Short answer: e-invoicing in Turkey is mandatory based on two criteria — gross sales revenue and sector. Recent circulars set the general threshold at 3 million TRY in gross sales; businesses selling online fall in scope at a much lower threshold, and some sectors are covered regardless of revenue. A company that passes the threshold must switch by the start of the seventh month of the following year: if 2025 revenue exceeded the threshold, the deadline is 1 July 2026. The system is run by the Turkish Revenue Administration (GİB) using the UBL-TR format, and scope is defined by Turkish tax registration — a foreign company with a Turkish subsidiary or branch is in scope, while a seller with no Turkish tax registration is not. Thresholds are revised by circular, so confirm current figures with your accountant.
e-Fatura, e-Arşiv and e-İrsaliye: which document is which?
Three documents are commonly confused. An e-Fatura is issued when the buyer is also registered in the system; it travels over a closed network run by the Revenue Administration. If the buyer is not registered — a consumer, or a business outside the e-invoice system — the same sale is issued as an e-Arşiv invoice instead. An e-İrsaliye is the electronic dispatch note, documenting the shipment rather than the sale. In practice the rule is simple: a company required to adopt e-Fatura must adopt e-Arşiv as well, and its software has to check the buyer’s registry status before every invoice to pick the right document type. There is one more document-level rule: invoices above a certain amount must be issued as e-Arşiv through the government portal even by businesses not registered in any e-document application — and that amount is updated every year.
Who must issue e-invoices in Turkey?
The Tax Procedure Law circulars define scope in four main groups. Since the figures change by circular, read the list below as a map of the scope and verify current amounts:
- General revenue threshold: every taxpayer whose gross sales exceed the threshold, regardless of sector. In recent years this has been 3 million TRY.
- Online sellers: companies selling through their own e-commerce site or through marketplaces face a much lower threshold. Even a small online operation enters the scope through this door.
- In scope regardless of revenue: companies licensed by the energy regulator (including fuel), manufacturers and importers of certain excise goods, fruit and vegetable brokers, intermediary service providers such as marketplaces, and online advertising intermediaries.
- Real estate and motor vehicle trade: businesses trading or constructing in these areas have their own thresholds, lower than the general one.
If a company in scope keeps issuing paper invoices, those invoices can be treated as never issued at all, and each document carries the risk of a special irregularity fine. Being late on e-invoicing is not a formatting problem — it is a direct tax penalty risk.
Deadlines: when do you have to switch?
The revenue test is applied after the accounting period closes, and the deadline falls at the start of the seventh month of the following year. A company whose 2025 gross sales exceeded the threshold must be issuing e-invoices by 1 July 2026. For businesses starting up in the always-in-scope sectors, the circular defines a separate deadline tied to the start date, usually within a few months. Voluntary adoption is always possible — for businesses whose customers are mostly already in the system, it cuts accounting workload well beyond the savings on paper and postage.
How to comply: three connection methods
The switch itself happens through one of three routes: the Revenue Administration’s free portal (low volume, manual use), a subscription with a licensed private integrator (the most common route; it gives your software an API), or direct integration approved by the administration (only sensible at very high volume). We covered which route fits which situation, the real cost items and the technical flow in our e-invoice integration guide. The timeline is usually set by the financial seal application and the integrator account setup rather than the development itself; if invoices also need to reach your accounting software or ERP, plan the accounting software integration as part of the same project.
Foreign companies and export invoices
Scope is defined by tax registration in Turkey. Companies and branches established in Turkey — foreign-owned or not — are subject to the same threshold and sector rules. A foreign seller with no Turkish tax registration has no obligation to issue invoices through the Turkish system; the rules apply from the moment you enter the market by establishing an entity or branch. The mirror case is exports: exporters registered for e-Fatura must issue their goods-export invoices as e-invoices integrated with the customs system, so an exporter’s e-invoicing setup has to be designed together with the customs declaration flow.
Conclusion
The critical question is rarely “am I in scope?” but “when will I be?” — the low e-commerce threshold and the sector rules pull every growing business into the system sooner or later. Do not leave it to the last day: the financial seal and the integrator account can take weeks, and the queue gets longer before the July deadline. This article is not tax advice; confirm your thresholds and dates with your accountant. If you want invoices issued automatically from inside your own software, take a look at our corporate solutions service or request a quote and we will review your current setup together.