Selling your Turkish property as a foreigner: taxes, process and transfer of funds

Selling a property in Türkiye as a foreign owner follows the same land registry (tapu) procedure as buying, but three extra questions come up: will you owe Turkish income tax on the gain, how and when do you declare it, and can you move the money abroad? This guide answers them using the Revenue Administration's (Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı, GİB) February 2026 guide and the Central Bank's capital movements rules, as of October 2026. It is general information, not tax advice.

When a gain is taxable: the five-year rule

Under the Income Tax Law (Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, repeated Article 80), a gain made by an individual from selling land or buildings is a capital gain (değer artışı kazancı) if the property is sold within five years of acquisition. GİB states that the five years are counted in calendar days.

• Sold after five full years: the gain is not taxed as a capital gain under this rule.
• Sold within five years: the net gain is taxable above an annual exemption.
• Inherited or gifted property: GİB says gains from property acquired without payment (for example by inheritance) are not taxed as capital gains, whenever you sell.

The acquisition date is normally the date of registration at the land registry. GİB accepts an earlier date in some cases where you received a ready-to-use home before registration and can prove actual use with documents such as handover records or utility bills. If you bought land and later received flats from a contractor in exchange, the registration date of the new units counts.

How the taxable gain is calculated

1. Start with the sale price received.
2. Deduct the cost of the property. The purchase cost is indexed by the domestic producer price index (Yİ-ÜFE) from the month before acquisition to the month before sale, but only if the increase is 10 percent or more.
3. Deduct sale-related expenses borne by you and taxes and fees you paid.
4. Subtract the annual exemption: 120,000 lira for sales in 2025 and 150,000 lira for sales in 2026.
5. Apply the income tax tariff to what remains. For 2025 income the rates were progressive from 15 to 40 percent; the 2026 tariff is set by General Communiqué No. 332.

Losses from this type of income cannot be offset against other kinds of income.

Declaring and paying: residents and non-residents

How you declare depends on your tax status in Türkiye.

Foreigners with a Turkish foreign identity number (yabancı kimlik numarası) can log into Hazır Beyan with that number, and GİB says such foreigners living abroad can get an e-Devlet password from Turkish missions. A resident who leaves Türkiye permanently during the year must file within the 15 days before leaving. Whether you count as resident or non-resident, and whether a double tax treaty between Türkiye and your country changes the result, is a question for a tax adviser.

The sale itself at the land registry

1. Check the title. Make sure there is no mortgage, seizure or annotation that blocks the sale. If you used the property for citizenship, see the next section.
2. Apply for the transaction at the land registry or via Web Tapu. Compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK) is required for buildings.
3. Pay the title deed fee. Under the Fees Law, title deed fee on a sale is charged to the transferor and the transferee separately, on the declared price, which may not be lower than the property tax value. The land registry tells you the amount by SMS before the appointment.
4. Sign the official deed. If you do not speak Turkish, a sworn interpreter must attend. If you cannot be present, a power of attorney made abroad must meet TKGM's rules (Turkish consulate, or local notary with apostille or consular legalisation).
5. If the buyer is a foreigner, the price must be paid in foreign currency sold to a Turkish bank, and you receive Turkish lira; the bank's exchange certificate goes to the land registry before signing.

Declare the real price. Article 63 of the Fees Law provides for an additional fee assessment and a tax-loss penalty if the declared price is found not to reflect the real situation or to be below the property tax value.

Properties bought for citizenship

A property used for citizenship by investment carries a three-year annotation that it will not be sold. After three years, the owner asks the land registry to remove it. TKGM states that if removal is requested earlier, after the investment certificate was issued, the land registry informs the population and citizenship directorate immediately. TKGM's guide also says a transfer back to the previous owner after the three years is reported for review of the citizenship file. For a buyer seeking citizenship, note that property transferred by an investor-citizen to a Turkish owner in the previous three years cannot be used again for citizenship, which can affect who will buy from you.

Moving the money abroad

Article 13 of the Central Bank's Capital Movements Circular states that people resident abroad may freely transfer abroad, through banks, the income and sale proceeds of real estate they bought or own in Türkiye, after taxes and similar obligations are deducted. Keep the deed, the bank receipts and the tax payment documents, as the bank may ask for them.

How we can help

Turkey Property Desk helps foreign buyers with exactly these steps: we check which documents you need, arrange sworn translations and notarisation, book the land registry appointment, interpret at the signing and follow residence or citizenship applications. Write to us on WhatsApp in your language. For legal checks on a specific property, please use a lawyer and the land registry.