Website accounting entries: is a web design invoice an expense or a fixed asset?

The 2026 direct-expensing threshold: Article 313 of the Tax Procedure Law

Article 313 of the Tax Procedure Law provides that goodwill payments and tools, equipment, furnishings and fixtures used in a business whose value does not exceed a specified threshold may be expensed directly without depreciation. On GİB’s Article 313 page , this threshold is shown as 12,000 TL from January 1, 2026, under General Communiqué No. 588 on the Tax Procedure Law. Because the threshold is updated annually using the revaluation rate, amounts from previous years are not used for new invoices.

Under the article, the threshold is considered collectively for assets forming an economic and technical whole. The rulings refer to this threshold as the capitalization threshold for websites with income-generating functions; for promotional websites, they state that direct expensing is possible without attaching an amount condition. In website accounting, splitting one website project into multiple invoices may not mean it falls below the threshold because of the rule on economic and technical unity.

Web design accounting entries: capitalization and direct expensing

The Uniform Chart of Accounts is annexed to General Communiqué No. 1 on Accounting System Implementation and was prepared for businesses keeping books on a balance-sheet basis. Taxpayers using the operating-account bookkeeping method do not record entries with these account codes. Web design accounting entries are therefore shaped first by the business’s bookkeeping method.

In the chart, group 26 is ‘Intangible fixed assets.’ Account 260 Rights covers rights acquired for a payment, such as concessions, patents, licenses and trademarks; account 267 Other intangible fixed assets is for items outside those categories. The rulings do not specify which account code a website should use; the accountant decides which of the two accounts applies. For a capitalized website, entries generally proceed as follows:

1. When the invoice arrives, debit the amount excluding VAT to the selected intangible fixed asset account (260 or 267) and invoice VAT to account 191 Deductible VAT; credit the supplier or bank account in return.
2. Under Article 320 of the Tax Procedure Law, the depreciation period starts in the year the asset enters the balance sheet.
3. Debit annual depreciation to the relevant expense account and credit account 268 Accumulated amortization.
4. At the end of the period, the asset is fully amortized; even if the website remains in use, no further depreciation remains to be charged.

If direct expensing is chosen for a promotional website, its cost is posted to an expense account without capitalization. The chart separately defines account 760 Marketing, sales and distribution expenses and account 770 General administrative expenses; which account tracks promotional expenditure depends on the business’s expense allocation.

How are the depreciation period and method determined?

Article 315 of the Tax Procedure Law states that depreciable assets are written off using rates announced by the Ministry. Article 320 of the Tax Procedure Law provides that taxpayers may choose a longer period, provided it is no shorter than the listed useful life and does not exceed twice the listed period or 50 years. A website depreciation rate therefore cannot be calculated using a period shorter than three years.

• Straight-line depreciation: The same rate applies each year; over a three-year period, one-third of the cost becomes an expense each year.
• Declining balance: Under repeated Article 315, only taxpayers keeping books on a balance-sheet basis may choose this; the rate is twice the normal rate but cannot exceed 50%.
• Daily basis: Under the provision added by Law No. 7338, a taxpayer may choose to start depreciation on a newly capitalized asset when it is ready for use and calculate it on a daily basis.

Monthly prorated depreciation is provided for passenger cars in Article 320; for a website, annual depreciation or the daily-basis option applies. Because the method also affects later years, making this choice with the accountant in the year the website is capitalized is recommended for website accounting.

Domain accounting entries

A domain is usually obtained through an annual registration or renewal fee and paid for again each year. The Uniform Chart of Accounts defines account 180 Expenses for future months for prepaid amounts that should not be recorded as expenses in the current period. Allocating the portion of an annual domain fee paid midyear relating to the current period to expenses and the remainder to 180 ensures period matching; the treatment of small amounts is determined with the accountant.

If a domain is purchased from an individual rather than a registrar, the documentation changes. According to the Istanbul Tax Office Directorate’s tax ruling dated June 17, 2020, income tax withholding is not required on a domain fee paid to a person who is not a taxpayer. If the seller regularly sells domains within a commercial organization, they issue an invoice; for a one-time sale, the purchasing company issues an expense voucher in the seller’s name.

Registering the domain in the business’s name aligns the invoice and ownership with the same party and establishes the link between the document and asset in website accounting. At Onur Freelance, a domain costs 1,000 TL annually or 3,000 TL with hosting and is created in the business’s name; details are on the domain prices page.

