges paid on import and other costs up to registration of the declaration (KDV Law, article 21).
• KDV (VAT) standard rate: 20%. General rate 20% and lists at 10% and 1%, as amended from 10 July 2023.
• Reduced rates: 10%, 1%

Foreign e-commerce purchases can't use the Simplified Customs Declaration at any value. Prescription medicines and food supplements up to EUR 1,500 by post or express cargo pay one fixed rate: 30% direct from the EU, 60% from elsewhere, plus 20% for goods on OTV list IV. Personal-use books up to EUR 1,500 pay 0%. Limits: non-commercial, 30 kg gross and five shipments per person per calendar month.

• The Presidential Decision itself was not read; only the Ministry's press statement.
• CIF is our label for customs value. Customs Law articles 27 and 28 add transport and insurance to the entry point and leave out later costs without using the term. The KDV Law uses it.

The Ministry's statement keeps these under the Simplified Customs Declaration:

• Test and analysis items, and samples for manufacturers and exporters
• Books and printed publications
• Diplomatic items and passenger effects
• Educational or scientific items
• Medicines and food supplements needed for treatment, with a health report or prescription, up to EUR 1,500

The Ministry's FAQ of 5 March 2026 sets the conditions for personal-use goods by post or express cargo: non-commercial, gross weight of 30 kg or less (with exceptions for diplomatic goods, passenger effects and samples), and no more than five shipments per person per calendar month. Above EUR 1,500, you pay the import duties in force.

Postal administrations and express firms declare as indirect representatives. The Ministry collects only taxes, and doesn't track parcels: ask the express firm or PTT. On the simplified route, firms can't add clearance or terminal fees, and no storage fee can be charged for the first 3 days after the delivery notice. On a detailed declaration for personal goods, they can charge storage and brokerage from the notice date.

The Ministry of Trade announced the change on 7 January 2026, citing its own tests of 182 products from cross-border platforms, with 81% found non-compliant. It doesn't ban the goods: importing them is still possible, subject to normal inspections. It removes the shortcut.

For normal imports, the customs value starts with the price actually paid or payable. The Ministry's FAQ adds commissions other than buying commissions, packing, royalties and similar, along with transport and insurance up to the entry port or place in Turkey. Costs after arrival are out, under article 28 of the Customs Law. This is close to CIF in effect, although the Ministry doesn't use the term.

KDV is then charged on the value used for customs duty, plus taxes, charges and fees paid on import, under article 21 of the KDV Law. Where duty isn't value-based or the goods are exempt, the law uses the CIF value. We haven't confirmed every other charge that might apply to your goods, so check the tariff, or use a customs broker. The import duty calculator gives a first estimate.

1. Check the route: is it a foreign e-commerce purchase (normal rules), or one of the simplified categories above?
2. Classify the goods: find the code with the HS code classifier and look up the rates.
3. Value the goods: price paid plus commissions, packing, royalties, and transport and insurance to the entry point. If you use the simplified route and freight isn’t shown, the Ministry adds a standard EUR 3.
4. Add duty and other charges: normal rates and any additional charges for your code.
5. Apply KDV: 20%, 10% or 1%, on the customs value plus taxes and charges on import.
6. Under the simplified route for medicines and supplements: use the single fixed rate instead, 30% from an EU country and 60% from elsewhere, with 20% more for items on the ÖTV list.

Prescription supplement from Germany by express cargo, simplified route, at the ECB rate for 5 November 2026 (EUR 1 = TRY 56.1729).

Customs uses its own rate, so expect a small difference.

The same supplement from the United States.

A sweatshirt from a foreign platform, normal import, and we’ve assumed 12% duty and no other border charge, so check the tariff for your code.

• Quoting the EUR 30 regime: it ended on 1 February 2026, though older guides and FAQs still show it.
• Using 8% for KDV: the rates are 20%, 10% and 1%, as amended from 10 July 2023.
• Assuming the EUR 1,500 limit is a general tax-free allowance: it’s for specific categories, and the FAQ names books and medicines.
• Treating every order the same: samples for manufacturers can stay simplified, while a personal platform order cannot.
• Shipping cosmetics or shoes by courier and hoping: they’re on the Ministry’s exclusion list for this route.

The Ministry's FAQ of 5 March 2026 gives these limits for post and express cargo:

• Tobacco and alcohol can only come in with travellers, within set limits.
• Mobile phones can't be imported by post or courier, except a phone returned after being taken abroad, with its IMEI registered and verified.
• Cosmetics can't come in under the exemption.
• Shoes, toys, and bags or luggage of genuine or synthetic leather can't be declared this way.
• Supplements and sports foods need a report or prescription issued within the past year.
• The EUR 430 passenger gift allowance doesn't apply to post.

Out-of-date guides. Older guides still show the EUR 30 bands at 30% and 60%. They predate the January 2026 statement, so don't rely on them for online purchases.

What we didn't confirm. We read the Ministry's statement, not the Presidential Decision behind it. The GIB rate list was read through an official excerpt. Its lists for 10% and 1% aren't reproduced here, so check your goods. This page is guidance, not legal or customs advice.