Guide — declaring the purpose

Personal or commercial?

Q: I am buying one item, but I will sell it in my shop. Is that commercial?

Commercial — for resale Yes. The regime is set by where the goods go, not by how many there are. A single item that will be resold falls under the commercial import regime. That is not a problem at our end: we have no minimum and we take single-item commercial requests. Only the document list changes, and the quote is built around it.

Q: Can I change my declaration later?

At the quote stage, yes. If the declaration changes, so do the regime, the document list and the cost lines; we issue a new quote and proceed on your approval. Once the shipment is under way, the work has turned into paper: the goods are bought, the invoice is issued, the declaration is filed. Every change after that point is a correction, and corrections cost time. That is why we press for the declaration to be right at the start — not to put you on record, but to move forward without doubling back.

Q: I am genuinely not sure. What should I do?

Ask us — we'll ask the broker Write it down exactly as it is . "I am buying this, it is going there, it will be used like this" is enough. Being accurate matters more than being tidy. We will not assume a regime on your behalf. We put the question to our licensed customs broker and send you, in writing , which regime applies and what documents it needs. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing — and if the answer is "this cannot come in that way", we tell you that too.

When you bring something from Turkey into North Cyprus (TRNC), the import regime is decided not by the item itself but by what it is for.

Record — regime and declarationTurkey → Northern CyprusUpdated: 09/2026

Short answer

The difference is in the purpose, not the product. If you or your family will use it, the import is personal. If it will be resold, used in a business, rented out or built into a project, it is commercial. That declaration decides the regime, the paperwork and the cost lines.

The declaration is yours to make; we do not make it for you. If you are unsure, describe the situation exactly as it is — we put the question to our customs broker and come back to you in writing. Amounts are never published on this site; they are itemised in your quote.

The two regimes

Same product, same route — two entirely different transactions

Change the declaration and the goods stay exactly as they are. What changes is the regime the shipment runs under, the documents required, whose name goes on them, and how many lines appear in your quote.

Point

Personal use

Commercial — for resale

What it means

PersonalYou or your household will use it. It will not be sold, rented out, or put to work in a business.

CommercialIt will be sold, used in a business, rented out, or built into a project.

Regime

PersonalPersonal import regime.

CommercialCommercial import regime.

Who the buyer is

PersonalA private individual — in your own name.

CommercialA business — company name and tax number. Even if you personally use the item, if the business is the buyer the transaction is commercial.

Importer licence

PersonalNot normally required.

CommercialIt comes into play. The licence belongs to the buyer — ours or the broker's does not stand in for it.

Paperwork

PersonalLighter: the seller's invoice, the export and import declarations, the transport document.

CommercialHeavier: all of the above plus company documents, the importer licence, and any permits or conformity papers your product group requires.

Allowances and limits

PersonalPersonal imports are subject to quantity and value limits and to allowance rules. These vary by product group and are updated by legislation.

CommercialPersonal allowances do not apply; the shipment is assessed on the product's customs tariff classification.

Invoicing and books

PersonalTwo documents: the seller's invoice for the goods, and our service invoice — both issued to you.

CommercialDocuments are issued to the company and the import lands in the company's accounts. This is the hardest thing to correct after the fact.

What we ask of you

PersonalOne sentence of declaration.

CommercialThe declaration, plus company details, tax number and the importer licence if you hold one.

This table is not a menu. You do not choose the regime — the real purpose of the goods sets it, and the declaration puts it on record. Because amounts differ on every shipment, we publish none of them here; they are itemised in your quote.

Where the line falls

When a shipment counts as commercial

What makes a shipment commercial is not that it is large or expensive, but that it enters a commercial activity. The cases we meet most often:

It will be sold. In a shop, online, at a market or hand to hand — if there is a sale, it is commercial.
A business will use it. The bed that goes into a hotel room, the oven that goes into a restaurant kitchen, the desk that goes into an office.
It goes into a project. Construction, renovation, installation — if the material becomes part of a job.
It will be rented out. If the item is given to third parties to earn income.
The invoice is in a company name. A purchase booked as a company expense runs under the commercial regime even if you are the one using it.

Does quantity make it commercial?

Quantity alone does not set the regime — but it does raise a question when it sits oddly against your declaration. One person buys twelve chairs for a house; another buys twelve chairs to sell. Customs sees the same box; the declaration is what separates them. So declare by where the goods are actually going, not by how many there are.

