Hello,

When we ask what Trade means in the literal sense, the definition we encounter is “the sum of the various processes that a particular good or product goes through on its way from the producer to the consumer.” In today’s world, we no longer speak only of the trade of goods, but also of the trade of services. Accordingly, we first come across two terms: sales of goods and services within the country are called Domestic Trade, while sales of goods and services abroad are called Foreign Trade. Since our topic is Export Proceeds and Their Application, let us also define the two separate concepts within Foreign Trade so that we can examine the subject in depth. Sales made abroad are called Exports, while purchases made from abroad are called Imports. Exports involve certain details of their own. The most important element here is the Delivery Terms. You can access the abbreviations of these delivery terms via this link.

The Ministry of Customs and Trade of the Republic of Türkiye requires export proceeds to be brought into our country within 180 days. Therefore, regardless of the amount, the proceeds of exported goods or services must be brought into the country through the banking system within 180 days. The only exception is that certain countries are granted an exemption. The main reasons for this are that the banking systems of the countries on the exemption list are not sufficiently developed, financial crises and disruptions experienced in those countries, political reasons, embargoes, and so on. You can click here to access this list. For these reasons, the proceeds of goods exports made to countries other than those granted an exemption must be received in the correspondent bank account specified in the Customs Declaration, whether before or after the export is completed. Under the Export Circular, as of March 3, 2025, 25% of this incoming payment must be sold at the exchange rate determined by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye. Before this sale, we ask the correspondent bank officer to issue an İBKB (Export Proceeds Acceptance Certificate) and we confirm the sale — that is, the conversion into Turkish Lira — of the amount corresponding to 25% of the export proceeds stated in the Customs Declaration. The remaining amount is at the taxpayer’s free disposal.

So, is there a lower or upper limit here? The answer is yes: again, according to the relevant Export Circular, we should note that amounts of 15,000 US Dollars (USD) and above are subject to the mandatory 25% sale, whereas the sale of export proceeds below this amount is not mandatory.

Another question is, “is the situation the same for service export proceeds?” Here, we must say no, it is not. The most important criterion here is the Customs Declaration required for the İBKB. Since service exports do not involve a customs procedure, the export proceeds must still be received under all circumstances and regardless of the amount, but there is no obligation to convert them, that is, to sell them to the TCMB (Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye).

Example 1: You made an export of USD 11,500 on February 2, 2025. Payment of this amount must be received in the bank account specified in the Customs Declaration no later than August 1, 2025. However, there is no obligation to sell 25% of it.

Example 2: You made an export of USD 50,000 on January 15, 2025, and let us assume the export proceeds arrived before that date and are currently sitting in your bank account. Once the export takes place and the declaration is closed — that is, when the Customs Declaration is issued — you will contact the customer representative for the bank account you specified in the Customs Declaration, the mandatory sale of 25% of the foreign currency, i.e., USD 12,500, will be carried out, and the İBKB will be issued.

Example 3: On February 10, 2025, within the scope of service exports, you invoiced USD 250,000 abroad as a software fee, and let us say you collected it in several installments or in advance. In this case, you are not required to convert any specific portion.

Hoping you find this useful,

UPDATE (Mandatory Conversion Rates):

• 40% between January 1, 2024 and June 10, 2024,
• 30% between June 10, 2024 and March 3, 2025,
• 25% between March 3, 2025 and May 5, 2025,
• updated to 35% between May 5, 2025 and October 31, 2025.