Turkey Introduces New Digital Services Tax

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

03 March 2020

On March 1, 2020, Turkey's recently approved tax on certain digital services went into effect.

Included in Law No. 7194, enacted by the Turkish parliament on December 5, 2019, the DST applies at a rate of 7.5 percent to revenues from the supply of certain digital services to consumers in Turkey. The tax applies to companies with global revenues of at least EUR750m (USD827m) and domestic source revenues of at least TRY20m (USD3.2m) from taxable services.

According to a draft communique published by the tax authority last month, digital services falling within the scope of the DST are any kind of advertisement services offered in the digital environment. This includes ad control and services such as performance measurement, user data transmission and management as well as technical services related to the presentation of an advertisement.

Furthermore, taxable services include any audio, visual, or digital content (computer programs, applications, music, video, games, in-game apps, etc.), and content to be listened to, watched, or played digitally.

Additionally, revenues from digital platforms where users can interact with each other are included in the tax. This includes business services, such as the selling of goods and services between users, as well as services provided to facilitate the sale.

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