Selling Property in Turkey as a Foreigner 2026: Capital Gains Tax, Fees and Steps

Selling property in Turkey as a foreigner is done the same way as buying: one appointment at the land registry office, where the title deed passes to the buyer and the fees are paid. The tax side is what needs planning. If you sell within five years of buying, the gain can be taxed in Türkiye. If you are leaving the country, you also have to think about getting the money out. This guide covers each stage as the rules stand in October 2026.

Key points:

• The title deed fee is 4% of the declared price. By law the seller pays 2% and the buyer 2%, although the split can be negotiated.
• When a foreigner sells, the land registry requires a valuation report from an SPK-licensed firm, and the declared price cannot be below the report’s value.
• A gain on property sold within five years of purchase is taxable as a value increase gain (değer artışı kazancı). For 2026 sales, the first 150,000 lira of gain is exempt.
• The purchase cost is adjusted for inflation using the producer price index (Yİ-ÜFE), but only if the index has risen by at least 10%.
• Residents declare the gain on their income tax return in March of the following year. Non-residents generally file a separate return within 15 days.

Our guide to buying property in Turkey as a foreigner explains the same paperwork from the buyer’s side.

Before you list: checks every foreign seller should make

Settle these before agreeing a price:

• Holding period. Find the registration date on your title deed (tapu) and count five years from it. Selling a few weeks after that date instead of a few weeks before it can change whether any tax is due.
• Annotations on the title. Check whether the title carries a citizenship no-sale annotation (şerh), a mortgage, a seizure order or any other restriction. A mortgage has to be paid off and released before the transfer, or the release has to be arranged as part of the sale.
• Incentive clawbacks. If you bought a new build free of VAT under the non-resident exemption, selling within three years of registration makes the unpaid VAT plus interest payable.
• Building status. Buyers’ lawyers check for a habitation certificate (iskan) and any zoning amnesty registration.
• Your purchase records. Find the deed showing the price you declared when you bought, your foreign currency conversion document if you have one, and receipts for the fees you paid. The declared purchase price is the starting point for any gain calculation.

Agents and commission

You can sell privately or through an estate agent. Under the Real Estate Trade Regulation (Taşınmaz Ticareti Hakkında Yönetmelik), the commission on a sale cannot exceed 4% of the sale price plus VAT. Unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, it is shared equally between buyer and seller, which in practice means 2% plus 20% VAT from each side. A brokerage agreement must be in writing to be enforceable, and the agent earns the fee when its work leads to a completed sale, not merely for showing the property.

The agent should hold an authorisation certificate (yetki belgesi) and publish the listing through the electronic listing verification system (EİDS), which ties the advert to the owner’s title. Recent changes have tightened what is needed when the owner is a foreigner. See our report on tightened listing rules for foreign property owners and on estate agents and EİDS listings.

To compare your asking price with similar homes, you can look at current property for sale in Turkey on Vartur and at recent price data, such as our report on house prices in August 2026.

The sale at the land registry, step by step

1. Agree terms in writing. Cover price, payment method, who pays which fees, completion date and contents. Off-plan or staged deals often use a notarised sales promise contract.
2. Apply for the appointment. You, the buyer or the agent apply to the land registry office (tapu müdürlüğü) for the district, usually online through the Web Tapu system or at the office. You will need the property details and both parties’ identity documents.
3. Valuation report. Because a foreign national is a party, the land registry requires a valuation report from a valuation firm licensed by the Capital Markets Board (SPK). The rule has applied to all sales involving foreigners, as buyers or sellers, since March 2019. Reports are generally valid for three months, and the declared price cannot be lower than the report’s value. The buyer usually commissions and pays for it, but agree this beforehand.
4. DASK earthquake insurance. The buyer needs a valid compulsory earthquake insurance policy in their own name for the transfer. Tell your insurer about the sale so your policy can be cancelled or changed.
5. Fee calculation and payment. The land registry issues a fee notice with the title deed fee (tapu harcı) and the revolving-fund service fee (döner sermaye), which was reported at an average of about 6,681 lira for 2026, varying by location. Each party pays its share before signing.
6. Payment of the price. If the buyer is also a foreigner, the land registry generally requires them to convert foreign currency into lira at a bank and present a foreign currency purchase certificate (döviz alım belgesi). The seller is then paid in lira. A secure payment system that releases the price at the moment the title changes hands is due to become mandatory on Dec. 1, 2026. See our report on the postponement to December 1.
7. Signing. Both parties, or their attorneys, sign the official deed at the office. If you do not speak Turkish, a sworn translator must attend. The new title is issued the same day.
8. After the sale. Close or transfer electricity, water, gas and internet accounts, settle any service charge (aidat) with the building management, and make sure property tax is paid up so the buyer is not handed old debts.

