The Turkish Ministry of Trade has increased the customs supervision value threshold for smartphone imports from 200 USD to 250 USD.

The new regulation, which was published in the Official Gazette on July 11, included a 30-day transition period and entered into force on August 10. The measure applies to smartphones classified under the customs tariff statistical position 8517.13.00.00.19.

According to the Ministry of Trade, the primary purposes of the customs supervision application are to prevent products from being declared below their real value to avoid tax loss and to protect domestic production.

Impact on Import Valuations

Under the new rules, if an importer cannot prove a device's unit price is below 250 USD using complete manufacturer documents, the customs administration automatically calculates the unit value at the 250 USD level.

25%

Increase in the reference value for smartphones due to the threshold change.

The increase in the threshold affects only commercial smartphone imports and is separate from the IMEI registration fee for phones brought by passengers. Smartphones with an import value already above 250 USD are not affected by this regulation and are not expected to see price increases resulting from this decision.

Retail Price Projections

For a device with an import value between 200 USD and 250 USD where the price cannot be documented, the 50 USD difference creates a tax base increase of approximately 2,400 TRY based on the tax-free price.

Estimates regarding the impact on retail prices vary. One estimate suggests the potential impact on a smartphone's retail price is approximately 5,000 TRY, which could see a phone previously sold at 10,000 TRY approach the 15,000 TRY limit.

S3 provides different projections, stating that for a 10,000 TRY phone, the price increase would be 48%, for a 15,000 TRY phone it would be 32%, and for a 20,000 TRY phone it would be 24%. S3 further claims a 10,000 TRY phone could rise to 14,895 TRY, while a 20,000 TRY phone could rise to 24,895 TRY.

The extent to which these increased costs are reflected in retail prices depends on the commercial strategies of importers, distributors, and retailers.