Communiqué Serial No. 46 and Other Amendments to the Value Added Tax General Implementation Communiqué
The Communique No. 46 published in the Official Gazette dated 01.04.2023, with number 32150, introduces amendments to the General Application Communique on Value Added Tax (VAT).
Some of these amendments were addressed in our previous Circulars (No. 48, 49, 50, and 51).
The other amendments in the Communique will be explained in this Circular.
1) The Minimum VAT Refundable Amount is 2,000 TL.
According to the Presidential Decree No. 6775, effective from 1st February 2023, taxpayers are entitled to request a VAT refund for transactions that result in the right to a refund, with the minimum refundable amount being set at 2,000 TL (as per our Circular No. 31.01.2023/26).
In this context, taxpayers will file refund claims for VAT from transactions that give rise to the refund right, even if the amount is less than 2,000 TL, including those for the relevant tax periods. However, refund claims below 2,000 TL will not be considered for the current period and will instead be evaluated together with claims from subsequent periods.
If a taxpayer has multiple refund claims originating from different transactions within the same tax period, the total refund claim amount for that period will be considered to determine whether it meets the minimum threshold of 2,000 TL. If the total refund amount exceeds 2,000 TL, the refund request for that period will be processed. If the total refund amount is below the minimum threshold, the refund request for that period will not be processed, and it will be evaluated together with refund claims from the subsequent periods. In this case, the total refund amount, including that of the subsequent period, must exceed the minimum threshold of 2,000 TL.
2) Exemption for the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final
With the amendment to the temporary 40th article of the VAT Law under Law No. 7431, a tax exemption was extended to the following entities in relation to the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final, similar to the application made for the 2019 UEFA Super Cup Final and UEFA Champions League Final:
- Union of European Football Associations (UEFA),
- Participating football clubs,
- Legal entities involved in the organization,
For these entities, transactions related to the supply of goods and services made in connection with these events will be exempt from VAT, as long as their workplace, legal, and business centers are not located in Turkey. This exemption applies to the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final, as outlined in the amendments made to the General Application Communique on VAT through Communique No. 46.
3) Certain Services Received by PTT A.Ş. Will Be Subject to VAT Withholding
At the end of Section (I/C-2.1.3.2.5.2.) of the General Application Communique on VAT, the following paragraph has been added:
“The services acquired by PTT A.Ş. for the execution of postal operations, including the collection, loading, sorting, dispatching, and processing of shipments, acceptance of shipments from addresses, packaging, measuring, weighing and recording processes, grouping and sorting of registered/unregistered shipments, loading and unloading of delivery vehicles, delivery and handover of shipments, collection of payment for cash on delivery shipments, payment of collected fees to the administration, and the write-off process for undelivered or delivered shipments in the distribution area or workplace, are subject to VAT withholding.”
As a result, the services mentioned above acquired by PTT A.Ş. for postal operations will be subject to VAT withholding.
You can access the relevant Communique here.
Sincerely,
BİLGENER
