Guide
Which document do you issue when buying scrap gold?
When you buy gold from a customer, the document to issue is the expense voucher (gider pusulası). The producer receipt (müstahsil makbuzu), often recommended, is the wrong document for this.
Last updated: 15 August 2026. Legislation changes; check the date you are reading this.
What is an expense voucher?
Article 234 of the Tax Procedure Law (VUK) provides that purchases from persons who are not taxpayers are documented with an expense voucher. The customer who walks up to the counter to sell a bracelet is not a taxpayer, so the paper that records that purchase is the expense voucher. The buyer, that is the jeweller, issues it.
Why not the producer receipt?
The producer receipt is defined for purchases of agricultural produce: it records crops bought from a farmer. Gold is not agricultural produce, so this document does not fit a scrap gold purchase. The two get confused because both record a purchase from a non-taxpayer, but their scope is different.
Why not the Precious Metal Purchase Document?
The Precious Metal Purchase/Sale Document is used by intermediary institutions trading on the exchange. It is not the document a retail jeweller issues at the counter for scrap bought from a customer. Its name makes it a frequent suggestion; its scope is something else.
How does VAT work on the purchase?
In the jewellery trade, VAT follows two separate regimes depending on whether the item is bullion or worked, and this concerns the purchase side too. The details are a separate topic, covered in the VAT guide below. Work with your accountant for your own situation: what is described here is the type of document, not how the taxable base is calculated.
What changes in practice?
Issuing the right document is not only a compliance matter; it is how your purchase cost enters the books. When a scrap purchase is not documented with an expense voucher, the cost of the gold you bought has no basis in the ledgers, and your profit calculation at the time of sale loses its basis with it.
Sources
- Tax Procedure Law article 234 — expense voucher.
- The producer receipt is for agricultural purchases; it does not cover buying gold.
- The Precious Metal Purchase/Sale Document is specific to exchange intermediaries.
This page is for information only and is not tax advice. Legislation changes; consult your accountant for your own situation.