Glossary
Vergi levhası — meaning and English translation
A vergi levhası is the Turkish tax registration certificate that every business and self-employed person must hold, showing the taxpayer, tax office, tax number and declared income.
Anyone carrying on a trade or profession in Türkiye is registered with a tax office (vergi dairesi) and must be able to produce a vergi levhası. The word levha means plaque, from the days when it hung on the shop wall; today it is generated each year from the Revenue Administration's online system after the annual return is filed, and it states the taxpayer's name or company, tax identification number, tax office, type of tax and the income or profit declared for the last period. It is the standard first document a Turkish counterparty is asked for.
We render it as “tax registration certificate (vergi levhası)”. The older “tax plate” is a literal translation that leaves a UK reader guessing, and “tax certificate” alone is too close to HMRC's certificate of residence.
The Home Office and lenders see it as proof that a self-employed sponsor or applicant is trading. See starting a UK business with Turkish company documents.