Identity requirement begins for jewelers: Will be requested for sales over 185 thousand TL

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance has launched an initiative to enforce an ID requirement for gold transactions exceeding 185,000 TL at jewelry stores, a regulation that is currently in effect but has not yet been widely implemented.

The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) had previously introduced a requirement for customers to present identification for large-scale transactions at jewelry stores in recent years, aiming to prevent fraud and money laundering.

Despite the threshold being raised to 185,000 liras in 2023, the regulation is not being applied in many parts of Turkey. Currently, many jewelers do not request any identification even for transactions reaching millions of liras, and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance has pressed the button to reverse this situation.

TRANSACTIONS WILL NOT BE CONDUCTED

In recent months, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek stated that the jewelry and precious metals sector is one of the industries with the highest levels of tax evasion in Turkey, and announced that a new team has been formed to conduct inspections of these businesses.

These teams will not be limited to evaluating the taxes paid by jewelers. The teams, which will also audit practices contrary to regulations, will examine whether jewelers are collecting identification information and verifying its accuracy for transactions totaling 185,000 liras or more, or in cases where multiple interconnected transactions exceed the 185,000 lira threshold.

Due to the heavy fines the Ministry will impose, it is expected that jewelers will comply with the ID requirement in the new period and completely halt transactions for individuals who do not present identification for purchases above the limit to be determined as of 2025.

According to a report in Patronlar Dünyası, Ankara Chamber of Jewelers President Timuçin Sönmez drew attention to this restriction on gold transactions, stating that citizens are not sufficiently informed about the restriction, and said, "From time to time, our tradespeople and citizens face each other on this issue.

Citizens also get uneasy when so many documents are requested.

For this reason, we have requested that MASAK officials create public service announcements.

We also plan to hang posters in jewelry stores after the newly determined limit is set."