What is an e-Invoice (e-Fatura)?

An invoice shows what a customer owes for goods sold or work done. In Turkey, the e-Invoice (e-Fatura) is the electronic form of that same document: it’s issued in the format set by the Turkish Revenue Administration (GİB), reaches the buyer through GİB’s e-Invoice system, and is stored and presented for inspection electronically.

Under Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 509, the e-Invoice isn’t a new type of document. It has the same legal standing as a paper invoice.

Who uses e-Invoice?

When both parties are registered with the e-Invoice system, invoices between them for goods and services must be sent and received as e-Invoices. If the buyer isn’t registered, the invoice is issued on paper, or as an e-Archive invoice if the seller uses the e-Archive system. That’s why sellers check whether the buyer is on GİB’s list of registered users before they invoice.

The communiqué requires taxpayers whose gross sales revenue exceeds a set amount, along with certain sectors, to switch to e-Invoice. The revenue threshold is set for each fiscal period in the communiqué and updated through amending communiqués, so check GİB’s e-Invoice page and rollout calendar for the current rules. Taxpayers who aren’t required to join can still opt in.

How e-Invoices are issued and delivered

The invoice is prepared in the invoice format GİB sets (UBL-TR). A document that doesn’t follow the format and standard GİB publishes, or isn’t sent through the e-Invoice system, doesn’t count as an e-Invoice under the communiqué.

Taxpayers can use the system in three ways: through GİB’s e-Document portal, through the system of a GİB-licensed e-invoicing integrator (özel entegratör), or by connecting their own IT system directly to GİB.

Every invoice number has 16 characters: a 3-character unit code, the 4-digit year, and a 9-digit sequence number that restarts at 1 on the first day of each year. A taxpayer can’t use the same number twice.

Acceptance, rejection, and objections

GİB’s guides describe the basic and commercial invoice scenarios separately. In the basic scenario, the process is complete once the invoice reaches the buyer, and any objection is made outside the system. In the commercial scenario, the buyer accepts or rejects the invoice with a response sent through the e-Invoice system.

Under Article 21(2) of the Turkish Commercial Code, a recipient who doesn’t object to an invoice’s contents within 8 days is deemed to have accepted them. Objections outside the system are made through a notary, registered mail, telegram, or registered electronic mail (KEP).

e-Invoices in IWB

If automatic sending on issue is turned on (the default setting), the e-document record is created the moment you issue a sales invoice, and it joins the send queue. When the invoice is sent, IWB asks your integrator whether the customer uses e-Invoice, and the document goes out as an e-Invoice or an e-Archive invoice accordingly.

Before anything goes out, IWB checks the document against GİB’s rules. By default, a document that fails the check is held without being assigned an invoice number. The number is assigned on the first send, and retries reuse it.

IWB prepares the document. The integrator you choose (EDM Bilişim, TürkKEP, Veriban, or BirFatura) applies the financial seal (mali mühür) and forwards the invoice to GİB. Once an e-Invoice has reached GİB, it can’t be canceled in the system; you correct it with a return invoice.

With EDM and Veriban, IWB checks the incoming e-Invoice inbox every hour. With other integrators, you import the incoming invoice file. For commercial-scenario invoices, your Accept or Reject response goes through the integrator, and the 8-day response window counts down on the invoice’s row.

If you enter a paper invoice by hand from a vendor who uses e-Invoice, IWB warns you as you save it but doesn’t block the entry.