MASAK Suspended Transaction Reporting, Bogus Invoices, KURGAN and Audits, Complementary Pension System

MASAK - Suspended Transaction Reporting (STR)

MASAK has published a new guide for Certified Public Accountants.

According to this guide, if Certified Public Accountants encounter any suspicious or potentially suspicious situations during their clients' invoicing and payment processes, they are required to report this situation to MASAK within a maximum of 10 days.

If the Certified Public Accountant fails to comply with the reporting obligation, administrative fines ranging from 50,000 TRY to 40,000,000 TRY, as well as imprisonment from 1 to 3 years and judicial fines up to 5,000 days, may be imposed.

Some of the suspicious transactions exemplified in the guide are as follows:

T-018-1.4 Lack of a reasonable proportion between the client's business/profession, financial status, and transactions.

T-018-1.5 The existence of a commercial or other relationship between the client and risky individuals or entities.

T-018-2.12 The absence of a logical commercial connection between the parties involved in the transaction and the inability to explain this connection with the nature of the transaction.

T-018-2.22 The client making a high amount of cash payment and financing the remaining amount from another source (e.g., a foreign bank).

T-018-2.49 The client changing their accountant every year.

T-018-2.50 The client wanting to account for their income/expenses with bogus or misleading documents.

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Imprisonment for the use of bogus invoices - KURGAN

Bogus invoices are invoices that are unrelated to the company's field of activity, or even if related, show the amount as much lower or higher than it should be, and are misleading in terms of content.

In tax audit reports, anyone using such invoices will automatically be deemed to have used them knowingly, and the situation may result in 3 to 8 years of imprisonment.

The Revenue Administration will launch the KURGAN (Establishment Supervised Analysis System) risk analysis system as of October 1, and will combat unregistered transactions in accounting, bogus documents, and tax evasion more effectively.

Precautions that can be taken:

- Being meticulous in supplier selection.

- Inquiring about the tax identification numbers and fields of activity of the companies to be worked with.

- Concluding written contracts for purchases of goods/services, documenting these purchases with warehousing, sales, inventory, bank transactions, and transport waybills.

- Performing barcode/QR code checks of e-Invoices and e-Archive invoices.

- Avoiding suspicious practices such as not issuing invoices or not requesting invoices in order to reduce taxes.

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MASAK - Draft Communiqué on Money Transfers

Pursuant to the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Financial Crimes Investigation Board of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance has prepared a draft MASAK General Communiqué (Serial No: 30) in order to increase the traceability and explanation of electronic transfers/remittances and cash transactions within the scope of combating the laundering of crime revenues and the financing of terrorism, and according to this draft communiqué;

- A 20-character explanation will be written for cash transactions between 200 thousand TRY and 2 million TRY

- A "Cash Transaction Declaration Form" will be obtained for cash transactions between 2 million TRY and 20 million TRY

- Additional information/documents regarding the source of the fund will be obtained for cash transactions exceeding 20 million TRY

- Making commercial collections with personal IBANs will be considered suspicious

- Businesses making collections without POS devices will be monitored

- Obligors will not carry out the transaction if they cannot obtain the necessary explanation, information, and documents from the client

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Complementary Pension System (CPS)

A system in which all employees will be included and both the employee, the employer, and the state will contribute

- Announced in the Medium-Term Program (MTP), which presents the three-year roadmap for the 2026-2028 period

- Participation is mandatory for all employees (without age limits), no right of withdrawal, at least 10 years

- There will be a 3% deduction from the employee's salary, the employer will contribute 3%, and the state will contribute 0.9%

- The accumulated amount will be appreciated in funds and cannot be withdrawn until retirement

- Severance pay will be a hybrid system

- Some of the amounts accumulated in the CPS can be paid under certain circumstances (layoff, buying a house for the first time, etc.)

- It will come into effect in the 2nd quarter of 2026

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Update in ETDS

Company resolution books (General Assembly, Board of Directors) and share ledger books can now be kept electronically.

While this application is mandatory for banks, insurance, independent audit, etc. companies, it is optional for other companies.

With the new regulation, the obligation to keep the Board of Directors Resolution Book electronically has been removed for companies that will transition to ETDS mandatorily.

In other words, the Board of Directors Resolution Book can also be kept on paper as before.

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30% additional customs duty on imported automobiles

Additional tax will be applied to passenger car imports from countries outside the scope of the European Union and the Free Trade Agreement

- Gasoline/diesel: 25% additional tax

- Plug-in hybrid: 30% additional tax

- Fully electric: 30% additional tax

With the new regulation, the 60% additional tax applied to automobiles imported from the USA has been abolished.

The regulation will enter into force on November 21

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Penalty for issuing invoices late

Invoices must be issued within a maximum of 7 days following the delivery of service/goods

Otherwise, the following special irregularity penalties are applied

- If issued late for the 1st time: 14 thousand TRY

- If issued late for the 2nd time: 28 thousand TRY

- If issued late for the 3rd time: 43 thousand TRY

- 4th time and thereafter: 57 thousand TRY

- Annual upper limit: 14 thousand TRY

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Briefly

- All bank transactions have been integrated into the Revenue Administration system; when amounts arriving in accounts are considered commercial income, un-invoiced transactions may result in tax audits and penalties

- With the inventory guide communiqué draft, details such as piece, quantity, description, product ID, and exchange rate information will become mandatory for all balance sheet items

- Those with tax and penalty debts of 5 million TRY to the state will be announced in June and December of each year; those who enter restructuring will not be on the list

- Businesses holding a Industrial Registry Document are required to transition to UETS (National Electronic Notification System) by October 1

- In projects larger than 25,000 m2, if there are more than 250 independent sections, a "Healthcare Center" is mandatory, and if there is a 15,000 m2 construction area and 150 independent sections, a "daycare/nursery" is mandatory

- With the regulation effective as of 2026, in metropolitan municipalities and districts with a population of 30 thousand; many professional groups such as taxi drivers, minibus drivers, mechanics, restaurateurs, and jewelers will now be taxed under the actual taxation method instead of the simple procedure.

- The FX-Protected Deposit (KKM) account application has been terminated. New KKM accounts can no longer be opened

- With the new promissory note system, digital notes will be adopted, and manually filled promissory notes will be abolished

- Consumers' right of withdrawal without giving any reason has been increased to 30 days

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