Turkey's E-Export Incentives (2026): What's Covered, How to Claim

Turkey subsidizes cross-border e-commerce with a generosity that surprises most foreign operators — and an application rate among sellers that is surprisingly low. The reason is simple: the regulation (Presidential Decision 5986 on E-Export Supports) is written in dense legalese. This guide maps it in plain language, from the seller's seat.

Two honest notes up front: rates and caps are updated at the start of each calendar year (indexed to inflation) — always verify current figures on the Ministry of Trade's e-export supports page. And we don't sell incentive consulting; this guide exists so sellers stop leaving money on the table.

Who qualifies?

The decision covers companies (manufacturers/sellers), retail e-commerce sites, marketplaces, B2B platforms and e-export consortiums separately. This guide takes the company window — brands selling on foreign marketplaces or their own store from a Turkish entity. Practical prerequisites:

• A company established in Turkey
• Exporters' association membership
• Registration on the DYS support-management platform

The main support items for companies

• Digital marketplace promotion: up to 50% of your marketplace ad spend (Sponsored Products and similar) supported for 3 years. The workhorse item — ads are money you'd spend anyway; getting half back changes your unit economics.
• Order fulfillment: up to 50% of FBA-style fulfillment service costs.
• Overseas warehouse rent: up to 50% — significant for sellers using a US 3PL/buffer warehouse.
• Online store and target-country stakeholder services: support for e-commerce services purchased in the target market.
• Marketplace commission support: careful — this item applies only to specific target countries (such as Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Egypt), not to Amazon US. The most common misreading of the program.

Separately, micro-export (ETGB) VAT refunds are a tax right, not an incentive: small-parcel exporters can reclaim VAT through their accountant — and most Etsy/FBM sellers never do.

1. Join your exporters' association

Membership is the precondition for every application; it typically completes within days at a token annual fee.

2. Register on DYS

DYS is the Ministry's single platform for all support applications. It requires company authorization and an e-signature; once set up, every item is applied for in the same place.

3. Spend in a "supportable" way

The golden rule: you spend first, then reclaim with documentation. Invoices in the company's name, marketplace ad/commission statements archived regularly, payments from the company account. Disorganized spending today becomes "undocumented" rejections tomorrow.

4. Apply on the period calendar

Payments run on periodic applications, each item with its own document set and deadlines. In-house handling works at the start; at volume, a regular accountant/consultant becomes practical.

5. Plan budgets against the annual caps

Every item has an annual ceiling, updated yearly. Knowing your cap answers "how much of this comes back at 50%" — sellers who plan growth around it move more aggressively on the same budget.

Five common mistakes

• Never applying at all — the most common and most expensive
• Assuming commission support covers all marketplaces (it's target-country specific)
• Paying from personal/mixed accounts and breaking the document chain
• Ignoring ETGB VAT refunds as "small money" (they compound)
• Budgeting without knowing the caps

The takeaway

When up to half of your ads, fulfillment and warehousing can be reclaimed, not using the system hands your competitors an advantage funded by your own money. Set it up once, keep the paperwork clean, follow the calendar.

If your product and channel strategy aren't settled yet, start there: on a cross-border consulting call we check incentive fit alongside. For the operational side, see the Amazon guide and the cross-border roadmap.