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Sedat KOCABIYIK
Customs Consultant
Customs warehouses are warehouses under the supervision of customs administrations where goods that have not been subject to import duties and trade policy measures and have not entered free circulation can be stored for an unlimited period, provided that a guarantee is given. According to current regulations, a warranty must be given for the goods to be stored in the customs warehouse. However, no guarantee is required for goods placed in fairs and exhibitions intended to be subject to the warehouse regime, goods exempt from import taxes, or goods placed in warehouses for export.
Until last week, in customs warehouses, a guarantee could be given separately for each batch of goods taken into the warehouse or as a collective guarantee. Customs warehouse operators or users can provide this guarantee. However, a lump sum guarantee is given. In that case, the guarantee amount must be constantly monitored, and the goods' taxes, including VAT and funds, must cover the lump sum guarantee amount because the total guarantee must be sufficient to cover the taxes on all the goods in the warehouse. A separate guarantee must be given for the excess part if the total guarantee is exceeded.
Recent changes in customs regulations have introduced a new system for guaranteeing goods in warehouses. With the Regulation on Amendments to the Customs Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 31260 dated 30.09.2020, a regulation was made to use a lump sum guarantee or common lump sum guarantee for the goods to be taken to warehouses. Companies with an Authorized Economic Operator Certificate (YYS) or Approved Person Status Certificate (OKS) can also use lump sum collateral for transactions in C and E-type warehouses. However, fuel oil warehouses and products within the scope of the annex list of the Special Consumption Tax Law No. 4760 (I- Petroleum Products and Their Products) will not be able to benefit from the lump sum guarantee application.
It's important to understand the distinction between "lump sum guarantee" and "lump sum collateral." In the collective guarantee system, a person gives a guarantee to a single customs directorate regarding all kinds of customs transactions, and this guarantee is used for all customs transactions except the transit regime of that person in that customs directorate. In the lump sum guarantee system, the guarantee given by a person to any customs directorate for more than one transaction that requires or may require customs liability becomes a guarantee that can be used at the country level, covering all customs transactions in all customs directorates except the transit regime. Another difference is that, while in the lump sum guarantee, the collateral amount required for each transaction is deducted from the collateral amount in each transaction, in the lump sum collateral system, the collateral remains constant and there is no deduction in the collateral amount required for each transaction. Until last week, only YYS holders could benefit from the lump sum guarantee. From now on, warehouse operators who do not have AEO will also be able to benefit from the lump sum guarantee.
With the new regulation made in Article 527 of the Customs Regulation, warehouse operators will be able to provide a lump sum guarantee, and no other guarantee will be required for the goods placed in the warehouse for which a lump sum guarantee is given. The lump sum guarantee amount to be provided by warehouse operators will be calculated according to the warehouse's square meter area. According to this, 1,000 m², or 1,000,000 TL for up to 2,000 m³, for every 1,000 m² after 1,000 m²; 500,000 TL for (increases below 1,000 m² are completed to 1,000 m²), every 2,000 m³ after 2,000 m³; A lump sum guarantee of 500,000 TL (increases below 2,000 m³ will be completed to 2,000 m³) will be given. If the lump sum guarantee amount calculated for a warehouse exceeds 20,000,000 TL, the excess amount will not be considered, and a guarantee of 20,000,000 TL will be sufficient.
In addition, operators with more than one warehouse can provide a "common lump sum guarantee" covering all their warehouses. In cases where the number of warehouses where a standard lump sum guarantee will be used is five or more, warehouse operators will be able to provide a "common lump sum guarantee" of up to 75% of the lump sum guarantee amount to be calculated.
Recently, the exchange rate has increased significantly, additional customs duties have been released through multiple decisions, the tax burden on imports has been growing along with other additional financial obligations, and accordingly, there have been severe complaints from warehouse operators about providing reduced collateral. The new regulation by the Ministry of Commerce will solve the problems experienced in this field and prevent the loss of time in delivering additional collateral.