Documents a foreign seller typically needs

• Passport
• Turkish tax number (or foreigner identity number)
• Title deed details
• Valuation report from an SPK-licensed firm
• Notarised and apostilled power of attorney, if someone signs for you
• Proof that any mortgage has been released

Selling by power of attorney is common among owners who live abroad. The power can be drawn up at a Turkish notary or consulate, or abroad with an apostille and translation. It should clearly authorise the sale of the specific property and receipt of the money.

Who pays the title deed fee

The title deed fee is 4% of the declared sale price. Under the Fees Law, 2% is owed by the seller and 2% by the buyer. Many resale deals shift all 4% to the buyer, while others split it equally. Neither approach is wrong, but write it into the contract.

Since Law No. 7566 took effect in December 2025, the declared price cannot be lower than the property’s municipal tax value, and the penalty for under-declaring has risen to one times the unpaid fee, up from 25%. For foreign sellers the valuation report sets a further floor. Declaring the real price also matters to the buyer, because it will become their purchase cost if they sell within five years. Our explainer on the costs of buying property in Turkey covers every fee in more detail.

Example: on a sale declared at 8,000,000 lira, the total title deed fee is 320,000 lira. With an equal split, the seller pays 160,000 lira.

Capital gains tax on property (değer artışı kazancı)

When it applies

Under the Income Tax Law, a gain on property acquired for consideration and sold within five years is taxable as a value increase gain. The five years are counted in calendar days, normally from the date the title was registered in your name. If you can prove with documents such as utility bills that you took possession earlier, that earlier date can count. Property received by inheritance or as a gift is outside this rule, even if sold within five years.

Sell after five full years and an individual’s gain is generally not taxed under this rule. Someone who buys and sells property regularly can instead be taxed on business income, whatever the holding period.

Has the five-year rule changed? Proposals to remove the five-year exemption were reported in May 2024 as part of a draft tax package. As of October 2026, the rule remains in force, and Law No. 7566 of December 2025 did not change it. We found no separate enacted rule for properties acquired from 2025. Tax law changes often, so check the position at the time you sell.

How the gain is calculated

The Revenue Administration (GİB) sets out the calculation as:

• Sale price, minus
• Acquisition cost, indexed for inflation where allowed, minus
• Expenses of the sale borne by the seller, such as agency commission, and taxes and fees paid on the sale, such as your 2% title deed fee

Inflation indexation: the acquisition cost is uprated by the change in the domestic producer price index (Yİ-ÜFE) between the month before you bought and the month before you sold. This applies only if the index rose by at least 10% over that period. With Türkiye’s recent inflation this is usually met, and much of the apparent lira gain can disappear.

2026 exemption: for sales made in 2026, the first 150,000 lira of the gain is exempt. If your gain is below that, you generally do not need to file a return for it. The amount is revised each year: it was 120,000 lira for 2025 sales and 87,000 lira for 2024 sales.