The same holds in reverse: we have no minimum. A single item is a real order, and a single item can be commercial. Three phones bound for a shop counter are more commercial than twelve chairs bound for a living room.

When the importer licence comes into play

Under the commercial regime an importer licence comes into play. That licence belongs to the buyer: ours does not stand in for it, and neither does the customs broker's. We say this plainly because it is the single most misunderstood point in Northern Cyprus import questions online.

If you do not hold one, the process does not automatically stop — but we will not invent the answer here. What applies depends on the product, the quantity and current TRNC regulation. Every commercially declared request goes to our broker, and we tell you in writing, before the quote, which documents are needed and whether there is an alternative. We do not describe a route we have not found.

Step by step

How to declare it correctly — four steps

The declaration is not a long form. It is four small decisions: one sentence on your side, one action on ours.

Say what it is for, in your own words

No legal language expected. "For my flat" or "for my shop" is enough. Your side: one sentence. Our side: translating that sentence into the right regime and building the quote around it.

Tell us where the goods will end up

Home, shop, site, hotel store room? The question that sets the regime is not "who paid" but "where will it be used". Our side: checking, before anything is bought, whether that product group needs a permit or conformity document.

Settle whose name goes on the invoice

The declaration and the invoice have to agree. If the invoice is in a company name, the declaration is commercial; the two cannot point in different directions. Our side: putting in writing, in the quote, before the shipment starts, which document is issued to whom.

If it is commercial, tell us about your papers up front

Importer licence, tax number, company details — send them with the request; and if you do not have them, say so. Hiding a gap only delays the file. Our side: asking the broker and listing every required document as a line in the quote.

If you are not sure, "I don't know" is the right answer. Describe the situation as it stands. We will not assume a regime on your behalf — we ask our broker and send you the answer in writing. That costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

The file

Which document belongs to which regime — and who holds it

Almost every document stays in our file. What we need from you under a commercial declaration is set out below as its own group — and that group never opens on a personal declaration.

Document

What it records

Held by

Both regimes

5 documents

Declaration of purpose

Personal or commercial. It sets the regime, the document list and the lines in your quote. Recorded with a timestamp and referenced in the service agreement.

Yours

Seller's invoice

Shows what the goods actually cost. It is the basis of the declaration, and the transaction runs on the value written on it.

Get2Cyprus

Export declaration (Turkey)

Records the lawful exit of the goods from Turkey. Filed by our licensed customs broker.

Get2Cyprus

Transport document

Evidences that the cargo was handed to the carrier, on which route and on which sailing.

Get2Cyprus

Import declaration (TRNC)

Records the entry of the goods into Northern Cyprus and the official duties and charges assessed. This is where the difference between the regimes becomes concrete.

Get2Cyprus

Commercial declaration only

3 documents

Importer licence

Evidences the right to import commercially. It belongs to the buyer — ours or the broker's does not stand in for it.

Yours

Company details and tax number

Determine whose name the documents carry and which set of books the import lands in.

Yours

Permit or conformity document by product group

May be required for food, cosmetics, medicines and medical devices, and some electrical goods. If it is needed, we chase it with our broker.

Get2Cyprus

On a personal declaration the second group never opens. On a commercial one it does, and we treat it as a work list rather than an obstacle: which document comes from you, which from us, which from the broker — all of it written into the quote. All customs work is carried out through licensed brokers in accordance with the legislation in force.

Get2Cyprus = in our file Yours = what we need from you

Risk

What happens if the declaration is wrong

This section is not here to frighten anyone. It is here because it happens, and because the cost usually shows up as time and as records before it shows up as money.

What a wrong declaration actually costs

The file stops at customs. When commercial goods arrive on a personal declaration the entry cannot be completed; further documents are requested and the cargo waits.
It takes longer. Missing or inconsistent paperwork is the number one cause of delay — the ship is rarely the problem, the paper is.
The transaction is reworked under the correct regime. Once the regime is corrected, obligations are reassessed under that regime's rules.
The responsibility sits with whoever declared. The declaration is the buyer's, and so are its administrative consequences. We write that into the agreement too.
Accounting records cannot be fixed retrospectively. Whose name the import was opened under is the hardest mistake for a business buyer to repair later.

Our position is plain: the declaration is made as it is. We have no method for presenting commercial goods as personal — not for you and not for ourselves. The same applies to value: the transaction runs on the seller's real invoice.

