Türkiye has revised its customs framework for goods arriving by mail or express cargo, removing the long-cited 30-euro threshold from key provisions and setting new flat-tax rules for certain health-related shipments.
The changes were introduced through a presidential decision signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Jan. 6 and published in the Official Gazette on Jan. 7. The new rules will take effect 30 days after publication and will be implemented by the Trade Ministry.
Under the amended rules, a single, fixed-rate tax will apply to non-commercial shipments of medicines and dietary supplements sent to individuals via post or courier, provided they are backed by a health institution report or a doctor’s prescription.
The provision covers items valued up to 1,500 euros, with the tax rate set at 30 percent for goods arriving directly from EU countries and 60 percent for goods coming from other countries.
If the product is listed under List IV of Türkiye’s Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV) law, an additional 20 percent tax will be applied on top of those rates.
The decision also deletes the phrase “exceeding 30 euros but…” from the related article of the regulation, a change that effectively removes the 30-euro cutoff previously referenced in customs procedures for mail and express-cargo shipments.
The 30-euro threshold had been at the center of recent debates over low-value overseas purchases shipped into Türkiye after it was introduced in earlier rule changes.