Recording hosting expenses and allocating prepayments to periods

Hosting is a service for a specified period obtained to keep the website online and is usually paid annually in advance. The periodicity principle in the General Communiqué on Accounting System Implementation requires income and expenses to be reflected in the periods to which they belong on an accrual basis. An annual prepaid hosting fee is therefore allocated to the relevant months rather than expensed all at once:

1. Debit the prepaid amount to account 180 Expenses for future months and invoice VAT to account 191 Deductible VAT.
2. At the end of each month or period, transfer that month’s share to the relevant expense account by crediting 180.
3. For prepayments covering more than one year, track the portion relating to future years in account 280 Expenses for future years.
4. When the relevant year arrives, transfer the share in 280 to 180 and continue allocating it across months.

This process for hosting expense entries is described in the explanations for accounts 180 and 280 in the chart of accounts. At Onur Freelance, hosting costs 2,000 TL annually; package scope is explained on the hosting prices page. If the server is obtained from a company abroad, VAT is considered separately and addressed in the foreign-services section below.

Recording monthly services such as maintenance, SEO and advertising

Monthly invoiced maintenance, SEO and advertising management services are service purchases rather than asset acquisitions. Under period matching, the expense is reflected in the month the invoice relates to. The main point to watch in website accounting is adding a new sales or payment function under the label of maintenance; how to treat such development is discussed separately with the accountant.

The advertising budget and advertising management service are two separate invoices: the budget is paid to the advertising platform and the management fee to the service provider. At Onur Freelance, SEO, Google Ads and social media management each start at 9,000 TL per month, and the advertising budget is not included; website maintenance ranges from 500–2,000 TL monthly.

VAT rates on these services and withholding on advertising services are a separate subject, explained using GİB texts in the social media management VAT and withholding guide . For an itemized breakdown of a website’s total annual cost, consult the article on annual website cost .

Reverse-charge VAT on services from abroad (Return No. 2)

For a service obtained from a company abroad and used in Turkey, if the company has no establishment in Turkey, the receiving business declares VAT under the reverse-charge mechanism. The Istanbul Tax Office Directorate’s tax ruling dated July 12, 2013, states that tax on server services obtained from a company in the Netherlands for a website must be declared and paid through VAT Return No. 2. According to the same ruling, reverse-charge VAT paid may be deducted on VAT Return No. 1.

A similar rule applies to advertising services. The Istanbul Tax Office Directorate’s tax ruling dated May 30, 2023, states that for advertising services obtained from Facebook, all calculated VAT if the company has no establishment in Turkey, or the 3/10 withheld portion if it does, is declared through VAT Return No. 2. For a Google Ads invoice, the situation depends on which company serves the account: according to Google’s Google Ads tax page , accounts served by Google Reklamcılık ve Pazarlama Ltd. Şti. are subject to VAT at Turkey’s standard rate.

In the entries, reverse-charge VAT is tracked as a debit to account 191 Deductible VAT and a credit to account 360 Taxes and funds payable; the chart defines 360 for taxes payable as a taxpayer or withholding party. In website accounting involving foreign services, the company’s name and address on the invoice provide the first clue to which rule applies.

How should the service be described on a web design invoice?

Article 230 of the Tax Procedure Law requires an invoice to contain at least the type, quantity, price and amount of the goods or work. Article 231 stipulates that an invoice must be issued no later than seven days after the service is performed. When a web design invoice is issued on a single line using a general phrase such as ‘web service,’ it becomes harder for the accountant to distinguish the website’s function and the duration of each item. A clear invoice for accounting purposes shows these lines separately:

• Website design and software development cost as a one-time item
• The name of any sales, ordering or payment module
• Domain registration or renewal period
• Hosting service start and end dates
• The month to which maintenance, SEO or advertising management relates

Using the same descriptions for invoice items as in the contract demonstrates consistency between documentation and accounting. How to write the scope, functions to be delivered and time periods in the contract is explained in the web design contract guide.

Common website accounting mistakes and the correct method

A frequently seen shortcut in general practice is recording the entire website invoice as a single item in one account; this mixes items with different periods and characteristics. Under an item-by-item approach, design, domain, hosting and monthly services are tracked separately, largely avoiding the following mistakes:

• Directly expensing a sales website: According to the rulings, a website with an income-generating function is capitalized if it exceeds the threshold.
• A depreciation period shorter than the list: Article 320 does not permit a period shorter than the listed useful life.
• Expensing the whole annual hosting fee in the payment month: The share belonging to future months is tracked in 180.
• Skipping Return No. 2 for a foreign service: The buyer declares VAT for services obtained from a foreign company without an establishment in Turkey.
• Registering the domain in an employee’s or agency’s name: Even if the invoice is issued to the business, someone else appears as domain owner.
• Using a previous year’s threshold: The amount in Article 313 is updated every year.

Possible entries for the items and their bases are shown side by side in the following table. The table is a general framework; confirming entries with the accountant according to the business’s bookkeeping method and the website’s actual function is recommended.