Marketplace withholding in e-commerce (1%): deduction, credit and refund
What is the 1% withholding marketplaces such as Trendyol, Hepsiburada and Amazon deduct from seller payouts, how is the base found, how is it credited in provisional and annual returns, and how is an excess refunded?
From 1 January 2025, electronic commerce intermediary service providers (marketplaces) deduct income or corporate tax withholding when transferring the price of sales they intermediate to the seller. The rate in 2026 is 1%. It is not a commission or a final tax; it is advance tax credited against the seller's annual tax.
Scope
| Withholding applies | No withholding |
|---|---|
| Transfer of the sale price intermediated by the marketplace to the seller | Sales on the seller's own site only through a virtual POS (as a rule) |
| Rewards and bonuses the marketplace pays the seller | Orders from the marketplace paid cash on delivery or by EFT-POS |
| Exempt small traders, simplified-method taxpayers and sellers under income exemptions |
Base
The base is the sale price excluding VAT. Commission, shipping, service fees and bank charges do not reduce it.
Example: monthly sales TRY 500,000, returns TRY 20,000 → base TRY 480,000 → withholding TRY 4,800. Commission and shipping do not change it.
For returns after the withholding is declared, the platform does not reverse it; the seller recovers the excess by credit or refund.
Bookkeeping
The withholding is not an expense; it is tracked in the "prepaid taxes" account. The net payout from the marketplace is not revenue: revenue is gross sales, commission and shipping are separate expenses, and withholding is a tax receivable. Monthly reconciliation with payout reports is essential.
Credit
- Withholdings are credited in the provisional tax period in which the related profit is declared; any unused part carries to the next provisional period of the same year. Provisional tax
- In the annual return, total withholdings for the year, the amount used in provisional tax and the balance are compared. The same withholding is not credited twice.
Refund
The part not credited after the annual return is claimed with a 1A refund request through the Digital Tax Office:
| Request | Rule (2026) |
|---|---|
| Offset against own tax debts | No audit report or guarantee |
| Cash refund | Up to TRY 426,000 no report or guarantee if documents are complete; above that, a sworn accountant full certification report or tax audit report |
The file should contain monthly bases and withholdings per marketplace, sales and return invoices, payout reports and bank movements.
Common mistakes
- Expensing the withholding like a commission.
- Checking the withholding after deducting commission from the base.
- Treating the net payout as revenue.
- Crediting a withholding used in provisional tax again in the annual return.
- Combining VAT refunds and withholding refunds in the same file.
For e-commerce accounting and marketplace reconciliation: Books and e-Ledger · Withholding tax vs VAT withholding
Sources: Income Tax Law No. 193 art. 94; Corporate Tax Law No. 5520 arts. 15 and 30 (Law No. 7524); Presidential Decision No. 9284; Income Tax General Communiqués Nos. 330, 315 and 252; Revenue Administration 2026 cash refund thresholds.