E-Invoice Cancellation in Turkey: Basic and Commercial Invoice Scenarios

The distinction between Temel Fatura and Ticari Fatura is critical. A Commercial Invoice can generally be rejected through an electronic application response, while a Basic Invoice has no equivalent system-level rejection response and normally requires the GİB cancellation portal or a legally valid objection process.

Cancellation, rejection, objection and return are not interchangeable. Selecting the wrong procedure can leave two active invoices, create inconsistent VAT records or produce a document trail that does not reflect the actual supply.

Basic and Commercial Invoice Cancellation at a Glance

Why Deleting the Invoice Is Not Cancellation

An e-Invoice is transmitted and retained as a structured electronic document. Deleting its visual copy from an ERP, email account or archive folder does not withdraw the document from the GİB system or the recipient’s records.

A completed cancellation or rejection also does not mean that the audit trail should be destroyed. The original XML, system responses, cancellation request, counterparty approval, legal notices and replacement document should be retained together.

For the mandatory information that should be checked before deciding whether an invoice is defective, see our Turkish Invoice Requirements guide.

The Eight-Day Rule

Article 21 of the Turkish Commercial Code provides that a person receiving an invoice is deemed to have accepted its contents unless an objection is made within eight days of receipt. For electronic workflows, the delivery timestamp recorded by the system is therefore more important than the date printed on the invoice.

For a Basic Invoice cancellation request, the request and the counterparty’s approval should be completed before the eight-day period expires. Starting a request near the end of the period does not safely preserve an unlimited approval period.

For a Commercial Invoice, the recipient should send its electronic REJECT response within the same period. If no timely rejection or other legally effective objection is made, a commercial-law presumption of acceptance can arise.

How to Cancel a Basic Invoice

The Basic Invoice scenario does not provide the recipient with the Commercial scenario’s ordinary ACCEPT or REJECT application response. A qualifying cancellation is instead handled through the GİB e-Invoice Cancellation/Objection Portal.

Either party may initiate the request, but the cancellation is not complete until the counterparty approves it. A pending request should not be treated as a completed cancellation.

The process cancels the complete invoice. It does not edit an incorrect customer name, VAT rate, quantity or price within the original XML. If the underlying supply continues, the issuer should prepare a new and accurate invoice after the cancellation is completed.

How to Reject a Commercial Invoice

The Commercial Invoice scenario allows the recipient to respond electronically. Where the invoice should not be accepted, the recipient generally sends a REJECT application response through its e-Invoice system.

1. Verify that the invoice profile is TICARIFATURA.
2. Review the invoice against the contract, order, delivery and tax records.
3. Select the rejection action in the e-Invoice application.
4. Enter a clear reason for rejection.
5. Sign or seal and transmit the application response.
6. Confirm that the response was successfully processed.
7. Reconcile the rejection with the supplier and accounting records.

A technical system status should not be confused with commercial acceptance. A message confirming that an envelope or application response was technically processed does not necessarily establish that the buyer accepted the goods, services or invoice contents.

Cancellation, Rejection, Objection or Return?

External Objections and Portal Notification

An invoice may also be challenged through a legally recognized external method. Depending on the parties and circumstances, this can include a notary notice, registered letter, telegram or registered electronic mail sent with a secure electronic signature.

The external notice should identify the invoice, explain the disputed content and preserve reliable evidence of dispatch and receipt. Where the GİB guide requires an electronic objection notification, the objection should then be entered in the e-Invoice Cancellation/Objection Portal and presented to the counterparty for approval or rejection.

Under the GİB guide updated on 3 January 2025, portal objection notifications affecting the virtual Ba/Bs display and the corresponding counterparty response must generally be completed by the end of the fifteenth day of the month following the invoice month.

What Happens After Eight Days?

Once the ordinary eight-day window has expired, the cancellation portal or Commercial Invoice response should not be treated as a routine way to erase the invoice. The parties must determine what actually happened and use a procedure consistent with that event.

