Recent Amendments to the Regulation on Duty Free Shops
The Regulation on the Amendment to the Regulation (Regulation) on Duty-Free Sales Stores (Amending Regulation) has entered into force through publication in the Official Gazette dated 20.04.2023 and numbered 32169. The key amendments introduced under the Amending Regulation are summarized as follows:
- The conditions for applying for permission to open stores and warehouses for limited and joint stock companies have been amended. Accordingly;
- (i) The minimum required period of operation was reduced to 2 years, (ii) The minimum capital requirement was increased to TRY 5.000.000 for the sum of paid-in capital and reserves, and (iii) the minimum simple average of the corporate tax accrued in the last five years was increased to TRY 300,000. For companies with a total paid-in capital and reserves of 50.000.000 TL, 2 years of operation and corporate tax requirements are not required. The capital requirement is required for applications to be made as of the effective date of the Amending Regulation (20.04.2023).
- The term finalized in the conditions of not having finalized tax and penalty debts in accordance with customs legislation and not having finalized tax debts in accordance with tax legislation has been replaced with the term overdue.
- The documents required for the preliminary authorization application and the process regarding the evaluation of the application have been detailed and certain amendments have been made. Detailed provisions have been introduced regarding the report on the preliminary permit application, which is required to be issued by customs offices.
- Requests for change of type from store to warehouse or from warehouse to store shall be considered as a request to open a new store or warehouse.
- The key amendments regarding the goods which can be sold in stores are as follows;
- The distinction between goods of Turkish and foreign origin has been abolished. Accordingly, any goods not in free circulation may be sold in stores. In order to sell goods in free circulation, a permission is required.
- The requirement for goods to be purchased from the stores to be purchased after passport procedures are completed and before undergoing customs inspection upon entry has been abolished for land customs gates where the “One Stop” application is in operation.
- The key amendments regarding the sale of goods are as follows;
- For credit card payments in the sale of goods to passengers, the requirement that the credit card must belong to the passenger or another accompanying passenger has been abolished.
- For the sale of goods to ships, it must be approved by the customs administration that the Turkish flagged ships transiting through the Turkish Straits are on a voyage abroad or are considered to be on a voyage abroad.
- A condition has been introduced for companies to obtain electronic approval from the customs office for the exit of goods from one store to another store or warehouse under the supervision of the same customs office for the shipment of goods from one store to another store or warehouse.
- The requirement to submit approved plans or sketches and store photographs as documents in the requests for transfer of duty-free stores and warehouses has been abolished. If the transferee company is a newly established company and at least one of its founding partners has been in operation for at least 2 years, the duration of operation and corporate tax requirements are not required.
- The lump sum security amounts per store and warehouse have been increased. Security amounts must be completed within 90 days as of 20.04.2023.
- Pursuant to the Amending Regulation, the determination that the duty-free store or warehouse is used outside its field of activity has been added to the cases where temporary suspension of activity sanctions may be imposed.
- In conclusion, an additional paragraph introduced to the Regulation regulates the principles regarding the requests for the closure of stores and warehouses by the operator and the finalization of such requests.
You may access the full Turkish text of the Regulations below.
The Regulation on the Amendment to the Regulation on Duty-Free Sales Stores
All rights of this article are reserved. This article may not be used, reproduced, copied, published, distributed, or otherwise disseminated without quotation or Erdem & Erdem Law Firm's written consent. Any content created without citing the resource or Erdem & Erdem Law Firm’s written consent is regularly tracked, and legal action will be taken in case of violation.
Other Contents
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States (US) has included some Turkish companies and an individual in the specially designated nationals and blocked persons list (SDN List) to limit Russia’s ability to acquire, develop and maintain the technology it needs for its war machines. The OFAC’s...
The Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Sale and Service of Tobacco Products and Alcoholic Beverages (Regulation) is published in the Official Gazette dated 20.09.2023 and numbered 32315. The amendments introduced by the Regulation are summarized...
