e-Invoice or e-Archive? Check a Supplier Invoice in Turkey

If a supplier in Turkey sends you an invoice, the first thing to settle is which kind of electronic invoice it is, because that decides where you can look it up. The Revenue Administration (GİB) describes two types on its e-Document site: the e-Invoice, which moves between taxpayers registered in the e-Invoice system through a central platform, and the e-Archive invoice, which an approved taxpayer issues to buyers who are not registered in that system. A buyer who pays an agency, publisher or ad space seller can compare the invoice in hand with the lookup entry the site offers for e-Archive invoices before approving payment. This is not legal advice.

The scenario: a tea importer and a link vendor

Example scenario: a specialty tea importer buys a set of sponsored articles from a niche food publisher. The publisher emails a PDF invoice after the articles go live. The importer's bookkeeper is about to enter the invoice in the ledger and release payment, and wants to know two things: what kind of document is this, and is there a way to check that it exists in the official system?

The same buyer faces the same questions with any supplier that sells services which cannot be touched: an agency retainer, a link package, a banner slot. The product is a result on a screen, so the invoice is the one concrete record that proves who sold what to whom. Treating that record casually is where small problems begin.

Two document types, two audiences

The e-Document site has separate menus for e-Invoice, e-Archive and the e-Freelancer Receipt (e-SMM). Only the first two matter for a supplier invoice; the freelancer receipt is outside this topic.

What the e-Invoice page says

The e-Invoice page (Opens in a new tab) defines the e-Invoice as an electronic document whose format and standard are set by GİB, which carries the information a VAT-law invoice must contain, and whose transmission between seller and buyer runs through a central platform operated by GİB. It adds that this is not a new type of document: it has the same standing as an invoice on paper. The page names UBL-TR, an XML-based structure, as the standard.

The page also covers who exchanges these invoices. Taxpayers registered in the e-Invoice system send and receive e-Invoices for goods and services they sell to one another. A registered taxpayer who sells to someone outside the system issues a paper invoice, or an e-Archive invoice if that taxpayer is in the e-Archive system.

What the e-Archive page says

The e-Archive page (Opens in a new tab) presents the e-Archive invoice as an electronic invoice type under General Communique no. 509 of the Tax Procedure Law, issued by taxpayers whom the Revenue Administration has approved for the e-Archive application. For a sale to a taxpayer registered in the e-Invoice system, the approved taxpayer issues an e-Invoice. For a sale to a taxpayer not registered there, or to a person who is not a taxpayer, it issues an e-Archive invoice.

On delivery the page says the invoice may be handed over on paper or electronically depending on the buyer's request. So an e-Archive invoice that reaches you as an email attachment and one that is printed for you are the same type of document.

Table: the two types compared

Menu names are quoted in Turkish because the site is in Turkish; the English glosses are only for orientation. If you read the site in another language setting, labels may look different.

Which document should you expect?

The type depends on the issuer's situation and on whether you, as buyer, are registered in the e-Invoice system. Your own status is therefore not a side detail.

Decision rule by buyer status

1. You are registered in the e-Invoice system and the seller is too: the site's rule points to an e-Invoice.
2. You are not registered and the seller is in the e-Archive application: expect an e-Archive invoice, on paper or electronically as you ask.
3. You are not registered and the seller is not in the e-Archive application: the page's rule for a registered seller is a paper invoice.
4. You do not know the seller's status: the site lists registered taxpayers, and the documentation has no statement on how that list is searched. Open the link and look at the screen yourself.

Practical suggestion: add one line to the order form, "invoice type and system", and have the supplier answer it in writing. When the invoice arrives, you compare the document with what was promised.

If an e-Invoice reaches an unregistered buyer

The documentation has no statement on issuing an e-Invoice to a buyer who is not registered. If that happens, ask the supplier why and keep the answer in writing. Interpreting the rule is not your task; documenting the answer is.

Asking for an invoice, and buying without one

Before any lookup, there has to be an invoice. Article 21 of the Turkish Commercial Code no. 6102 (Opens in a new tab), first paragraph, says that when a merchant has sold or produced goods, performed work or provided a benefit in the course of a commercial enterprise, the other party may ask that an invoice be issued to it and, if the price has been paid, that the payment be shown on the invoice. Asking for an invoice is therefore a request that the article itself describes.

The second paragraph of article 9 of the VAT Law no. 3065 (Opens in a new tab) deals with a different problem. When goods are found without documents, or when buying services without documents is established, the VAT lost through those purchases is claimed from the taxpayer who held the goods or bought the services. The rest of that paragraph, including deadlines, is outside this topic. For a buyer of services the point to keep is that paying without a document can have consequences for the buyer as well.