• If the supply occurred and the goods are later returned, use the applicable return documentation.
• If the price is reduced later, document the adjustment through the permitted correcting process.
• If no transaction occurred, obtain legal and tax advice on the available objection and correction evidence.
• If the invoice was already included in a VAT return, assess whether an amended return is required.
• If the accounting or e-Ledger period is closed, post the correction through an auditable entry rather than deleting the original record.
• If the parties dispute the facts, preserve the contract, delivery records, correspondence and formal notices.

A late commercial agreement between the parties can be relevant evidence, but it does not automatically reverse every tax, accounting and electronic-reporting consequence of the original invoice.

Which Procedure Fits Common Errors?

Accounting and VAT Corrections

The technical e-Invoice action and the accounting correction should be coordinated but recorded separately. A portal approval does not necessarily reverse revenue, expense, VAT, inventory or payment entries automatically.

The accounting team should determine:

• whether the original invoice was recorded by the issuer and recipient;
• whether output or input VAT was included in a filed return;
• whether the goods entered inventory or were subsequently returned;
• whether payment was collected, refunded or offset;
• whether the accounting or e-Ledger period is still open;
• whether a replacement or return invoice has been issued; and
• whether the electronic document, ERP, ledger and tax return now agree.

Our Tax, Bookkeeping and Accounting Services in Turkey support invoice-to-ledger reconciliations, VAT reviews and documented correction entries.

e-Invoice and e-Archive Invoice Are Different

The Basic and Commercial scenarios discussed here concern e-Invoices exchanged between taxpayers registered in the e-Fatura system. An e-Arşiv Fatura issued to a consumer or a recipient outside the e-Fatura system follows a different cancellation, reporting and return workflow.

Before using any portal, verify the document type. Attempting to apply an e-Fatura workflow to an e-Arşiv document can delay the correction beyond the permitted period.

Controls for Foreign-Owned Companies

Foreign-owned businesses frequently connect Turkish e-Invoicing to global ERP, procurement and approval platforms. The local cancellation result should be synchronized with every system that consumed the original document.

1. Retain the original Turkish UBL/XML rather than only the rendered PDF.
2. Capture the GİB delivery timestamp in the ERP.
3. Route Basic and Commercial scenarios through different approval workflows.
4. Create alerts before the eight-day period expires.
5. Prevent payment while an invoice is formally disputed.
6. Link cancellation, rejection and replacement records to the original invoice UUID.
7. Reconcile Turkish VAT treatment with group reporting adjustments.
8. Preserve Turkish-language portal records and formal notices for audit.

Businesses requiring portal integration, process design or electronic-document controls can review our E-Transformation and Digital Tax Compliance in Turkey.

Common e-Invoice Cancellation Mistakes

Practical Completion Checklist

1. Download and preserve the original XML.
2. Confirm whether the document is e-Fatura or e-Arşiv Fatura.
3. Identify the Basic or Commercial profile.
4. Record the recipient-delivery timestamp.
5. Verify whether the underlying supply occurred.
6. Select cancellation, rejection, objection or return accordingly.
7. Complete all required actions within the relevant period.
8. Archive portal requests, application responses and formal notices.
9. Issue the replacement or return document where required.
10. Reconcile receivables, payables, inventory and bank records.
11. Review VAT returns and statutory accounting entries.
12. Link every correcting record to the original invoice UUID.

Official Sources

• GİB: e-Invoice Legislation and Current Technical Guides
• GİB: e-Invoice Cancellation, Notice and Objection Notification Guide v1.2
• GİB: e-Invoice Cancellation/Objection Portal
• Turkish Revenue Administration: Tax Procedure Law No. 213
• Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102
• GİB: Cancellation of a Basic Invoice Within the Objection Period
• GİB: Tax Consequences of the Eight-Day Invoice Objection Period

Reviewed on 3 September 2026. This article provides general information. The correct treatment depends on the electronic invoice profile, delivery date, transaction facts, counterparty response, tax period, accounting records and legislation effective when the correction is made.