e-Invoice (e-Fatura)

An e-Invoice is an invoice prepared in electronic form. e-Invoices are signed with an e-signature or financial seal (mali mühür), carry a time stamp and are legally equivalent to paper invoices. Once you switch to the e-Invoice application, you can no longer issue paper invoices. Electronic invoices must be issued to taxpayers registered in the e-Invoice system, and e-Archive Invoices (e-Arşiv) to taxpayers who are not registered.

The obligation to switch to the e-Invoice application is set by the Tax Procedure Law General Communiqués published by the Turkish Revenue Administration (GİB). Taxpayers whose gross sales revenue exceeds the threshold set in the communiqué, as well as taxpayers in certain lines of business listed in the communiqué, are required to switch to the e-Invoice application.

Because thresholds and transition dates are updated periodically, we recommend checking the current values in GİB's e-Document announcements. Businesses that are not within the scope of the obligation can also become e-Invoice users voluntarily.

e-Invoices are issued to recipients registered in the e-Invoice system, and e-Archive Invoices to recipients who are not registered.

e-Invoices must be retained for 5 years under tax laws and 10 years under the Turkish Commercial Code. Companies that are e-Invoice taxpayers are responsible for archiving their own e-Invoices and presenting them when requested.

Invoices must be archived electronically so that the authenticity and validity of the electronic signature and financial seal can be verified.

After switching to the e-Invoice application, paper invoices issued to e-Invoice taxpayers are considered null and void. You may continue to issue paper invoices only to taxpayers who have not switched to the e-Invoice application.

e-Invoicing is mandatory in Turkey for companies that meet certain criteria. It is one of the most important regulations introduced in Turkey's digital transformation process.

The main benefits of e-Invoicing are:

• It eliminates paper, printing and shipping costs.
• It eliminates archiving costs.
• It simplifies invoicing workflows and saves labor.
• It ensures compliance with Turkish Revenue Administration regulations and eliminates penalty risks.
• Because it integrates with ERP systems, it minimizes the risk of errors in business processes.

An e-Invoice that you have sent and that has been processed successfully can be canceled only if the recipient rejects it. If the recipient has accepted the e-Invoice, or if a maximum of 7 days have passed since it was sent, the recipient must send a return e-Invoice.

Under the Tax Procedure Law, an e-Invoice can be sent up to 7 days after the date the goods were delivered or the service was performed. It is still possible to send e-Invoices dated more than 7 days earlier, but a special irregularity penalty applies.

The Value Added Tax Law contains the provision: "Those who will issue invoices for exports of goods and exports of goods carried by passengers (sales to non-residents of Turkey with VAT calculated) shall issue them as e-Invoices." The obligation to use e-Invoices in export transactions covers only taxpayers already included in the e-Invoice application. Exporting taxpayers who have not switched to the e-Invoice application may continue to use pre-printed paper invoices.

To become an e-Invoice taxpayer, the first thing you need to do is apply for a financial seal from the Public Certification Center (Kamu SM).

After obtaining your financial seal, you need to submit your electronic invoice application on the Turkish Revenue Administration (GİB) website.

The e-Invoice taxpayer logs in to the integrator e-Invoice system and views the information entered into Factorbooks as part of the accounting workflow. After the user selects the document to be invoiced, the system creates an e-Invoice or an e-Archive Invoice depending on whether the recipient is an e-Invoice taxpayer.

If the user chooses the direct integration method and meets its requirements, the user sends the signed e-Invoice to GİB. If the user chooses to run the e-Invoice process through a private integrator, the created e-Invoice is sent to the private integrator automatically. The private integrator is responsible for signing the e-Invoice and sending it to GİB; throughout the process, the user can check the status of e-Invoices in Factorbooks.

The e-Invoice solution lets you view archived e-Invoices in Factorbooks and filter the e-Invoices in your archive by day, week and month according to the criteria you choose.