Practical suggestion: never close a sponsored article, link or ad purchase as "paid" without a document. Keep the order status open until the invoice arrives and has been checked.

Running the lookup

The e-Document home page (Opens in a new tab) lists "e-Arşiv Fatura Sorgulama" in the e-Archive menu. The lookup page (Opens in a new tab) carries the title and a breadcrumb reading "e-Arşiv" and "Fatura Sorgulama". The documentation has no statement on form fields or a result screen.

For that reason no field names, step sequence or result layout are given here. Practical suggestion: open the page, write down the fields it asks for, and find the matching data on your invoice. Keep that note with the invoice, dated, so that a later reader sees which fields the screen asked for and which values you matched against them.

Preparation before the lookup

Practical suggestion: copy these items from the invoice into a short note first.

• The issuer's trade name and tax identification details.
• The invoice date and the document number or unique identifier printed on it.
• The invoice total and the VAT amount.
• The service name and period, compared with your order.
• How the invoice reached you: email, portal download or paper.

This list is a working habit, not a statement from the site, and it can be shortened or extended once you see what the lookup screen asks for.

Reading the outcome

If you find a record, compare its details with your document. If you do not, do not jump to the word fake. A missing record may come from a mistyped detail, a document that has not yet been transmitted, or the wrong document type. The site pages have no statement on how to interpret a missing result. The decision comes after a written exchange with the supplier.

Table: what has to match

Which rows the lookup actually shows is not described on the site, so fill the "Lookup record" column with what you see on the screen.

Worked example: the tea importer's invoice

Example scenario, continued: before approving payment the importer's bookkeeper follows a fixed routine.

1. The order record already says the publisher will issue an "e-Archive invoice" and send it by email.
2. The PDF arrives. The bookkeeper checks the trade name and tax details against the proposal.
3. The e-Archive invoice lookup is opened from the e-Document site and the fields it asks for are noted.
4. The record found is compared with the PDF for date, amount and issuer.
5. If all three agree, the payment moves to approval. If one differs, a written question goes to the publisher and the status stays "waiting for check".

The routine does not require the bookkeeper to judge any legal question. It turns an unverified PDF into a matched record.

What to do with a clean result

A matching record settles one question only: the document you hold corresponds to what the supplier issued. It does not settle whether the articles were published as ordered, whether the links point to the right page, or whether the price was the agreed one. Move on to those checks next. Open each published article, compare the anchor and target with the order, and note the publication date in the same folder. Then approve payment for the lines that are complete and hold the rest.

Two entities in one buying group

The importer has an operating company and a separate retail company. If the order form does not say which one is the buyer, the publisher may invoice the wrong entity, and the lookup will seem to show nothing for the entity you expected. Put the buyer's trade name and tax details in the order form and repeat them in the confirmation email.

Splitting approval

Practical suggestion: let the person who confirms that the service was delivered be someone other than the person who checks the document. One checks the publication link and the date; the other checks the invoice and the lookup. A single person doing both can miss the same error twice.

An invoice dated before delivery

Not every invoice comes after the work. Article 10 of the VAT Law no. 3065 lists the events that give rise to the tax. For supplies of goods and services, the event is the delivery of the goods or the performance of the service. Where an invoice or similar document is issued before delivery or performance, the issue of that document is the taxable event, limited to the amount shown on it. Where parts of a delivery or service are customarily made or agreed in stages, the delivery of each part or the performance of a part of the service counts.

Interpreting the tax result belongs to a specialist. What it means for the buyer in practice is simple: the date on the invoice and the date the service was delivered can differ, and an invoice does not prove delivery. Keep the two dates in separate fields of the order record.

Questions for staged services

Practical suggestion: for monthly content, monthly reporting or campaign-based services, make the proposal answer these questions.

• Is the invoice issued once or period by period?
• Which delivery period does each invoice cover?
• If a line is missed during the period, how will the invoice be corrected?
• Which document will carry a correction or refund?

The last question carries the greatest weight. If the supplier issued an e-Archive invoice, how a correcting document will arrive should be clear before you pay. The documentation has no statement on the legal and tax detail of corrections, but asking the question needs no such detail.

The eight day period and your routine

If the lookup or the comparison shows a problem, time matters. The second paragraph of article 21 of the Commercial Code says that a person who receives an invoice and does not object to its content within eight days from the date of receipt is deemed to have accepted that content. The third paragraph gives the same eight day period for a letter confirming the content of a contract or statements made by phone, other communication tools, other technical means or orally.

