Bookkeeping

Limited and joint-stock companies always keep balance-sheet basis books, regardless of volume. Sole proprietors may keep single-entry (business account) books as long as they stay below the purchase, sales or revenue thresholds in Article 177 of the Tax Procedure Law; these thresholds are updated every year by the revaluation rate. Self-employed professionals keep a self-employment ledger (Tax Procedure Law, Art. 210).

Under Article 231 of the Tax Procedure Law, an invoice must be issued within at most 7 days of the delivery of goods or the performance of a service. An invoice not issued within this period is deemed not to have been issued at all, which creates a risk of a special irregularity penalty.

Under Article 253 of the Tax Procedure Law, books and documents are kept for 5 years from the beginning of the calendar year following the year they relate to. Article 82 of the Turkish Commercial Code sets this period at 10 years for merchants, so commercial businesses should in practice keep records for 10 years.

An expense is deductible if it relates to the business, is incurred to earn and maintain income, and is supported by a proper document such as an invoice, a self-employment receipt or an expense voucher (Income Tax Law Art. 40, Corporate Tax Law Art. 8). Personal expenses and undocumented payments are not deductible.

You can switch accountants mid-year. The new advisor is authorised to file returns through the Revenue Administration system, the SGK e-Declaration authorisation is updated, and the books, filed returns, assessments and any e-Ledger certificates are collected from the previous advisor. We plan the switchover date together so that no open filing period is left unattended.