Paying a Tax Debt With a Receivable You Cannot Collect: Law No. 6183, Arts. 62 and 79

If a customer owes you money that is already due and collectible, Turkey’s Law on Collection Procedures for Public Receivables (Law No. 6183) lets you point the tax office at that receivable instead of paying the tax debt from your own cash. It is not a self-service offset: the tax office garnishes the receivable and collects the payment directly from your debtor.

What the Law Actually Says

Article 62 allows the collection office to garnish enough of the debtor’s movable and immovable property, receivables and rights to cover the public debt, whether those assets sit with the debtor or with third parties. Its fourth paragraph is the relevant hook. Once the tax office has garnished real estate, and before it goes to auction, the debtor can name movable assets or a due and sound receivable, and that receivable is garnished too.

Article 79 explains how a receivable is garnished. The tax office serves a garnishment notice on the person who owes the money. The notice tells them three things: from now on they can pay only the tax office, a payment made to the original creditor is invalid, and if they pay anyway they must pay the same amount again to the tax office.

The Process Step by Step

Step	What happens	Basis
1. Documents	You assemble the invoice, contract, account statement and due date proving the receivable	Art. 62(4)
2. Petition	You notify the tax office in writing: who owes you, and how much	Art. 62(4)
3. Garnishment notice	The tax office serves the notice on your customer, by post or electronically	Art. 79
4. Payment	Your customer pays the tax office; the amount reduces your tax debt	Art. 79

One nuance the simple four-step summaries skip: your petition is a declaration of an asset, not a binding offset request. The tax office decides which receivable to garnish and whether it is sound.

Example: TRY 1,000,000 Debt, TRY 600,000 Receivable

When the receivable is smaller than the debt, it is garnished in full and the remainder stays open. With a TRY 1,000,000 tax debt and a TRY 600,000 receivable, the notice covers TRY 600,000. Once your customer pays that sum to the tax office, TRY 400,000 remains. Late-payment interest keeps running on it and the tax office can pursue your other assets. If the receivable were TRY 1,500,000, garnishment would stop at the amount needed to cover the debt (Art. 62(1)), and your customer would owe you the surplus.

The Debtor’s Objection and Practical Risks

A customer who receives the notice and claims they owe nothing, or already paid before the notice, must tell the tax office in writing within 7 days (Art. 79). If they miss the deadline, the debt is treated as sitting on their books. They can still file a negative declaratory action within one year, but then they must prove they owed nothing, and a losing party pays a 10% compensation on the lost amount.

If the objection is filed on time, the burden moves to the tax authority, which must prove the opposite in a general court within one year. In practice, these points decide the outcome:

• The receivable must be due and undisputed. A contested invoice or a delivery dispute will not give you a quick settlement.
• Precautionary attachment is a different tool. Art. 13 of Law 6183 lets the tax authority place a precautionary attachment on your assets, for example where there is a risk of assets being moved, to secure its own claim. It does not credit your receivable against the debt.
• Paper trail matters. If invoices, delivery notes, contracts and the account statement do not match, your customer will object and the process drags on.
• Payment goes only to the tax office. If your customer pays you after the notice, the tax office does not recognize that payment.

Accounting and VAT

Collecting the receivable this way is not a new sale, so no VAT arises; the original invoice was already issued and its VAT reported. For your books, your customer’s payment to the tax office means two things at once: the receivable is collected and the same amount of tax debt is closed. Under the Turkish Uniform Chart of Accounts, this usually means debiting account 360 (taxes and funds payable) and crediting account 120 (trade receivables). Your customer debits 320 (trade payables) and credits their bank account. The tax office’s collection receipt and the garnishment notice are the supporting documents. Late-payment interest is booked separately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to petition the tax office about my receivable?

No. Article 62(4) gives you the right but no obligation. The tax office can find and garnish your receivable through its own asset search, but your petition lets you steer the process and point to a sound receivable.

What if the receivable is not yet due?

Article 62(4) speaks of a due and sound receivable. For a receivable that is not yet due, garnishment or precautionary attachment has to be assessed separately, so confirm with the tax office before you plan around it.

If my customer says they do not owe me, does the process end?

No. If your customer objects in writing within 7 days, the tax authority has one year to prove the opposite in court. Your tax debt stays open until payment is actually made.

What happens to the rest of my tax debt if only part is covered?

Garnishment closes the debt only up to the receivable’s amount. Late-payment interest runs on the remainder and collection can continue against your other assets.

Before You Put a Receivable Toward Your Tax Debt

We review your account statements and tax debt breakdown to identify which receivable qualifies, prepare the petition and supporting documents, and book the offset entries once the collection is made. If you want to look at your debt structure first, start with our tax advisory service and our bookkeeping service. You may also find our article on the tax audit invitation to explain useful when dealing with tax office correspondence.