2026 income tax brackets

The taxable gain is added to your other declarable income and taxed at the progressive rates for non-wage income. For 2026 income, the bands are:

• 15% up to 190,000 lira
• 20% from 190,000 to 400,000 lira
• 27% from 400,000 to 1,000,000 lira
• 35% from 1,000,000 to 5,300,000 lira
• 40% above 5,300,000 lira

A worked example (illustrative)

Suppose you bought an apartment for 4,000,000 lira and sell it 30 months later, in 2026, for 7,000,000 lira. You pay the seller’s 2% title deed fee (140,000 lira) and an agent’s 2% plus VAT (168,000 lira).

1. Assume the Yİ-ÜFE index rose 60% over the period. This is a hypothetical figure for the example; use the published index for your own dates. Indexed cost: 6,400,000 lira.
2. Gain: 7,000,000 − 6,400,000 − 140,000 − 168,000 = 292,000 lira.
3. Less the 2026 exemption of 150,000 lira: 142,000 lira taxable.
4. If you have no other declarable income in Türkiye, tax at 15% comes to 21,300 lira.

Without indexation, the taxable gain would exceed 2.5 million lira.

When to declare and pay

Residents (tam mükellef) declare the gain on the annual income tax return during March of the year after the sale. For a 2026 sale, that means March 2027. The tax is paid in two equal instalments: the first when the return is filed, the second by the end of July. Returns can be filed through GİB’s pre-filled return system (Hazır Beyan), the Digital Tax Office, a tax office or an accountant.

Non-residents (dar mükellef)

If you are not tax-resident in Türkiye, the gain is still taxable here because the property is in Türkiye. According to GİB, a non-resident who has no annual filing obligation must file a separate return (münferit beyanname) with the tax office for the property’s location within 15 days of the income being earned, and pay the tax by the same deadline. Ask the tax office or an accountant how the exemption and filing rules apply to your case. Anyone leaving Türkiye for good also has their own filing deadline before departure.

Double tax treaties

Your home country may also tax the gain. Türkiye’s many double tax treaties usually let the country where the property lies tax real-estate gains, with the country of residence giving relief by credit or exemption. Details differ, so keep your Turkish return and receipts and take advice in both countries.

Selling a citizenship or residence-permit property

Citizenship by investment property

Foreigners who obtain Turkish citizenship by buying property worth at least $400,000 must have a three-year no-sale annotation placed on the title. The property cannot be sold while the annotation is in place. After three years the annotation can be lifted and the property sold like any other, subject to the five-year tax rule above. Allow time for lifting the annotation. Our citizenship by property investment guide covers the rules in full.

Residence-permit property

A short-term residence permit based on property ownership depends on you continuing to own a qualifying home. For deeds registered since Oct. 16, 2023, the threshold is $200,000. If you sell, the basis for the permit ends, and you may need to switch to another permit type or buy another qualifying property before renewing. Contact the migration authorities about your position before the sale. See our guides to the property residence permit and to renewing a residence permit in 2026.

Getting the money out: currency and bank transfers

Payment in a Turkish property sale is normally made in lira. When the buyer is a foreigner, a 2022 land registry circular requires the buyer to sell foreign currency to a bank before the transfer and present the foreign currency purchase certificate. The lira amount on that certificate is the declared price, and the seller receives lira. Keep a copy: it evidences the price and the origin of the funds.

The same circular restates that non-residents who own property in Türkiye can transfer abroad the net income and sale proceeds, after taxes and similar obligations, freely through banks. In practice:

• Open or keep a Turkish bank account in your name, ideally the one the price will be paid into.
• Expect source-of-funds questions. Banks will usually ask for the title transfer document, the sales contract, the valuation report and evidence of tax payments before a large outward transfer.
• Convert at the bank. You can buy foreign currency with the lira proceeds in your account and send it by SWIFT. Compare exchange spreads and transfer fees, which vary considerably between banks.
• Time the conversion. The lira can move sharply in a few days, so agree when the money will be converted rather than leaving it in lira longer than necessary.

Residents of Türkiye follow normal banking rules; ask your bank which documents it needs.

