Turkey increases customs taxes to curb cross-border ecommerce

Ecommerce in Turkey is on the rise. Online spending more than doubled last year, the Ministry of Commerce reported this spring. This is largely the result of inflation, but there is also considerable autonomous growth.

Significant growth is expected again this year in Turkey, where almost 560,000 companies were registered as active in ecommerce. The government in Ankara wants to protect them from foreign online stores, which are gaining in popularity.

Import duties and exemption treshold

The import duty on European packages will increase to 30 percent as of August 21, according to the decree of Turkish President Erdoğan, compared to the current 18 percent. The import duty on packages from outside the EU was already 30 percent but will be doubled to 60 percent. This applies to goods arriving by mail or express cargo to an individual in Turkey.

Moreover, the exemption threshold has been lowered from 150 to 30 euros. This means that Turkish consumers will also have to pay taxes on smaller online orders from abroad, driving up the costs for international orders and giving a boost to domestic online spending.

Extra fixed tax

On top of the rate changes and allowance reduction, an extra tax will also be applied. If the goods fall under the category specified in the Special Consumption Tax Law, such as luxury products, an extra fixed tax of 20 percent will be applied.

Temu and AliExpress

The tax measures follow recent hints from Turkey’s trade minister Omer Bolat about upcoming regulations concerning online shopping through platforms like Temu and AliExpress. This is also a concern in Brussels. The European Union plans to abolish the import duty exemption up to 150 euros for packages from outside the Union. This is planned to take effect by March 2028.

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