General
The Ministry of Treasury and Finance issued a communiqué on 4 September 2018 (numbered 2018-32/48) that restricts how Turkish entities may treat the considerations they receive for export activities.
The communiqué requires that entities domiciled in the Republic of Turkey transfer/deposit any such consideration to/in the bank acting as the intermediary for the export activity as soon as possible and, in any case, within 180 days of the export taking place.
The communiqué further requires entities to "sell" 80% of the amount received to a Turkish bank—i.e. to convert it into Turkish Liras.
Methods
The considerations in question may be brought into the Republic of Turkey through the following payment methods:
- payments based on letters of credit;
- payments against documents;
- payments against goods/cash on delivery;
- payments based on a letter of credit with acceptance credits;
- payments against documents with acceptance credits;
- payments against goods/cash on delivery with acceptance credits; and
- advance payments.
Monitoring and Responsibility
The relevant exporter will be responsible for bringing in the relevant consideration, its sale to a bank and the timely closure of the export account.
Intermediary banks will be responsible for monitoring the bringing in and sale of the relevant considerations.
Special requirements
The communiqué also stipulates the principles to be followed for specific export activities (e.g. exports made by contractors, exports relating to exhibitions, etc.) and force majeure events affecting the requirements set out above. Please do not hesitate to contact us to receive further details on the communiqué and/or to ask any specific questions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.