AliExpress Turkey 2026: Customs Rules, Total Cost and Returns
Since 6 February 2026 AliExpress parcels to Türkiye no longer use the simplified customs route. What you pay, which items get stopped, how to spot a fake customs message and how long you have to return an item.
Table of Contents
Since 6 February 2026, nothing you buy on AliExpress enters Türkiye on the old simplified customs route, however little it costs. Each parcel is declared in full, usually by the courier on your behalf, and you pay the duty for that item plus KDV, Turkish VAT, which is 20% for most goods. Below: what changed and when, a calculator for the real cost, the items customs stops, how to tell a courier’s notice from a scam, and how many days you have for a return.
In short · checked 14/10/2026
You can still order, but the cheap €30 parcel route ended on 6 February 2026. Budget for duty and 20% KDV on every order.
- No more €30 shortcut: goods from overseas shopping platforms no longer use the simplified declaration, whatever their value.
- What you pay: duty for the item’s tariff code, then KDV on the value plus the duty. The courier may add its own fees.
- Up to €1,500 and 30 kg: the courier can file the full declaration for you.
- Never delivered: mobile phones, tobacco and e-cigarettes. Cosmetics can’t come in tax-free.
- Customs never texts you: the Ministry of Trade doesn’t send e-mails, calls or messages, and never asks for payment through a link.
What changed: from €150 to no shortcut
For years a small AliExpress order came in on a simplified declaration with a single flat tax. Türkiye narrowed that shortcut twice and then closed it for online shopping platforms:
- Until 20 August 2024Parcels to a private person worth up to €150 could use the simplified declaration.
- 21 August 2024The limit fell to €30. Those parcels paid one flat tax: 30% if they came straight from the EU, 60% from anywhere else, and 20% more for goods on the ÖTV (IV) list.
- 20 October 2025Toys, shoes and leather goods such as bags and suitcases were taken off the simplified route at any value.
- 6 February 2026Everything bought on overseas e-commerce platforms left the simplified route, whatever its value, and now goes through normal import. The flat 30% or 60% tax survives only for medicine and supplements sent on a doctor’s report or prescription.
The Ministry of Trade announced the change on 7 January 2026 and gave 1 February as the start. The decree published that day, Karar 10813, and the customs circular that goes with it both took effect on 6 February. The Ministry said 81% of the 182 products it had tested from cross-border platforms did not meet Turkish safety rules, and that the EU and the US were closing similar shortcuts. The measure targets the platforms. It doesn’t ban any product group: the same goods can still be imported through the normal checks.
A few kinds of parcel keep a simpler route. These are the ones that matter to a private buyer:
- Books
- Books and other printed matter for personal use, up to €1,500: a flat 0% tax.
- Medicine
- Medicine and supplements up to €1,500 a parcel, sent on a doctor’s report or prescription: a flat 30% straight from the EU, 60% from elsewhere. The tax is collected at your door.
- Your own things
- Personal belongings you send yourself from one month before to three months after you arrive: no tax and no 30 kg or value limit. You’ll need your passport.
- Limits
- Parcels on these routes must not be a commercial quantity and must stay under 30 kg gross. The tax-free and flat-tax routes are limited to five parcels per person per calendar month. Orders for a company, such as from Alibaba.com, are normal imports: the Alibaba guide explains them.
What you pay: duty first, then KDV on top
Customs starts from the parcel’s value: the price you paid plus the freight to the Turkish border. If the receipt doesn’t show freight separately, which is the usual case with free shipping, customs adds a standard €3. Duty is a percentage set by the item’s tariff code (GTİP), so a cable and a jacket can pay different rates. KDV is then charged on the value plus the duty, which means the duty is taxed too. The general KDV rate is 20%. The reduced rates of 10% and 1% apply only to goods on their lists.
Landed cost · rules from 6/2/2026
What one parcel really costs
Item price€25.00
Not on the receipt: €3 added for customs€3.00
Customs value€28.00
Duty at 0% (the lowest rate)€0.00
KDV 20% on €28.00€5.60
At least€30.60
+ any fee on the courier’s notice
Up to €1,500 and 30 kg: the courier can file the declaration for you.
Example shown: a €25 item with free shipping, no duty rate set and 20% KDV. The €3 standard freight counts for customs, but you don’t pay it.
How it’s worked out: customs value = price + freight shown (or €3 if none is shown). Duty = value × your item’s rate. KDV = (value + duty) × 20%, 10% or 1%. You pay the price, the shipping you were charged, the duty and the KDV. The courier sets its own fees.