When the period starts, what it covers and how an objection is built are topics for a separate piece. For this routine, one rule is enough: do the check on the day the invoice arrives, not at the end of the month.

A daily routine instead of a month-end batch

1. On the day it arrives, the person who receives the invoice records the date.
2. The same day, document type, trade name, date, amount and service line are compared with the order.
3. The lookup is done the same day or on the next working day.
4. If something differs, a written question goes to the supplier that day.
5. At month end, only the record folders are reviewed. No fresh checks are postponed to month end.

Who owns the calendar

Questions about which day counts as the first or last day of the eight days should not be answered with your own reading. Take the date from the record of when the invoice reached you, and finish the check well before the end of that period. Whether public holidays count is not stated in the part of the article read here.

Mistakes to avoid

Treating the file format as the document type

A PDF in your inbox says nothing about the type. The e-Archive page states that the invoice may be delivered electronically at the buyer's request, so a PDF can be an e-Archive invoice.

Reading a missing record as proof of forgery

The site has no statement on how to read a missing result. Compare, write to the supplier and wait for the answer before using strong words.

Assuming an invoice proves the service

An invoice records a sale. Delivery proof comes from the order record, the report and the published output.

Assuming only registered buyers get electronic invoices

According to the site, the e-Invoice runs between registered taxpayers, while the e-Archive invoice exists for buyers outside that system, including non-taxpayers.

Ranking e-Archive against e-Invoice

The e-Archive page presents it as an official electronic invoice type. No ranking between the two appears there.

Filing system for verified invoices

A check is only as useful as the record of it.

• Open one folder per invoice with the order form, proposal, invoice file, lookup note and correspondence.
• Name files with the supplier, date and document number.
• Record the lookup date and the person who ran it.
• Track invoice status and delivery status in separate columns: "invoice checked" and "service accepted" are different facts.
• Add every request for clarification to the same folder.

Retention periods are a separate subject. The e-Invoice menu lists the institutions allowed to provide e-Invoice storage services, and the documentation has no statement on the duties around storage.

Lookup note template

Copy any error message exactly as shown. It gives you something concrete to quote in a message to the supplier.

Checklist before payment

• The invoice type was written into the order record.
• Trade name and tax details match the proposal.
• Amount matches the agreed price.
• Service line matches the order.
• The lookup was run and its result noted.
• Any difference went to the supplier in writing.
• The invoice folder exists.

Questions to put to an agency or publisher

With an agency there is one more question: if the agency buys from a third-party publisher on your behalf, whose name is on the invoice? The agency may issue its own invoice, or the publisher's may be passed on. If the proposal does not say, ask before ordering.

Frequently Asked Questions

What separates an e-Invoice from an e-Archive invoice?

On the Revenue Administration's pages, the e-Invoice moves through a central platform between taxpayers registered in the e-Invoice system. The e-Archive invoice is issued by approved taxpayers to buyers who are not registered there and to non-taxpayers.

Can an e-Archive invoice arrive on paper?

The e-Archive page says the invoice may be delivered on paper or electronically, depending on the buyer's request.

Where can I look up an e-Archive invoice?

The e-Document home page lists "e-Arşiv Fatura Sorgulama" in the e-Archive menu. The documentation has no statement on the lookup fields, so open the page and note what the screen asks.

Does a missing record mean the invoice is false?

No conclusion can be drawn from the site pages. Write down the comparison, ask the supplier in writing and decide after the answer. This is not legal advice.

What can I do if a supplier will not issue an invoice?

The first paragraph of article 21 of the Commercial Code says that the other party may ask a merchant to issue an invoice for goods sold, work done or a benefit provided in the course of its enterprise. Put the request in writing and record the date.

How long do I have to object to an invoice?

The second paragraph of article 21 sets an eight day period from the date of receipt, after which the content is deemed accepted if no objection was made. Complete your check inside that period.

Conclusion

The type of electronic invoice follows from the issuer's status and the buyer's registration in the e-Invoice system, and the e-Document site offers an e-Archive lookup entry. Write the invoice type into the order, compare trade name, date, amount and service line on the day the invoice arrives, run the lookup, and put any mismatch to the supplier in writing. This is not legal advice.

If you want sponsored placements and link purchases handled with orders, invoices and delivery proof kept together, see the backlink packages. For checking whether delivered metrics are inflated, the guide on fake traffic and inflated SEO metrics helps, and for reading a proposal line by line see reading the backlink line item in an SEO agency proposal.