Is a Cash Register Receipt (ÖKC) Mandatory in Restaurants and Cafes in Türkiye? Order Slip vs Fiscal Receipt and Penalties

As a rule, yes. Under Article 1 of the Katma Değer Vergisi Mükelleflerinin Ödeme Kaydedici Cihazları Kullanmaları Mecburiyeti Hakkında Kanun (Law No. 3100 on the Obligation of VAT Taxpayers to Use Payment Recording Devices), first- and second-class merchants who sell goods to, or provide services for, persons other than those who resell or process the goods must use a payment recording device. Restaurants, cafes, patisseries and similar food and drink businesses fall under this definition. GİB's new-generation ÖKC guide also states that restaurants and eateries are retail businesses within the obligation.

Under the law, sales receipts issued with an ÖKC document sales for which no invoice is required and take the place of an invoice. In other words, unless the customer asks for an invoice, the document for a retail sale at the table is the cash register receipt.

Some taxpayers are outside the obligation, such as those taxed under the simplified method, freelance professionals and those the Ministry has exempted. The safest course is to have your accountant (mali müşavir) confirm which group you are in.

The adisyon is a document issued to show the type and quantity of the service and goods. For businesses that serve at tables, such as restaurants, cafeterias and patisseries, using an adisyon is separately mandatory. The adisyon does not replace the fiscal document issued when payment is taken; when payment is collected, a receipt with fiscal value (or an invoice) must be issued from the ÖKC.

• •Adisyon: an order and bill document. It runs the flow inside the business and shows the bill to the customer.
• •Cash register (ÖKC) receipt: the fiscal document of the payment. It is recorded in the device's fiscal memory, transmitted to GİB and replaces an invoice.
• •Invoice (e-Fatura, e-Arşiv): the document issued when the customer is a business or asks for an invoice.

GİB's new-generation ÖKC FAQ document draws this line explicitly: every sale and collection made in external systems such as order terminals and restaurant sales software must be converted into a receipt with fiscal value on the cash register, and the customer must be given the ÖKC receipt. Businesses that do not comply face the special irregularity penalty under VUK Article 355 bis (mükerrer 355).

Failing to issue, use or truthfully issue a retail sales receipt or a receipt issued by an ÖKC falls under the special irregularity in paragraph 2 of VUK Article 353. The penalty is imposed separately for each document; different amounts apply for the first finding and later findings within a calendar year, the penalty rises with repeated findings, and there is an annual cap per document type. The law also provides that the penalty is applied at an increased rate if the counterparties notify the authority within five business days that the document was not issued.

Failure to issue an invoice where one is required falls under paragraph 1 of Article 353; there, the penalty is set at 10 percent of the amount to be written on the document, with a minimum and an annual cap.

Current penalty amounts are announced every year by communiqué of the Hazine ve Maliye Bakanlığı (Ministry of Treasury and Finance, GİB). For the amounts effective 1 January 2026, see the VUK Genel Tebliği (Sıra No: 588) and GİB's tax penalties guide.

Under VUK Article 233, if a cash register is used and no receipt is given to the customer, a retail sales receipt must be issued and handed to the customer. The law contains no provision making the receipt depend on the customer's request. The obligation rests with the selling business, so a customer saying "I do not want a receipt" does not release the business from issuing one.

Paragraph 3 of Article 353 (added by Law No. 7524 on 28 July 2024) also covers the buyer's side: if a person with no commercial activity is found not to have taken an invoice, retail sales receipt or ÖKC receipt, a special irregularity penalty is imposed per document, with an annual cap. No penalty is imposed on the person if they notify the authority within five business days after the date the document should have been issued.

In practice the safest approach is to issue the receipt at every payment and hand it over. Even if the customer does not take it, the sale will have been recorded on the ÖKC.

No. The slip from a bank POS terminal documents the card transaction; it is not the tax document of the sale. According to GİB's FAQ document, restaurants that collect payment at the table should use an EFT-POS-enabled new-generation ÖKC instead of a mobile bank POS, issuing the slip and receipt together and handing them to the customer. Even where an external bank POS is used, each collection from that device must be converted to a receipt on the ÖKC.

Accepting card payments is also part of the obligation. The Vergi Usul Kanunu Genel Tebliği (Sıra No: 557) requires taxpayers within the YN ÖKC obligation to sign a merchant agreement with at least one bank or payment service provider and accept card payments. If this is not met, the relevant ÖKCs are shut down and set to passive.

The ÖKC receipt serves as the document for sales where no invoice obligation applies. An invoice is issued where one is required: when the buyer is a business, when a consumer sale exceeds the threshold set under VUK Article 232, or when the consumer asks for one. Under Article 232, a customer who requests an invoice must be given one even if the amount is below the threshold. The threshold is revalued every year.

Whether you issue the invoice as an e-Fatura or an e-Arşiv depends on your business's status with GİB. Businesses that are required to, or have voluntarily moved to, e-Arşiv invoicing issue the invoice to customers as an e-Arşiv invoice instead of a paper one. Ask your accountant which group your business belongs to.