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Glossary

The terms you will meet when letting in Turkey.

Authorised collection account, owner statement, move-in inventory, accrual, DAB, pass-through, e-invoice, title deed, deposit, guarantor, eviction undertaking, CPI, default, mediation, power of attorney, formal notice, GMSİ, lump-sum expense, withholding, non-resident taxpayer, DASK, dues. Each with its Turkish term.

Last updated 2026-09-10 6 min read

01

Money and reporting

  • Authorised collection account (yetkilendirilmiş tahsilat hesabı): rent is paid into the account the manager notifies, under a written collection authority given by the owner. The collection is recorded on the owner’s behalf; once approved expenses and the service fee are separated, the balance is sent to the owner and every item appears on the owner statement. This is not an “escrow” or “trust account”, where the funds sit in a distinct legal arrangement. StayIstanbul does not offer an escrow account.
  • Owner statement (aylık hesap özeti): the document that lists, line by line, rent collected in a month, expenses paid, the management fee deducted and the net amount passed to the owner.
  • Accrual (tahakkuk): the moment a receivable or debt arises on the books, as distinct from collection (tahsilat), the moment payment is actually made. A management fee that “does not accrue in a month without collection” means no debt arises for that month at all.
  • Foreign-exchange purchase document (döviz alım belgesi, DAB): the bank’s record that it bought foreign currency from a customer or converted lira to foreign currency on the customer’s behalf. It is not required by law for sending rental income abroad — transfers through banks are free (Decree No. 32). Where it is genuinely mandatory is the land-registry purchase by a buyer holding no Turkish citizenship: the application cannot be filed until the bank has sent the document to the registry.
  • Pass-through (aynen yansıtma): a cost paid to a third party (notary, court fee, contractor invoice) charged to the owner at exactly the same amount, with nothing added.
  • E-invoice / e-archive invoice (e-fatura / e-arşiv fatura): an invoice issued electronically under the Tax Procedure Law; it has the same legal value as a paper invoice and is stored in the Revenue Administration system.

02

Lease and tenant

  • Deposit (depozito, güvence bedeli): the tenant’s security against unpaid rent and damage; at most three months’ rent for homes (TBK Art. 342).
  • Guarantor (kefil): a third party who undertakes to pay if the tenant does not; validity requires the maximum amount, the date and the joint-and-several wording in the guarantor’s own handwriting (TBK Art. 583).
  • Eviction undertaking (tahliye taahhütnamesi): a document signed after the premises are handed over, in which the tenant undertakes in writing to vacate on a specific date (TBK Art. 352/1).
  • Move-in inventory (giriş envanteri): a record drawn up just before the tenant moves in, fixing the property’s condition, the list of contents and meter readings with photographs. Compared with the same record at move-out; the basis for damage claims and deposit set-off.
  • CPI (TÜFE, tüketici fiyat endeksi): the price index published monthly by TurkStat; the ceiling for the annual rent increase in residential leases is the change in its twelve-month averages (TBK Art. 344).
  • Default (temerrüt): failure to pay on the due date; in residential leases the landlord grants a written period of at least thirty days (TBK Art. 315).
  • Mediation (arabuluculuk, a procedural requirement): the mandatory attempt, before filing suit in a lease dispute, to reach agreement before a mediator (Law No. 6325, Art. 18/B).
  • Title deed (tapu senedi): the document issued by the Land Registry that records the owner, the plot/parcel and the unit; the starting document for letting, powers of attorney and sale.
  • Power of attorney (vekâletname): a document issued at a notary or, abroad, at a Turkish consulate, authorising a person to carry out specified legal acts on your behalf; it covers only what it lists. A “power of substitution” (tevkil) must be written in for the agent to instruct a lawyer.
  • Formal notice (ihtarname): a written warning, usually served through a notary, demanding payment or performance; in a rent delay it evidences the start of the thirty-day period (TBK Art. 315).

03

Tax and insurance

  • Income from immovable property (gayrimenkul sermaye iradı, GMSİ): the Income Tax Law’s name for rental income (GVK Art. 70).
  • Lump-sum expense (götürü gider): deducting 15 per cent of post-exemption revenue as expense without documentation; whoever chooses it cannot switch back to actual expenses for two years, and those letting rights rather than property cannot use it at all (GVK Art. 74).
  • Withholding (stopaj): the payer deducts the tax at source and pays it to the tax office. If the tenant is one of the payers listed in Art. 94 of the Income Tax Law, 20 per cent is withheld from the rent; the property being used as a home does not remove the duty. If the tenant is a private individual, there is no withholding (GVK Art. 94/5-a).
  • Non-resident taxpayer (dar mükellef): a person whose domicile is not in Turkey and who does not stay in Turkey continuously for more than six months in a calendar year, taxed only on income earned in Turkey (GVK Arts. 4 and 6).
  • DASK (zorunlu deprem sigortası, compulsory earthquake insurance): the annual policy made compulsory by Law No. 6305 that insures the building against earthquake damage up to a set cover.
  • Dues (aidat; the building’s service charge): the unit owners’ contribution to operating, maintenance and repair of common areas under condominium ownership (Law No. 634, Art. 20).

Sources

To see how these terms appear on a statement, with an example: Monthly flow

Related guides

This is not legal advice. The guides are for general information; legislation and amounts change. Consult a lawyer or a tax specialist for your own situation.