Common pitfalls

• Selling just before the five-year mark without checking whether waiting a few weeks would remove the tax entirely.
• Relying on an under-declared purchase price. A low price on your purchase deed reduces your indexed cost and inflates your taxable gain.
• Forgetting to declare. A gain above the exemption must be declared even if the buyer or agent tells you that “nobody declares it”. Late filing brings penalties and interest.
• Unclear fee split on the title deed fee or agency fee.
• Expired valuation report, which can delay the appointment.
• Weak power of attorney that does not clearly cover the sale and receipt of funds.
• Ignoring the citizenship annotation or VAT clawback, both of which can block or add cost to an early sale.

The figures in this guide apply as of October 2026. Exemption amounts and tax brackets are revised every year, and fees and procedures can change during the year. This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check your own case with a lawyer, an accountant or the relevant tax office before you sign. For the wider picture on property costs, see our costs of buying property guide, and for heirs selling an inherited home, our guide to inheriting property in Turkey. If you let the property before selling, our guide to rental income tax for foreign landlords covers that income.

Bottom line

Selling property in Turkey as a foreigner is quick at the land registry but rewards preparation. Check your holding period first: after five years, an individual’s gain is generally untaxed. Within five years, inflation indexation and the 150,000 lira exemption for 2026 often shrink the bill sharply, but the gain still has to be calculated and, where it exceeds the exemption, declared. Agree in writing who pays the 4% title deed fee and the agency fee, keep every document from both your purchase and your sale, and arrange the bank transfer before completion day so the proceeds can leave the country once the tax is settled.

Frequently asked questions

Do foreigners pay capital gains tax when selling property in Turkey?

Yes, if the property was bought and sold within five years. The gain, after inflation indexing and a 150,000 lira exemption for 2026 sales, is taxed at progressive rates from 15% to 40%.

Is there tax if I sell after five years?

For an individual who is not trading in property, a gain on a sale made after five full years of ownership is generally not taxed under the value increase gain rules.

Who pays the title deed fee when selling?

By law the seller and buyer each pay 2% of the declared price, 4% in total, but the split is often negotiated, so agree it in writing.

Can I sell a property I used for Turkish citizenship?

Not during the three-year no-sale annotation placed on the title. After three years the annotation can be lifted and the property sold.

Can I transfer the sale money out of Turkey?

Non-residents can transfer the net proceeds abroad freely through banks after taxes are paid. Banks usually ask for the sale documents and tax receipts.

When do I declare the gain?

Residents declare it on the income tax return in March of the year after the sale. Non-residents without an annual return generally file a separate return within 15 days.

Last updated: 20 October 2026. Rules, fees and thresholds in Türkiye change often; check the latest official guidance or ask a licensed lawyer before you act.

Sources

• Disposal of real estate: value increase gains brochure (Revenue Administration, GİB)
• Land registry circular 2022/1 on foreign currency sale and DAB, updated 11.08.2022 (General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, TKGM)
• 2026 income tax brackets and 150,000 lira value increase gain exemption (KPMG Türkiye)
• Tax provisions of Law No. 7566 (PwC Türkiye)
• Value increase gain calculation with Yİ-ÜFE indexation, 2026 (Kadim Hukuk)
• Valuation report mandatory in sales involving foreigners, TKGM circular (Bloomberg HT)
• 2026 title deed fee and revolving fund fee (Milliyet)
• Estate agent fee cap and written contract rules (Hukukçular Evi)
• Secure payment system postponed to Dec. 1, 2026 (NTV)
• Citizenship threshold raised to $400,000 with three-year no-sale annotation (Cott Group)
• Citizenship by investment 2026: $400,000 and three-year hold (FFK Partner Hukuk)
• Residence permit property threshold raised to $200,000 (Cumhuriyet)
• Draft to remove five-year exemption, May 2024 (Sözcü)

Photo: Maurice Flesier / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons