Do you know what tax free is? What many Turkish tourists don't know is that they can collect VAT on their purchases when they return home. There are many reasons to prove that Turkey is one of the most popular countries for tourists in the world, but in this article I want to focus on only one reason: Turkey's tax-free or exempt from paying taxes!
This country is one of the best places in the world for shopping, the possibility of buying all kinds of clothes, cosmetics, etc. at competitive prices is considered one of the most important experiences of traveling to Turkey, but when you can be tax free in Turkey, you will be exempt from paying taxes. And get a portion of your shopping costs, the experience will be even sweeter.
In this article of Alibaba Tourism Magazine, we will introduce you to the steps of getting tax free, conditions and important points of using this feature.
What is tax free?
Turkish tourists are exempted from paying taxes and can collect VAT on their purchases using Tax Free.
What is the minimum purchase amount for tax free?
The minimum amount of purchase from the store to benefit from tax free is 100 lira + added value.
What is the tax rate in Türkiye?
This rate varies between 8 and 18 percent based on the type of product.
What is tax free in Türkiye?
VAT is collected in almost all countries of the world, but as a tourist in Istanbul, you can shop tax-free or tax-free. In Turkey, when buying, a percentage is paid to the seller as a tax, which can also be seen on the invoice.
Photo from: Google maps site
Currently, tourists can get a part of the tax they paid when buying goods back at the airport. This is called tax-free or tax-exempt.
Before everything, you should know that the value added tax (VAT) rate in Turkey varies between 18% and 8% based on the type of goods. For example, the tax on accessories, jewelry, watches, electronics and home appliances is 18%, and the tax on leather goods and clothing is 8%.
Take a look at Türkiye's tax-free rules
To use tax-free shopping in Turkey, there are certain rules that you should be aware of:
- You must be a resident of another country and have your passport with you when you buy it.
- You must have paid the tax at the time of purchase.
- Finally, take the purchased goods out of Turkey within three months.
- Shop at Tax Free stores in Turkey that display the Tax Free sign at the checkout.
- Receive the tax-free invoices at Istanbul airport from the seller.
Photo from: Google maps site
What are the benefits of tax free in Türkiye?
The benefits of tax free include tourists and the tourist country. The most important advantage of tax free for tourists is the reduction of travel expenses.
In addition, a tourist country like Turkey can contribute to the prosperity of the tourism industry and attract more tourists.
Procedures for getting tax free at Istanbul airport: how to get your tax free?
As someone who has tried tax-free at Istanbul Airport, let me tell you frankly that you need to be patient.
The process of getting Turkey tax free consists of a few simple steps, but it takes a little time. For this reason, if you are going to go to the duty free in Istanbul airport, you must go to the airport 4-5 hours earlier.
First step: shopping at tax free stores
When shopping at tax-free stores, you must bring your passport with you and tell the seller when issuing an invoice that you want to make your purchases tax-free. To say this in Turkish, just say to the fund officer: Tax Free istiyorum
By taking your passport, the seller registers your information in the system and gives you two series of invoices. One of these invoices will be for yourself, and the other one will be for Turkish duty-free work. Be sure to keep the Turkish tax-free invoices separate until the last stage of tax-free collection at Istanbul airport.
Photo from: Google maps site
The second step: packing tax-free purchases
In order not to get into trouble at the airport, be sure to put all tax-free purchases in a separate bag or bag. The airport customs officer is supposed to check the invoices with the purchases.
Therefore, you should manage purchases and invoices in such a way that if necessary, you can easily show them the purchase and invoice for each product.
Third step: Check-in at the airport
If you visit the Istanbul airport, you will see that many people are standing in the customs line for the Turkish duty free without getting a flight card and doing check-in. This does nothing but waste your time.
Note that you must get a flight card before going to the airport customs for tax free.
Photo from: Google maps site
As I said in the previous step, you are supposed to put the duty free in a separate bag. During check-in, tell the person in charge of this department that this luggage is for duty free. With this, the flight attendant will attach the luggage tag and hand it over to you for the next steps.
Note that at this stage, your other luggage will be sent to the plane and only the luggage for tax-free purchases will be with you. Don't worry, this luggage will be sent to the plane separately in the next steps.
Fourth step: airport customs
The place of delivery of invoices and duty-free purchases is located in the customs section of Istanbul Airport. You probably have to stand in line for a while to get your turn. The customs officer checks and stamps invoices and purchases.
Whether you need to show all purchases to the customs officer is up to him. Sometimes he may just ask you to buy one of the invoices, and sometimes he may want to pull the hair out of us and check everything.
Photo from: Google maps site
In this section, be careful to regularly hand over the invoices to the customs officer so that all of them get a stamp of approval. Unstamped invoices will not help you in the next step.
At this stage, you must receive all invoices stamped from the customs officer.
After checking your purchases, boarding pass and passport, the customs officer will hand you the stamped invoices and send your luggage for loading.
Step 5: Receive tax-free money from the exchange
After the passport stamp, you will enter the airport transit hall. Here you can get the tax free fee from the airport exchanges.
Like me, you probably go to the first exchange at hand. Currently, this currency exchange is located right next to the escalator at the entrance of the transit hall, and most of the passengers go to this exchange.
Photo from: Google maps site
To get the tax free fee, you must hand over your passport and stamped invoices to the airport exchange officer.
There are exchanges that do this in different parts of the transit hall. According to your flight time, go to one of these exchanges.
Hand over the stamped invoices and passport to the exchange officer. Each person must stand in line separately with his/her passport and invoices. After the calculation, the agent will pay you the tax free amount in cash.
How many times can you use tax free?
The number of times the tax free was used in each country related to the laws there. Some countries have set a certain ceiling for tax free and some consider a different exemption for each trip.
You can get more information about the latest details of the rules from the destination airport.
Photo from: Google maps site
List of tax free countries
It is interesting to know that tax free shopping is not only in Turkey, many other countries also use this method to improve their tourism industry. Among the countries that use tax-free laws, we can mention the following:
Photo from: Google maps site
Tax-free stores in Türkiye
Keep in mind that not all shopping centers offer tax-free services. Tax-free services in Turkey are only available in shopping centers and stores that have a tax-free sign on the shop window or cash register.
Important tips about using Tax Free
- The best suggestion is to use a person's passport for tax-free purchases when shopping at the store, so that you don't get into trouble when taking the fees from the exchange. With this, all purchases are calculated in one place, and there is no need for several people to stand in line together.
- If you have a residence permit in Turkey, there is no tax-free option.
- To benefit from tax free, the minimum purchase amount is 100 liras. If you make several purchases below the specified amount with different invoices from the same store, you will not be able to use tax free.
Photo from: Google maps site
- Considering that you have to present the duty-free purchases to the customs officer along with the invoice at the airport, it is better to put these items in a separate luggage.
- Before going to the customs department of the airport, you must get a boarding pass.
- Invoices that do not have a customs stamp are not valid.
- Each stage may have a long queue. Therefore, be sure to allow enough time for this.
Buy more than tax free
In this article, you learned about the details of tax free in Turkey and Istanbul airport. When traveling to Istanbul or other cities in Turkey, you can use this method to reduce your travel expenses.
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