Selling Property in Turkey as a Foreigner: Tax and Steps

Selling property in Turkey as a foreigner follows the same route as any sale: an official deed at the land registry, a title deed fee paid by both sides, and income tax on the gain only if you sell within five years of buying (193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu mükerrer m.80). A non-resident seller files a separate return at the tax office where the property is located within fifteen days, and can transfer the sale price abroad through a bank.

This guide is for owners who live outside Turkey, in the Gulf, Europe or elsewhere, and who want to sell a flat, house or land they hold in their own name. It follows the order of the decisions: whether tax arises, what it costs at the land registry, how to sign from abroad, and how the money leaves Turkey. Turkish statute names are given in Turkish because that is how the official texts and offices refer to them.

1. Selling Property in Turkey as a Foreigner: Who Can Sell and How

Selling property in Turkey as a foreigner requires no special permission for the seller; the condition is the form of the contract. A property sale is valid only if made in official form (6098 sayılı Türk Borçlar Kanunu m.237/1), and contracts transferring ownership of real estate are valid only in official form (4721 sayılı Türk Medenî Kanunu m.706/1). That official form is the deed signed at the land registry office.

A private agreement, a receipt for a deposit or a contract signed at an estate agent does not transfer ownership. Even a promise to sell must itself be made in official form (6098 sayılı Türk Borçlar Kanunu m.237/2). If you and a buyer agree terms before the appointment, treat that document as a commercial understanding, not as the sale.

The rules on who may buy apply to your buyer, not to you. If the buyer is also a foreigner, nationality and area limits apply to them (2644 sayılı Tapu Kanunu m.35/1); they are explained in buying property in Turkey as a foreigner.

2. Selling Property in Turkey: The Five-Year Capital Gains Rule

Selling property in Turkey within five years of acquiring it makes the gain taxable; after five years the gain falls outside this category. The law treats as a capital gain the profit from disposing of real estate within five years of the acquisition date, whatever the manner of acquisition, except property acquired free of charge (193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu mükerrer m.80).

Three features decide most cases:

• The clock starts at acquisition. The five years run from the date you acquired the property, which in practice means the registration of your purchase, not the date you decide to sell.
• Inherited and gifted property is excluded. Property acquired free of charge is outside the rule, so a flat you inherited is treated differently from one you bought.
• “Disposal” is broad. Sale, transfer for consideration, exchange, expropriation, nationalisation and contributing the property as capital to a company all count (193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu mükerrer m.80).

The same article grants an exempt amount of capital gains each calendar year. That amount is revalued annually, so check the figure for the year of your sale rather than relying on a number published for an earlier year.

2.1. Selling Property in Turkey: How the Taxable Gain Is Calculated

Selling property in Turkey within five years produces a taxable amount that is net, not gross. The net gain is the sale proceeds minus the acquisition cost, minus the expenses of the sale that the seller bears, and minus the taxes and fees the seller paid (193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu mükerrer m.81).

The acquisition cost is also adjusted for inflation. It is increased by the rise in the wholesale price index of the official statistics institute named in the law, excluding the month of sale, provided that the rise is ten per cent or more (193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu mükerrer m.81). In periods of high inflation this adjustment can reduce the taxable gain substantially, so keep the purchase deed and the receipts of the fees you paid when you bought.

2.2. Selling Property in Turkey: The Income Tax Rates

Selling property in Turkey within five years puts the net gain into the income tax tariff. Income subject to income tax is taxed in bands at 15, 20, 27, 35 and 40 per cent (193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu m.103). The band limits are expressed in Turkish lira and are revalued every year, so the rate that applies to your gain depends on the year of sale and the size of the gain; check the tariff for that year rather than an older table.

2.3. Selling Property in Turkey as a Non-Resident: The Tax Return

Selling property in Turkey as a non-resident means you are taxed only on what you earn in Turkey: persons not settled in Turkey are taxed solely on income and earnings obtained in Turkey (193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu m.6). A gain from Turkish property is such income.

A non-resident who is not otherwise required to file an annual return declares gains from disposing of real estate on a separate return, to the tax office where the property is located, within fifteen days of the date the gain is acquired (193 sayılı Gelir Vergisi Kanunu m.101). Fifteen days is short for someone abroad, so arrange in advance who will file, especially if you are selling through a representative.

3. Selling Property in Turkey: The Title Deed Fee and Declared Price

Selling property in Turkey costs the seller a title deed fee as well as the buyer. The fee for transferring real estate for consideration is charged to the transferor and to the transferee separately, and the rate shown in the tariff column is two per cent for each; the President may raise it up to double or reduce it down to one tenth, together or separately, depending on factors such as the type and location of the property (492 sayılı Harçlar Kanunu (4) sayılı tarife 20/a). Check the rate that applies to your transaction with the land registry on the day.