Your duty rate comes from the item’s tariff code. If you’re not sure which code fits, give the courier a clear description: what it is, what it’s made of and what it’s for. The calculator starts at 0% duty, so its first total is the least the parcel can cost.
The Ministry collects only the taxes. Storage (ardiye), brokerage (müşavirlik) and handling are the courier’s own charges, and its FAQ says a courier may charge them from the day it tells you the parcel has arrived. So answer a notice quickly. The €430 gift allowance that travellers get at the airport doesn’t apply to parcels. To see the total in lira, convert it on our exchange rates page.
What’s in the box: which items get stuck
Where a parcel goes depends on what’s inside. Pick an item to see its customs lane, what you pay and the message code a courier may send you.
Customs lanes · from 6/2/2026
What’s in your parcel?
Normal import
Gadgets, clothes, home goods
- You pay
- Duty for the item’s code, then KDV (20% for most goods) on the value plus the duty. The courier may add its own fees.
- What happens
- Up to €1,500 and 30 kg, the courier can file the declaration for you.
Read the code
Couriers send set message codes from the customs circular, such as G44 for cosmetics or G411 for phones. The code tells you what’s missing and what you can do: import the goods normally, abandon them to customs or have them sent back. For goods on the stop list, importing isn’t one of the choices, so check the list before you order.
Customs messages: real notice or scam?
Fake “your parcel is stuck at customs” messages are common enough that the Ministry of Trade warns about them by name. Its rule is simple: the Ministry and customs offices never contact you by e-mail, phone or text, and never ask you to pay through an account number or a link. Real notices come from the courier, or from PTT for ordinary post, and you pay through that company. Tap a sample to see what gives it away.
Message check · our samples
Real courier notice or scam?
Unknown number · text message
Gönderiniz gümrükte takıldı. Teslimat için ek ücreti ödeyin: link“Your parcel is stuck at customs. Pay the extra fee for delivery: link”
Scam pattern
- Who sends itAn unknown number, not your courier.
- What it says“Stuck at customs” is the very wording the Ministry quotes in its warning.
- How you payThrough a link. Customs never asks for that.
“Customs Department” · e-mail
An illegal substance was found in your parcel. Legal action will start unless you pay the release fee to the account below within 24 hours.
Scam pattern
- Who sends it“Customs” by e-mail. Customs offices never notify you by e-mail.
- What it saysA threat about an illegal item and legal action, the second script in the Ministry’s warning.
- How you payTo an account number, under time pressure.
Incoming call · “customs officer”
“Gümrükte gönderiniz var.” Then the caller asks for your card number to release the parcel.“There’s a parcel of yours at customs.”
Scam pattern
- Who callsSomeone claiming to be from customs. Customs doesn’t phone you about parcels.
- What they sayAnother line the Ministry quotes word for word.
- How you payCard details over the phone. Hang up.
Your courier’s own app, opened by you
Parcel with your tracking number: message code G43. Please upload the doctor’s report or prescription for the supplement.
Looks like a real notice
- Who sends itThe courier that carries your parcel, inside an app you opened yourself.
- What it saysA real code from the customs circular, asking for a document.
- To be sureCall the courier on the number from the Ministry’s list below, not one from a message.
Courier switchboards, from the Ministry’s list of 5/10/2026
- PTT (post)
- 0 212 567 65 65
- DHL Express
- 444 00 40
- UPS
- 0850 255 00 66
- FedEx
- 444 9 339
- PTS
- 444 07 87
- MNG Kargo
- 0212 366 55 55
- Aras Global
- 0216 538 55 00
- Yurtiçi Kargo
- 0212 365 23 65
- Aramex
- 0212 999 12 22
- Trendyol Lojistik
- 0212 331 02 00
Before you pay anything
Don’t use the link or the number in the message. Find your courier on the Ministry’s list or its own website, call, and quote your tracking number. The Ministry doesn’t track parcels: for a courier parcel ask the courier, and for ordinary post ask PTT.
Returns and refunds: count the days
AliExpress’s Free Returns, Free Shipping and Fast Delivery promises cover only items that show those badges, and the terms say they don’t apply in every country. What your order page shows is what counts. Customs adds time to every parcel now, so check the badge and your dates before you pay.
Return window · Free Returns terms
How long do you have?
- 14 Oct 2026Order placed and paidDay 0. For a China seller the free-return clock starts here.
- 3 Nov 2026Parcel arrivesYour estimate. Check the delivery time on the order page.
- 18 Nov 2026Last day to claim “not as described”Buyer Protection: open a dispute within 15 days of receiving the item.
- 12 Jan 2027Last day to start a free returnChina seller: 90 days from the order, for items with the Free Returns badge.
You have 70 days after delivery to start a free return.
