Importing goods into Turkey?

[Aydin92]

Hi everyone.

We're trying to bring some of our furniture from the UK to Turkey. We bought our house in Antalya in May 2019 and imported the vast majority of our stuff back in September 2019 via Mersin port without any problems.

Fast forward to March 2021 and we want to send a much smaller load - spoke to our import agent from last time and he told us that it's not possible to import personal goods a second time. I looked online and on this forum for this problem but couldn't see any mention of a "second time" rule. Has anyone heard of this before? And can anyone think of anyway around this? Importing under another name but the same address? Importing to another address (I would do a short term rental)?

Thank you in advance for any helpful advice.

 

[immac]

Your agent is correct. When you move over there is a window - I think 6 months - for you to import household goods.

I don't advise telling lies to get stuff in; technically, they can turn up and inspect everything you imported to make sure you have not flogged it.

I don't see why you can't just import whatever it is and pay the taxes. Talk to a removal firm (e.g. Soyer) and ask them if that would be a problem.

Ian

 

[IbrahimAbi]

Surely it would be cheaper (and more honest) to pay the taxes than having a short term rental

 

[Aydin92]

Thanks for advice guys - Yes I agree it would be easier to pay the taxes. Only reason I suggested the short term rental is because a couple of locals had the idea. I would much rather pay the tax and not have any risk. Would anyone know how you would calculate the tax? Or more broadly does anyone have an import agent (I don't mind which port) that they can recommend?

 

[immac]

... does anyone have an import agent (I don't mind which port) that they can recommend?

Did you contact Soyer?

Ian

 

[Aydin92]

Hi Ian

I did yeah but they only offered a door to door service at a price that was a bit steeper than my shipping quote. I asked them for purely customs clearance service but they didn't answer yet.

 

[immac]

No, I don't expect they will. They are not a Customs Agent, they are a removal firm. You will have to appoint an agent, give him PoA, and hope you are not required to go to Izmir or Istanbul for a few days to get the clearance. From my own experience, I would encourage going for the easiest, rather than the cheapest.

Ian