The Constitutional Court’s decision dated 22.06.2023 and numbered 2023/117 E., 2023/121 K. (Decision) has been published in the Official Gazette dated 15.09.2023 and numbered 32310. The Constitutional Court decided to annul a part of paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Law on the Acquisition of Immovable...
The Communiqué on Procurements to be Made by Direct Procurement Method (Communiqué) is published in the Official Gazette dated 11.07.2023 and numbered 32245. The Communiqué will enter into force on 01.02.2024. Main issues set forth under the Communiqué are...
The Regulation Amending the Regulation on Second Hand Motor Vehicle Trade (Regulation) is published in the Official Gazette dated 06.07.2023 and numbered 32240. The Regulation will enter into force on 15.07.2023. Significant amendments introduced by the Regulation are...
The Constitutional Court’s decision dated 22.02.2023 and numbered 2022/155 E. 2023/38 K. (Decision) is published in the Official Gazette dated 28.04.2023 and numbered 32174. With the decision, Article 187 of the Turkish Civil Code regarding the surname of women is cancelled...
The German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (Law) entered into force on January 1, 2023. The Law imposes significant obligations on German companies in relation to environmental law and human rights, covering their supply chains...
The Resolution of the President (Resolution) numbered 6807 on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Tenders to be Conducted by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance within the Scope of Subparagraph (b) of Article 3 of the Public Procurement Law No. 4734 entered into force following its publication...
The Regulation on Administrative Sanctions of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (Regulation) has entered into force through its publication in the Official Gazette dated 24 January 2023 and numbered 32083. Significant provisions introduced by the Regulation are summarized...
The Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Technical Requirements for Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverage Facilities, Procedures and Principles Regarding their Establishment, Operation and Supervision and the Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Domestic...
The Communiqué on Environmental Impact Assessment Qualification Certificate (Communiqué) entered into force following its publication in the Official Gazette dated 31.12.2022 and numbered 32060. With the Communiqué, the Communiqué on Environmental Impact Assessment Qualification Certificate published in...
The European Council (Council) adopted the 9th Sanction Package (Sanction Package) to be applied against Russian Federation on 16.12.2022. The most notable sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) against the Russian Federation under the Sanctions Package are summarized...
The Law Amending the Law on the Regulation of Tobacco, Tobacco Products and Alcohol Market and Certain Laws (Law) entered into force following its publication in the Official Gazette dated 10.12.2022 and numbered 32039. Significant amendments introduced by the Law are...
The Law on the Amendment to the Press Law and Certain Laws (Law) is published in the Official Gazette dated 18.10.2022 and numbered 31987. The Law amended a number of laws, most notably Press Law numbered 5187 (Press Law), Law on the Regulation of Internet Publications and Combating...
The Presidential Circular numbered 2022/15 on Investment Program Preparations for the 2023-2025 Period is published in the Official Gazette dated 14.09.2022 and numbered 31953 (bis)...
The Regulation (Amending Regulation) Amending the Regulation on Control of Medical Waste (Regulation) has entered into force through publication in the Official Gazette...
The Constitutional Court Decision dated 20.07.2022 and numbered 2022/22 E. 2022/92 K. has been published in the Official Gazette dated 02.08.2022 and numbered 31911...
The Regulation on Environmental Impact Assessment entered into force through publication in the Official Gazette dated 29.07.2022 and numbered 31907...
The Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Allocation of Public Immovables for Tourism Investments (the “Amendment”) has entered into force through publication in the Official Gazette dated 14 May 2022 and numbered 31835...
Following Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, many countries, especially the European Union member states, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Canada, agreed on imposing heavy economic sanctions against Russia...
German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltsgesetz) (“Act”) was approved on 11 June 2021 by the German Federal Parliament.
Advertisements on Twitter, Pinterest and Periscope/Scope has been banned in Turkey
Amendment to the Regulation on Measures Regarding Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism
United States of America decided to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation