Foreign Trade Capital Company: Having a paid-in capital of at least 2 million TL and based on the customs declaration in the previous calendar year;
 It refers to the status that can be given to joint stock companies that realize actual exports of at least (FOB) 100 million US dollars or equivalent (excluding transit and free exports).

Having a paid-in capital of at least 2 million TL and based on the customs declaration in the previous calendar year;
 Joint stock companies that carry out actual exports of at least (FOB) 100 million US dollars or equivalent (excluding transit and free exports) may be granted "Foreign Trade Capital Company" status,
 provided that the application is made by the last day of January of each year, or they may already have Foreign Trade Capital Company Status. This status can be renewed for companies.

To companies that are not included in the Decision on Foreign Trade Capital Companies in force in the year it applies; Upon their request,
 if it is determined that they meet the above conditions as a result of an examination going back 12 months as of the application date,
 Foreign Trade Capital Company Status may be granted by adding an annex to the current Decision on Foreign Trade Capital Companies.

With the recent legislative changes, the financial advantages provided to exporters who export through intermediaries through foreign trade capital companies (DTSŞ)
 and sectoral foreign trade companies (SDTŞ) have been significantly increased compared to those who export through other intermediary companies that do not have these statuses.
 So much so that, after the changes made in the last 4 months, this situation has created a significant competitive inequality in favor of exporters exporting through DTSŞ and SDTŞ.

1. 5 point corporate tax rate reduction

After the amendment made by Law No. 7491, which came into force on 28.12.2023; The corporate tax rate is applied at a 5-point discount on the earnings of corporate taxpayers from their export activities through DTSŞ and SDTŞ.

According to Article 32/7 of KVK (sentence added by Article 62 of Law No. 7491; Effective: 28/12/2023 to be applied to incomes and gains obtained as of 1/1/2023) Based on the intermediary export contract, 
manufacturers or supplier institutions, foreign trade This discount is also applied to the earnings they earn from export activities carried out through capital companies or sectoral foreign trade companies.

2. Ability to make payments/collections in foreign currency

Following the amendment made by the Communiqué numbered 2008-32/69, which entered into force on 8.02.2024; Payment obligations within the scope of securities sales contracts for exports to be carried out 
through DTSŞ or SDTŞ based on an intermediary export contract can be made in foreign currency.

“ç) Communiqué on Foreign Trade Capital Company Status (Export: 2004/12) published in the Official Gazette dated 8/12/2004 and numbered 25664 and Sectoral Foreign Trade Companies published in the Official
 Gazette dated 2/7/2004 and numbered 25510 Within the scope of the Communiqué on the Status of Exports (Export: 2004/4),
 exports to be carried out through Foreign Trade Capital Companies (DTSŞ) or Sectoral Foreign Trade Companies (SDTŞ) based on intermediary export contracts and Exports that were put into effect by the Presidential Decree No. 
5973 dated 17/8/2022. Payment obligations within the scope of securities sales contracts for exports to be carried out on the basis of an intermediary export contract through 
the Export Consortium within the scope of the Decision on Supports and companies with E-Export Consortium status within the scope of the Decision on E-Export Supports put into effect by the Presidential Decree No. 
5986 dated 24/8/2022. ”

3. Opportunity to receive higher VAT refund

According to the VAT General Application Communiqué; The VAT amount to be refunded by a taxpayer who delivers the goods registered for export using the inputs purchased domestically and abroad without paying VAT
 within the scope of the inward processing authorization certificate (DİIB) will be calculated by applying the general tax rate to the difference between the export registered delivery price and the cost 
of the inputs purchased within the scope of DİİB. cannot exceed it.

This limit does not apply to deliveries subject to export to STSŞ and STSŞ. Although this practice is limited to the deferred VAT, it ensures that those who export via DTSŞ and SDTŞ can receive a higher amount of VAT refund.

IV/1.5 of the General Communiqué on VAT Implementation. In the section titled "VAT to be Refunded on Delivery of the Taxpayer Holding DİİB with Export Registration",

“The VAT amount to be refunded by a taxpayer who delivers goods registered as export within the scope of Article (11/1-c) of Law No. 3065,
 produced by using inputs purchased domestically and abroad without paying VAT within the scope of DİIB, 
cannot exceed the amount to be found by applying the general tax rate. This limit does not apply to deliveries subject to export to foreign trade capital companies and sectoral foreign trade companies.
 (The sentence was added with the Communiqué No. 8. Official Gazette dated 13/12/2016)

4.Advantage provided for financial expense limitation

In addition to these financial facilities, the relevant communiqué provides an additional advantage in terms of financing expense restrictions to intermediary companies with DTSŞ and SDTŞ status. As it is known, 
the definition of foreign resources is quite broad in the communiqué on financial expense limitation. In this context, in intermediary exports,
 the intermediary company's debts to the main exporter company are considered as foreign resources in the financing expense limitation calculation, and as a result, a higher corporate tax burden may occur on intermediary companies.

However, in accordance with the relevant communiqué, for exports made through DTSŞ and SDTŞ based on an intermediary export contract, financing expense restrictions are not applied to DTSŞ or SDTŞ due to these transactions.
 

“11.13.4. of the KVK General Communiqué No. 18”. In the regulation made under the title "Expense and cost elements related to foreign resources within the scope of expense restriction", (Official Gazette 25/05/2021)

“On the other hand, based on the intermediary export contract signed with the manufacturer or supplier companies, 
the manufacturer or supplier companies are directly and exclusively responsible for all liabilities related to the production or supply of the goods, which are purchased at the
 same value and exported at the same value through foreign trade capital companies and sectoral foreign trade companies, and the manufacturer or supplier companies are responsible for all liabilities arising from the export.
 Provided that the financing burden is transferred to the manufacturer or supplier companies that are parties to the intermediary export contract, 
no financing expense restrictions will be applied to foreign trade capital companies or sectoral foreign trade companies due to these transactions.

However, financial expenses arising from the sale of goods purchased domestically by foreign trade capital companies and sectoral foreign trade companies on their own behalf will be subject to financial expense restrictions.”

Conditions for obtaining DTSŞ status

In the Communiqué on Foreign Trade Capital Company Status (Export: 2004/12), the conditions required for companies to obtain DTSŞ status are determined as follows:

- The company is a joint stock company

- The company's paid-in capital must be at least 2 million TL

- The company must have made actual exports of at least 100 million US dollars or equivalent on a customs declaration basis (FOB) in the last 12 months.

There does not seem to be any problem with the first of these conditions. On the other hand,
the threshold in the last condition is quite high. Due to this high threshold, many exporters cannot obtain this status for their intermediary companies.
 Due to commercial conditions and operational difficulties, exporters do not prefer to export through non-group DTSŞ. This situation causes only a limited number of
 companies to obtain DTSŞ status and benefit from the mentioned financial advantages. Current practice forces exporters to choose between financial advantages.