Example shown: ordered on 14 October 2026 from a China seller, arriving 20 days later.
- Free Returns
- The item must come back intact, with its packaging, tags, manuals and accessories. Use the free return service offered, or you pay the return postage. If a partial return takes the order below the free-shipping threshold, the shipping is taken off your refund.
- Not as described
- Open a dispute from the order within 15 days of receiving the item.
- Never arrived
- Buyer Protection refunds an order that doesn’t arrive, or is lost, within the guaranteed delivery time on the order details.
- Fast Delivery
- A coupon if a badged item is late. A refund if it arrives damaged, is shown as lost in transit, or isn’t delivered within the Delivery Days on the product page.
- Customs delays
- The terms list customs delays caused by a destination country’s policy changes among the events that cancel these promises.
Photograph the parcel and its label before you open it, keep the packaging until you’ve checked the item, and keep the order page, the courier’s notice and any receipt for taxes together. Don’t confirm delivery just to clear a reminder: for an EU seller, that date starts your 15 days.
Worth it? Price it against a local shop
Under the old rules a small AliExpress order often beat a Turkish shop. Now every parcel adds duty, KDV and perhaps a courier fee, and waits for its own declaration. For anything sold in Türkiye, compare the delivered price with Hepsiburada or Amazon Turkey, where stock already in the country skips customs.
- Worth a look: a specific part or gadget you can’t find locally, well under €1,500 and not on the stop list.
- Think twice: cheap everyday items, where duty, 20% KDV and a courier fee can eat the saving.
- Time-critical: a gift or a repair with a deadline. Customs adds days, and AliExpress’s delivery promises don’t cover customs delays.
- Don’t order: phones, e-cigarettes, tobacco or branded copies. They won’t be handed over.
Common questions
Is there still a €30 duty-free limit?
No. Since 6 February 2026 goods from overseas shopping platforms have no low-value shortcut at all. A €5 order goes through a full declaration and pays duty and KDV like a €500 one.
Do AliExpress orders pay a flat 60%?
Not any more. The flat 60% (30% straight from the EU) now applies only to medicine and supplements sent on a doctor’s report or prescription. Ordinary goods pay the duty for their tariff code plus KDV.
Who files the customs declaration?
For personal items worth up to €1,500 and weighing up to 30 kg, the express courier can file a full declaration on your behalf. You pay the taxes and any fees the courier charges. Above €1,500 the import tax rates in force apply.
How is shipping counted?
Freight to the Turkish border is added to the item’s value. If the receipt doesn’t show it separately, customs adds a standard €3.
Can I order a phone?
No. A phone sent by post or courier is never handed over, whether or not tax is paid. The only exception is your own phone, already registered with its IMEI, sent back from one month before to three months after you arrive.
I got a text saying my parcel is held at customs. What now?
Don’t click or pay. Customs and the Ministry never contact you by text, e-mail or phone, and never take payment through a link or an account number. Call your courier, or PTT for ordinary post, on a number you found yourself.
Where is my parcel?
Ask the company carrying it: the courier, or PTT for ordinary post. The Ministry of Trade doesn’t track parcels.
Do free returns work in Türkiye?
Only if your item shows the Free Returns badge on its page. AliExpress’s terms say the programme doesn’t apply in every country. Check the item page and your order page before you buy.
Sources and dates checked
We checked everything on 14 October 2026. Customs rules and AliExpress’s terms change, so check your own order page and your courier’s notice before you pay.
- Ministry of Trade FAQ: post and express courier parcels (5 March 2026) — ticaret.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- Ministry of Trade press release on ending the simplified declaration for platform goods (7 January 2026) — ticaret.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- Karar 10813, Resmî Gazete 7/1/2026 no. 33130 (in force 6/2/2026) — resmigazete.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- Karar 8787, Resmî Gazete 6/8/2024 no. 32624 (€150 to €30, flat 30% or 60%) — resmigazete.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- Customs circular 2026/4: courier declarations for €0–1,500 — ticaret.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- KDV Law 3065, article 21: the KDV base on imports — mevzuat.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- Karar 7346, Resmî Gazete 7/7/2023: KDV rates 20% and 10% — resmigazete.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- Ministry of Trade warning on parcel and customs scams (23 November 2024) — ticaret.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- Express courier contact list (5/10/2026, .docx) — ggm.ticaret.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- Circular 2024/19, annex 3: courier message codes (.docx) — ggm.ticaret.gov.tr, checked 14/10/2026
- AliExpress Free Returns, Free Shipping and Fast Delivery terms — alibaba.com, checked 14/10/2026
- AliExpress Buyer Protection — aliexpress.com, checked 14/10/2026
