Smartphones have become the basic tools we use in banking, e-government transactions, messaging, social media, entertainment, education and many other subjects. Nowadays, the internet and access to the internet emerge as the most important need. Naturally, we all need smartphones that can do all these operations. Smartphones can also be seen as symbols of our social status, depending on which brand or model we use. This may be the reason why we all feel like we need to change phones as new smartphone models are released.

The total amount of Value Added Tax, Special Consumption Tax, TRT share and Culture Fund on the phone can reach up to 103.40 percent of the phone value. This situation makes mobile phone prices in Turkey expensive compared to their counterparts in the world. According to the legislation, the passenger is exempt from customs obligations for the non-commercial goods he brings with him from abroad. This situation makes bringing a phone from abroad attractive. Is it really so? VAT rates in Europe are almost the same as in our country, but the tax-free application allows a portion of the tax to be refunded.

The amount of the fee introduced to reduce the attraction of this practice, which causes tax loss to the state, was increased to 20,000 TL in 2023. This fee must be paid in order for IMEI numbers, the international identification information that distinguishes mobile phones, to be registered and to continue using the phone. In this study, we sought the answer to the question of whether it is still advantageous to bring a phone from abroad after this fee was suddenly increased by 14,000 TL.

In what situation can those who can go abroad benefit from this application, which cannot be used by those who cannot go abroad? To answer this question, we first conducted a legislative review. In Special Consumption tax, 3 different tax rates are applied according to classes. We can say that the lower rates are almost no longer used due to inflation, and the highest rate of 50% is valid for most phones. In order for international phones to be used continuously in Turkey, IMEI must be registered with the Information Technologies Authority. Although the fee charged for this process is known as the registration fee, it is actually a type of Concession and License Fee collected as a lump sum in accordance with the Law on Fees.

Comparison of the taxes and similar burdens applied as a percentage against the fixed amount of 20,000 TL provides the answer to our question. Assuming that seller profits are the same, if we take Germany as a basis, with 19% VAT and 11.4% tax-free application, a phone worth 48,200 TL in Turkey reaches the same cost as the one brought from abroad. It means no advantage for cheaper ones. If you benefit from Tax-free, the advantage starts after 42,463 TL.

Thank you sir, as you know, fees are increased every year at the rate of revaluation. Then will it be necessary to redo the calculation every year? Is there a practical way to do this?

Fees In accordance with Article 138 of the Law, the fees are increased every year according to the revaluation rate. The President has the authority to halve the IMEI registration fee or increase it by up to 20 times on a case-by-case basis. In our study, we also determined that the most recently determined fee of 20,000 TL exceeded the legal authority limit. Since this issue is not the main subject of our study, I will not go into much detail. However, when consumers are calculating the amount of advantage that buying a phone from abroad turns into, if they have not been able to benefit from the tax-free application, they can find the advantage point by multiplying the fee by 2.4. If they can benefit from tax-free, they can reach the result by multiplying by 2.12.

  Of course, it is also useful to take into consideration the service and warranty conditions of phones purchased abroad.