The fee is calculated on the declared transfer price, which may not be lower than the property’s tax value (492 sayılı Harçlar Kanunu m.63). Declaring less than the real price does not close the matter: if it later appears that the declared price did not reflect reality, the difference in fee is assessed together with a tax loss penalty of one times the amount (492 sayılı Harçlar Kanunu m.63). The declared price also matters for your own capital gains calculation, because the gain is measured from the sale proceeds.

4. Selling Property in Turkey: What the Land Registry Checks

Selling property in Turkey ends with registration, and the registry will not register the transfer of a building or independent unit covered by compulsory earthquake insurance unless a valid policy is shown for the date of the transaction (6305 sayılı Afet Sigortaları Kanunu m.11/2). Make sure the policy has not lapsed while you were abroad.

The official deed records the agreed price or the tax value, the fee information and, where required, the earthquake insurance policy (Resmî Senet Yönetmeliği m.7/1-ğ, m.7/1-l, m.7/1-m). If the property was bought under a citizenship programme, check the title register first, as described below.

4.1. Selling Property in Turkey to a Foreign Buyer: The Valuation Report

Selling property in Turkey to a foreign buyer adds a step on the buyer’s side. Under circular 2024/2 of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, dated 1 March 2024, a property valuation report is mandatory in transactions where a foreign natural person is the buyer; the report is prepared by valuation firms authorised by the Capital Markets Board and registered with the Turkish valuation experts’ association. The circular is an administrative instruction, not legislation, and is not published in the Official Gazette; its text is on the Land Registry’s announcement page. If your buyer is a Turkish citizen, this circular does not bring that requirement.

4.2. Selling Property in Turkey with a Mortgage on the Title

Selling property in Turkey that carries a mortgage does not by itself release the mortgage or the debtor. Unless otherwise agreed, the transfer of a mortgaged property does not change the debtor’s liability or the security (4721 sayılı Türk Medenî Kanunu m.888). A buyer will therefore usually want the mortgage paid off and deleted from the register at the same appointment; agree with your bank in advance how the loan is closed out of the sale price.

4.3. Selling Property in Turkey Bought for Citizenship

Selling property in Turkey that you bought to obtain Turkish citizenship is restricted for three years. Citizenship by real estate investment requires that the title register carry an annotation that the property will not be sold for three years, or, for a notarised promise to sell, an annotation that it will not be transferred or cancelled for three years (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.20/2-b). The conditions of the programme itself are explained in Turkish citizenship by investment.

5. Selling Property in Turkey from Abroad by Power of Attorney

Selling property in Turkey from abroad is usually done through a representative. If the owner does not attend, the representative needs a power of attorney prepared under the Turkish Notary Law that covers this specific transaction and carries the principal’s signature (Tapu Sicili Tüzüğü m.18/4). A document issued by a foreign notary must also meet the land registry’s authentication, photograph and translation requirements; these are set out in power of attorney for Turkey from abroad.

Give the representative only the powers the sale needs: selling the named property, signing the deed, receiving the price into a named bank account and paying the fees. A broad power that also covers mortgaging or selling other assets exposes you to more than the sale requires.

6. Selling Property in Turkey Through an Estate Agent

Selling property in Turkey through an estate agent is optional; the law requires the official deed, not an intermediary. If you use one, real estate trade may be carried out only by businesses holding an authorisation certificate (Taşınmaz Ticareti Hakkında Yönetmelik m.5/1), and the service is provided on the basis of a written authorisation agreement (Taşınmaz Ticareti Hakkında Yönetmelik m.15/1).

The agent’s fee for a sale may not exceed four per cent of the sale price stated in the brokerage agreement, excluding VAT, and unless the brokerage agreement says otherwise it is shared equally between buyer and seller (Taşınmaz Ticareti Hakkında Yönetmelik m.20/1, m.20/5). Read the authorisation agreement before signing, because it fixes the fee and its duration.

7. Selling Property in Turkey: Transferring the Proceeds Abroad

Selling property in Turkey as a non-resident does not trap the money in Turkey. Persons resident abroad may freely transfer the income from and the sale price of real estate they bought or own in Turkey, provided the transfer goes through banks (Türk Parası Kıymetini Koruma Hakkında 32 Sayılı Karar m.16/1). Ask the buyer to pay into a Turkish bank account in your name and arrange the outward transfer from that bank, so that the paper trail matches the price in the deed.

If you held a residence permit based on owning this property, the sale affects that permit; the grounds on which a short-term residence permit is cancelled or not extended are explained in residence permit types in Turkey. If the property came to you by inheritance, the five-year rule does not apply to it, and the steps to register inherited property are in inheritance with a foreign element in Turkey.