None of which makes a commercial declaration a penalty. Business customers are our most valuable customers, and that flow is built to help rather than to punish: the document list comes out at the start, the quote is prepared around it, and the whole thing is tracked from one file.

Frequently asked

Questions about declaring, documents and limits

Seven questions specific to this page. For timing, pricing and delivery questions, see the general FAQ on the home page.

7 entriesRegime and declarationUpdated: 09/2026

Q-01

I am buying one item, but I will sell it in my shop. Is that commercial?

Commercial — for resale

Yes. The regime is set by where the goods go, not by how many there are. A single item that will be resold falls under the commercial import regime.

That is not a problem at our end: we have no minimum and we take single-item commercial requests. Only the document list changes, and the quote is built around it.

Q-02

Would I pay less if I declared it as personal?

Wrong question

We deliberately do not answer this one, because the question is built the wrong way round. The regime is not something you choose — it follows from the real purpose of the goods, and the declaration records that purpose rather than designing it.

The two regimes do carry different cost lines; that much is true. But that is a consequence, not an option. You will get no steer from us on which declaration is cheaper, and we have no method for presenting commercial goods as personal.

What we do sell is the correct handling of a correct declaration: knowing in advance which papers are needed, completing the list, and moving the file through without it sitting still. Not a short cut — a route with less friction.

Q-03

I am buying twelve chairs for my house. Does the quantity make it commercial?

Quantity alone does not set the regime. If the chairs go into your house the declaration is personal; if they go into a café it is commercial. The same twelve chairs, two different transactions.

Quantity and value are, however, used to check that a declaration hangs together. So declare by where the goods are really going and you will not be explaining yourself later. The quantity and value limits that apply to personal imports vary by product group — we confirm the ones relevant to your shipment with the broker and set them out in your quote.

Q-04

I do not have an importer licence. Can I still bring in commercial goods?

Commercial cargo

The process does not automatically stop — but we will not invent the answer here. What applies depends on the product, the quantity and current TRNC regulation.

What we do is this: every commercially declared request goes to our broker, and we tell you in writing, before the quote, which documents are required and whether there is an alternative. If a licence is needed, it is needed — we have no way around it. Nor do we promise to "bring it in on our licence"; the importer licence belongs to the buyer.

Q-05

I want the invoice in my company's name, but I will use the item myself.

Those two cannot both be true. If the invoice is issued to the company, the company is the buyer, the purchase is a company expense and the import is the company's record — which means the transaction runs under the commercial regime.

The choice is yours, but it is one choice: either the documents are issued to you and we proceed on a personal declaration, or they are issued to the business and we proceed on a commercial one. We set out in writing, in the quote, before the shipment starts which document is issued to whom. This is the hardest thing to correct afterwards, so we do not leave it vague.

Q-06

Can I change my declaration later?

At the quote stage, yes. If the declaration changes, so do the regime, the document list and the cost lines; we issue a new quote and proceed on your approval.

Once the shipment is under way, the work has turned into paper: the goods are bought, the invoice is issued, the declaration is filed. Every change after that point is a correction, and corrections cost time. That is why we press for the declaration to be right at the start — not to put you on record, but to move forward without doubling back.

Q-07

I am genuinely not sure. What should I do?

Ask us — we'll ask the broker

Write it down exactly as it is. "I am buying this, it is going there, it will be used like this" is enough. Being accurate matters more than being tidy.

We will not assume a regime on your behalf. We put the question to our licensed customs broker and send you, in writing, which regime applies and what documents it needs. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing — and if the answer is "this cannot come in that way", we tell you that too.

Before you order

Our minimum service fee is 100 USD. The fee varies with product type, number of items and volume, but it does not go below that figure. For a single small order, do the sums first — combine several items into one shipment and the fee spreads across the whole order.
Invoices are issued in the name of Get2Cyprus. If you place the order yourself, enter our company details in the invoice fields at checkout; we send you those details when we reply to your request. Most sellers will not change an invoice after the order is placed, so enter them from the start. When we do the buying, this is handled for you.

Your case not covered by these seven? Tell us what the item is and where it is going, and we will answer for your shipment rather than in general.

Send a request

Next step

Let's get your declaration right from the start

Tell us what the item is and where it is going. We identify the regime, list the documents it needs and build the itemised quote around it. Not sure? Write anyway — asking the broker is our job.

Send a request

Sending a request commits you to nothing. You see the itemised quote first, then decide.