Duty For Foreign Packages Will Also Change in Turkey

E-commerce in Turkey is experiencing rapid growth. The Ministry of Commerce reported that online spending more than doubled last year, thanks to inflation and significant autonomous growth. This trend is expected to continue. Currently, nearly 560,000 companies operate in Turkish e-commerce. To protect domestic businesses from growing competition from foreign online stores, the government is adopting new measures.

From August 21, the duty on European packages will increase from 18% to 30%. For shipments from non-EU countries, the duty, currently at 30%, will double to 60%. This applies to goods delivered by mail or express shipments to Turkish customers.

The tax exemption threshold for international orders is also changing – from the original 150 euros, it’s being reduced to 30 euros. This means Turkish consumers will face higher costs for smaller online orders from abroad. The aim is to discourage customers from seeking goods abroad and favor domestic businesses.

The country will also introduce an additional tax on goods falling under the special consumption tax law, such as luxury products, which will be subject to a fixed tax of 20%.

Here too, we can see how well-known Asian giants are dominating sales. The planned regulations are a response to the practices of sellers such as Temu and AliExpress. The European Union has already presented a plan that will exempt packages up to 150 euros from non-Union countries from import duties until March 2028.