Setting Up E-commerce Company in Turkey: 2026 Comprehensive Guide

Setting up an online store in Turkey involves more than incorporating a company and building a website — Turkish e-commerce sits under a specific regulatory layer (ETBİS registration, KVKK data protection, and marketplace/payment-intermediary reporting rules) that general company-formation guides don't cover in detail. This guide walks through the legal structure, the e-commerce-specific registrations, payment infrastructure, data protection compliance, logistics considerations, and the tax obligations that apply specifically to selling online in Turkey in 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Most foreign-owned online stores use a Limited Şirket (Ltd Şti) structure — full foreign ownership is allowed, and capital requirements are lower than for a Joint Stock Company.
• ETBİS registration is mandatory for anyone operating an e-commerce site or acting as a marketplace intermediary in Turkey, via the official e-ticaret.gov.tr portal.
• You need a sanal POS (virtual POS) agreement with a bank or licensed payment institution to accept card payments directly on your own site — this requires your company to already be registered.
• KVKK (Turkey's data protection law) requires a privacy policy, a legal basis for processing customer data, and in most cases registration with VERBİS.
• Ongoing obligations include monthly VAT filings, corporate tax on profits, and accounting records — engage a licensed Turkish accountant (mali müşavir) from the outset.
• Regulations, thresholds and procedural deadlines in this space are revised periodically — always confirm current rules with a lawyer or accountant and the official government portals before acting.

Step 1 — Choose the Right Legal Structure

Structure	Foreign ownership	Typical minimum capital	Best for
Limited Şirket (Ltd Şti)	100% allowed	Lower, fixed minimum set by law	Most single-founder or small-team e-commerce businesses
Anonim Şirket (A.Ş.)	100% allowed	Higher minimum than Ltd Şti	Businesses planning to raise investment, issue shares, or scale significantly
Şahıs Şirketi (sole proprietorship)	Available to residents	No minimum capital	Very small-scale operations; no liability protection

For most first-time foreign entrepreneurs launching an online store, the Ltd Şti is the standard choice: it limits personal liability to the capital invested, has straightforward, well-established formation procedures, and doesn't carry the heavier governance requirements of an A.Ş. Confirm current minimum capital figures with your accountant, as these are set by law and periodically revised.

Step 2 — Incorporate the Company

The core formation steps mirror any Turkish company setup: reserve the company name via MERSİS (the central trade registry system), draft the articles of association, deposit the required capital in a Turkish bank, complete notarization where required, and register with the local Trade Registry Office (Ticaret Sicili), which also triggers your tax office registration. Budget for a registered address (a virtual office is commonly used for smaller e-commerce operations, provided it meets the requirements of your specific trade registry) and, if you're not resident in Turkey, a Turkish tax identification number obtained in advance.

Step 3 — Register with ETBİS

This is the step general company-formation guides typically skip, and it is not optional:

• Who must register: businesses operating their own e-commerce website or app (e-commerce service providers), and platforms hosting third-party sellers (intermediary service providers/marketplaces).
• Where: through the official portal at e-ticaret.gov.tr, using your company's MERSİS and tax information.
• What it covers: your registered business information becomes part of the government's central e-commerce database, used for consumer protection oversight and market monitoring.
• Ongoing duty: changes to your registered business details (address, activity scope, domain, etc.) generally must be reported within a defined window — confirm the current reporting deadline on the portal, as procedural rules are periodically updated.

Operating an e-commerce site without ETBİS registration exposes the business to administrative penalties, so this should be completed immediately after incorporation, before your site goes live for sales.

Step 4 — Set Up Payment Infrastructure

Option	How it works	Typical stage to use it
Marketplace checkout (e.g., selling via an established marketplace)	Marketplace handles payment processing; you don't need your own merchant account	Early stage, testing demand, or as a complement to your own site
Third-party payment aggregator	A licensed payment institution processes payments on your behalf without a direct bank merchant agreement	Early-to-growth stage for standalone stores
Sanal POS (virtual POS) via a bank	Direct merchant agreement with a bank, integrated into your checkout	Once volume justifies the setup and negotiated processing rates

To obtain a sanal POS, your company must already be formally incorporated and typically needs to show its trade registry documents, tax registration, and a functioning website with clear terms of sale, return policy, and company information displayed — banks review this as part of underwriting.

Step 5 — KVKK Data Protection Compliance

Any online store processing Turkish customer data needs to address:

1. A published privacy policy (aydınlatma metni) explaining what data is collected, why, and how it's used.
2. A lawful basis for processing — typically consent for marketing communications and contractual necessity for order fulfillment.
3. Appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect stored customer and payment data.
4. VERBİS registration (the Data Controllers' Registry) — required for most companies, though specific exemptions exist based on factors like employee count, annual balance sheet, or whether data processing is your main line of business; confirm your specific obligation with a lawyer since thresholds are periodically revised.
5. Cookie consent and tracking disclosure, particularly if you use analytics or advertising pixels.

Non-compliance carries administrative fines set by the Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK Kurumu), and enforcement activity has increased over recent years — this is not a box-ticking exercise to defer.

Step 6 — Logistics and Fulfillment

Turkey's e-commerce logistics landscape includes several established national cargo carriers alongside marketplace-integrated fulfillment options. Key decisions include:

• In-house fulfillment vs. third-party logistics (3PL) — 3PL becomes cost-effective once order volume passes a certain threshold, but adds integration complexity.
• Cargo carrier selection — compare delivery speed, cash-on-delivery support (still commonly used by Turkish consumers), return handling, and integration with your e-commerce platform.
• Cross-border logistics — if you plan to sell internationally from a Turkish entity, customs documentation and international shipping partnerships need separate evaluation from domestic delivery.

Step 7 — Tax and Accounting Obligations

Obligation	Frequency	Notes
Corporate income tax	Annual, with advance quarterly payments	Rate set by current tax legislation
VAT (KDV)	Monthly	Applies to most goods and services sold
Withholding tax	Per applicable transaction	Relevant for certain payments, e.g., some services or rent
Marketplace/payment intermediary reporting	Ongoing, to tax authorities	Since 2020, platforms report seller transaction data
Bookkeeping	Continuous	Legally required to be maintained by a licensed accountant for most company types

Engage a mali müşavir (licensed Turkish accountant) before your first sale, not after your first filing deadline — Turkish accounting and tax compliance is process-heavy, and retroactively fixing gaps is materially harder than setting up correctly from the start.

Bringing It Together With Related Business Planning

If your e-commerce venture is part of a broader move to Turkey — rather than a purely remote operation — you may also need a work or residence permit; see our guide to the Turkish residence permit process. If you're deciding between an e-commerce-specific structure and a broader tech or SaaS company setup, our commerce startup consulting, tech startup consulting, and fintech startup consulting services can help clarify the right structure for your specific business model.

How FTurkey Helps

FTurkey guides foreign entrepreneurs through the full e-commerce setup process in Turkey: choosing between Ltd Şti and A.Ş., handling incorporation and ETBİS registration, connecting you with banks and payment institutions for virtual POS setup, coordinating KVKK/VERBİS compliance with a data protection specialist, and introducing vetted accountants for ongoing tax compliance. Contact us to scope your specific setup before you start selling.

This article is general information, not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Company formation requirements, ETBİS procedures, KVKK obligations, and tax rates are set by Turkish law and are periodically revised — always confirm current requirements with a licensed lawyer and accountant, and the official government portals, before acting.