Translations for HMRC

Where Turkish documents reach HMRC

Most people living in the UK never send HMRC a foreign document. Turkish residents do, for a handful of predictable reasons. Self Assessment with foreign income is the biggest: rent from a flat in İstanbul, a Turkish pension, dividends from a family company, interest on a Turkish deposit account, all of which go on the foreign pages of the return, and where you claim credit for Turkish tax already paid you may need to show the Turkish assessment. Child Benefit and Tax-Free Childcare are administered by HMRC, and a child born in Türkiye is proved by a Turkish birth certificate or a nüfus kayıt örneği. Inheritance tax returns list assets in Türkiye: a tapu, a Turkish bank balance, a veraset ilamı naming the heirs. Capital gains on a Turkish property sale rest on the tapu and the sale documents. And a compliance check can ask for any of the above, usually within thirty days.

What HMRC requires

HMRC has not published a translation rule that we could find; the box on this page summarises what its guidance and correspondence say in practice, rather than quoting a requirement. Where a document supporting a return or a claim is in another language, HMRC asks for an English translation with it, and caseworkers expect the translation to be complete and to identify who made it. There is no HMRC list of translators and no mention of notarisation. We apply the certification format that GOV.UK sets out for other departments: a full translation, a statement that it is a true and accurate translation of the original document, the date, and the name and contact details of the translation company, with our Ankara registry details on every page. That format has been accepted by HMRC in the files we have handled to date.

Turkish documents that come up

• Turkish tax returns and certificates (beyanname, vergi levhası, tahakkuk fişi) for foreign tax credit claims.
• Turkish bank statements and interest certificates.
• Rental contracts (kira sözleşmesi) and rent receipts for property income.
• Turkish pension statements from SGK or a private fund.
• Birth certificates or a nüfus kayıt örneği for Child Benefit.
• Tapu, valuation reports and veraset ilamı for inheritance tax and capital gains.
• Company documents, invoices and certificates of origin for VAT and customs matters.

Common reasons HMRC comes back with questions

• Currency conversion is done in the translation. HMRC wants the Turkish lira figures as printed; you or your accountant convert them using HMRC’s published rates. A translation that shows only converted sterling figures cannot be checked.
• The Turkish tax year (the calendar year) is silently mapped onto the UK tax year. We translate the period as stated and leave apportionment to the return.
• E-Devlet PDFs are translated without the verification code and barcode, which HMRC can use to check authenticity.
• A bank statement is translated only for the month HMRC asked about, but the opening balance depends on the previous page.
• A rental contract is translated without the annex listing the rent, deposit and duration.

How we prepare HMRC documents

Financial translators handle the documents and a second linguist checks every figure, date and account number against the original. Numbers keep the Turkish format explained once (1.250,00 TL), verification codes are reproduced, and each page carries our certification statement, stamp and signature with the copy of the original attached. HMRC accepts PDFs uploaded to your personal tax account or sent with a paper return; hard copies by courier from Ankara (£30) or UK Special Delivery (£8) are available for postal enquiries. Bank statements are dense, so a monthly statement is often 2–3 pages (£20–30); a Turkish annual return 2–4 pages (£20–40); a birth certificate or nüfus extract one page (£10); a tapu one page (£10). Turnaround is 1–2 working days for most items, and we prioritise compliance-check deadlines. No UK VAT is charged. Our financial translation page explains how statements and tax terms are handled.