Financial seal application

What the seal does

Under the Revenue Administration’s e-document rules, an individual signs with an e-signature, while a company approves its electronic documents with its financial seal — an electronic certificate prepared by TÜBİTAK BİLGEM Kamu SM on behalf of the Revenue Administration. If you are used to company chops, the comparison is close: the seal stands for the company, not for the person holding it.

The seal comes as a card with a card reader. The certificate can also be used through a hardware security module (HSM); loading it onto one is done by Kamu SM or by those it authorises.

Why a new company should plan for one

Since 1 January 2025, every taxpayer keeping balance-sheet books must keep its journal and general ledger as an e-Ledger, and every trading company keeps balance-sheet books. The e-Ledger must be signed with a financial seal or an electronic signature.

The seal is also used for e-Invoices and e-Archive invoices when they are approved with your company’s own certificate. If we set up e-Invoice and e-Ledger for you, we time the seal application so that it does not hold up either one.

A manager with a Turkish identity number is required. To obtain a financial seal, the company must have a manager (müdür) who is a Turkish citizen, or a foreign national who holds a Turkish foreigner identity number (yabancı kimlik numarası, starting with 9), for example one issued with a residence permit. If none of the company’s managers meets this condition, it has to be arranged before the application.

Delivery when the director is abroad

Kamu SM checks the application against the company’s trade registry records, so the company’s details in those records must be correct and up to date before anything is submitted. We check them first.

Once the fee is paid, the certificate is produced and handed to a courier for the authorised person, or sent to a courier branch or PTT point. If your director is in mainland China or Hong Kong, one practical route is a notarised power of attorney for a person in Türkiye who can receive the card. We tell you exactly what the document must say before you sign it, so that it only has to be notarised and apostilled once.

Keeping the seal valid

Under the Revenue Administration’s rules, the seal must be used under the control of the authorised persons the company has declared. When those persons change, the new ones must be designated straight away. A change of trade name makes the existing certificate invalid, and a new one must be applied for within 15 days.

The standard certificate runs for three years. Renew it before it expires: an expired certificate can no longer sign the e-Ledger. Need a seal for an existing company? Contact us; you can write to us in Chinese or English.