Exporter VAT-refund guide, declarations, country breakdown, calendar
How the full-exemption (export) VAT refund actually works in Turkey: input VAT, sworn financial adviser report, set-off vs cash refund, declaration calendar and common pitfalls.
What is VAT refund and why does it matter?
In Turkey, exports fall under "full exemption", no VAT is added to the export invoice, but the input VAT paid on producing/acquiring the exported goods is refundable. This is the single most important tax mechanism that preserves exporter margin. For a team doing several million TL of exports per year, this means 100,000-300,000 TL/month; not collected regularly = serious cash-flow leak.
Two paths: set-off vs cash refund
Set-off: Apply the refund against other tax liabilities (VAT, income/corp tax, social security, KKDF). Below the threshold, no SFA report required; fast.
Cash refund: Money lands in your account. Above the threshold (roughly 1M TL for goods export as of 2026), an SFA report is mandatory. Longer.
Practical approach: start with monthly set-off, let it cancel liabilities automatically. Once 3-6 months of un-offset amount accumulates, file for a single cash refund.
What VAT can be refunded?, Input VAT logic
Two categories:
- Directly incurred: VAT you paid on producing/buying the exported product (raw materials, packaging, freight, logistics, doc fees).
- Share of general/admin costs: A portion of overhead (rent, utilities, staff) proportional to export sales over total revenue.
Note: directly incurred always takes priority. The general-cost share is only used as a top-up if it doesn\'t exceed the total refund right from directly incurred.
The full document chain
Missing items trigger correction requests and stretch the timeline. Standard list:
- Customs Export Declaration (CED), closed
- Input VAT list (Excel or system export)
- Commercial invoice
- Bank receipt (FX inbound to your account)
- Deductible VAT list
- SFA report (mandatory for cash refund)
- Refund request petition (via the KDVIRA system)
Declaration period calendar
Export VAT refund runs on a monthly cycle. Typical flow:
- By month-end: collect export invoices + CEDs + bank receipts.
- By the 26th of next month: file VAT declaration. The refund right is stated in this filing.
- Refund petition: submitted with or alongside the declaration.
- Set-off: processed within 1-2 months.
- Cash refund: SFA report completes the file; process takes 3-6 months.
5 common mistakes
- Filing while the CED is still open. The CED must be closed within the declaration month.
- Wrong HS code lingering on the CED. A wrong code can change refund amount; verify before filing.
- Skipping the "non-resident" requirement for service export. The service must be consumed abroad and the customer must be non-resident, both.
- Incomplete input VAT list. Missing general-cost share, or using a wrong ratio, is the most common gap.
- Forgetting the bank receipt. For goods export, FX must have arrived in Turkey; without it, no refund right.
How Sighthem helps
The Sighthem VAT-refund page automates:
- Aggregates export invoices by month/year
- Country breakdown (which market, how much) chart
- 12-month trend chart, annualized view
- Per-declaration period total in one glance
- Product / Incoterm / customer drill-down
- Excel/CSV export, ready-to-hand-off format for your SFA
Filing itself stays with your accountant, Sighthem ensures the operations side has disciplined, complete, panic-free data ready at month-end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does VAT refund apply to every exporter?
Yes for transactions under the full-exemption regime. This covers goods export, service export (to a non-resident, consumed abroad), free-zone sales, and international transport.
Set-off or cash refund?
Set-off offsets tax debt; cash refund hits your account. Set-off below the threshold can be done without an SFA report; cash refund needs one (roughly above 1M TL for goods export as of 2026). Most exporters use set-off first and request cash for the remainder.
How much does the SFA report cost?
Typically 0.5-1% of the refund amount. Frequent claimers sign annual packages with their SFA, cheaper than one-off reports.
How long until the refund comes?
Set-off: 1-2 months; cash refund: 3-6 months. Complete SFA report and documents shorten this; missing items trigger correction requests from the tax office.
Does Sighthem calculate the refund?
Sighthem auto-aggregates export amounts and shows 12-month trend + country breakdown, a pre-declaration page. The actual filing is not done in Sighthem; the figures are handed off to your accountant / SFA.