Selling property in Istanbul: documents, fees, capital gains tax and selling from abroad.

01

How a sale works: steps and documents

In Turkey a home sale is completed at the land registry on the appointment day, with the signatures of the parties or their agents. The work before the sale is proving the property can be sold: the position on any mortgage, lien or annotation on the title record has to be clarified, and dues and tax debts settled. Such entries do not in themselves prevent a sale, but they create risk for the buyer and most transactions require them to be resolved beforehand.

The usual order: setting the price, listing and viewings, agreement with the buyer (often a deposit at a notary or under a written preliminary agreement), the municipality’s property-tax value letter, a valuation report where needed, the land-registry application (e-Devlet / Web-Tapu), payment of fees and signature at the registry.

• —Title deed (or a current extract of the record) and ID; the original power of attorney if an agent signs
• —The municipality’s property-tax value letter; if there was a debt, proof that the property tax has been paid
• —Compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK) policy; a letter from the building management confirming no dues are owed
• —If condominium ownership is not established: occupancy permit and construction-servitude status; the management plan
• —Where the buyer is an individual holding no Turkish citizenship: a licensed valuation report (valid three months) and a foreign-exchange purchase document; a sworn translator if a party does not speak Turkish

02

Title-deed fee and capital gains tax

The title-deed fee, under Tariff (4) annexed to the Fees Law No. 492, is charged on the sale price declared at the registry at 2 percent from the buyer and 2 percent from the seller, 4 percent in total. If the declared price is below the real value, the shortfall is collected with a penalty. A land-registry revolving-fund charge is paid in addition.

The gain on a sale made less than five full years after acquisition is taxed as capital gains income (Income Tax Law No. 193, repeated Art. 80). A sale after five years gives rise to no tax. In computing the gain, the acquisition cost is indexed by the change in the producer price index between the month of purchase and the month of sale, excluding the month of disposal; indexation is available only if that increase is 10 per cent or more (Income Tax Law, repeated Art. 81). If the difference between the indexed cost and the sale price exceeds the exemption for that year, it is declared in March of the following year. The exemption is revalued every year; for sales in 2026 it is 150,000 TL (Income Tax General Communiqué No. 332).

The five years run from the date of registration; homes acquired without consideration, by inheritance or gift, are outside capital gains (Income Tax Law, repeated Art. 80(6)).

For a seller living abroad the route is different. A non-resident who is not required to file an annual return declares the gain on disposal of the property by a separate return (münferit beyanname) filed with the tax office where the property is located, within fifteen days of acquiring the gain (Income Tax Law Art. 101(1)). That is a different and far shorter window than the March annual return, so it has to be planned before the sale date; for Hand Over the Keys clients our team prepares the return.

03

The legal ceiling on the brokerage fee

Real estate brokerage is governed by the Regulation on Real Estate Trade. In a sale the agency fee may not exceed 4 per cent of the sale price in the brokerage agreement, excluding VAT (Art. 20(1)); even where separate authorisation agreements are signed with buyer and seller, only one fee may be charged and the ceiling still applies (Arts. 20(3) and 20(6)). Unless the agreement provides otherwise, the fee is shared equally between the parties (Art. 20(5)) — that is the rule in the regulation, not merely market practice. On a letting the ceiling is one month’s rent, excluding VAT (Art. 20(2)).

The fee must rest on a written brokerage (authorisation) agreement; demands without an agreement or above the ceiling are invalid. The broker must hold a real estate trade authorisation certificate. The fee is earned when the service under the authorisation agreement is provided (Art. 20(4)); no fee at all may be charged merely for showing a property (Art. 19(4)).

04

Selling from abroad by power of attorney

To sell without coming to Turkey, an agent carries out the registry transaction. A power of attorney issued at the Turkish consulate in your country is directly valid in Turkey; where there is no consulate, it is executed at a local notary, apostilled under the 1961 Hague Convention, and its sworn translation is certified by a notary in Turkey.

Land registries look for two things in a power of attorney for sale: a photograph (Notary Law Art. 80; Notary Law Regulation Art. 93(b)), and the authority to sell stated expressly (“to sell, to receive the price, to sign at the registry”). This is not only registry practice: without express authority an attorney cannot transfer immovable property or encumber it with a right (TBK Art. 504). A general power “to follow up my affairs” is not enough for a sale; having the text prepared for the registry where the transaction will take place removes the risk of rejection.

The duration and scope of the power can be limited; it is revoked once the sale completes. The agreement records that the sale price is paid directly to the seller’s account, not the agent’s.

05

Selling to a foreign buyer

The test is not “being foreign” but holding no Turkish citizenship: a dual national who is a Turkish citizen falls outside it, a Blue Card holder falls inside it. For such a buyer there are three extra conditions. First, a foreign-exchange purchase document showing that the currency for the price was sold to a bank; the bank sends it directly to the land registry, and the application cannot be filed until it has (Central Bank Capital Movements Circular, Art. 13; TKGM Circular 2022/1). Second, a valuation report from a company licensed by the Capital Markets Board, valid for three months from its date (TKGM Circular 2019/1). Third, a sworn translator at the registry if the buyer does not speak Turkish.

The valuation report is required only where a foreign individual is the buyer; it is not asked for where a foreign individual is the seller (though it is required if the buyer is also foreign). These obligations fall on the buyer; for a seller they matter to the timetable. Under Art. 35 of the Land Registry Law No. 2644, acquisitions by foreign individuals are capped at 30 hectares nationwide per person and 10 per cent of a district’s area; separate restrictions apply to military and security zones, and the land registry checks before the transaction. If these checks are not planned in advance, the registry appointment may be postponed.

06

Sending the proceeds abroad

The sale price is paid in Turkish lira into a bank account in Turkey. A seller living abroad may convert it and send it to an account abroad: transferring foreign currency abroad through banks is free (Decree No. 32, Art. 4), and the transfer of the net proceeds of a sale by a person resident abroad, after tax and similar obligations, is likewise free (Central Bank Capital Movements Circular, Art. 13(1)). The bank asks for the title deed and the sale agreement to document the source of funds; if currency is bought, the bank also issues a foreign-exchange purchase document.

Exchange rate and bank charges are the seller’s; a single transfer costs less than several. Proceeds from a foreign buyer are already documented in foreign currency, so this step is shorter.

07

Selling a tenanted property and the new owner’s rights

When a rented home is sold the lease does not end; the new owner becomes party to the tenancy and the lease continues on the same terms (Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Art. 310). The deposit passes to the new owner too. The tenant cannot be evicted because of the sale.

If the new owner must use the home for themselves, their spouse, descendants, ascendants or dependants, they may end the lease by an action filed six months after a written notice given to the tenant within one month of acquisition; alternatively they may file within one month after the end of the lease term (Art. 351). Outside this route the lease runs for its term.

For an investment buyer a tenanted property is an asset producing income from day one; the lease, collection history and the tenant’s payment record become part of the sale file. Viewings take place with the tenant’s consent at an agreed time.

08

Pre-sale checklist

• —Pull a current title record: mortgage, lien, annotation, share status
• —Settle dues, property tax and utility debts; obtain the certificates
• —Renew the DASK policy; confirm condominium and occupancy status
• —Work out whether five years have passed since acquisition
• —If abroad, have the power of attorney drafted with authority to sell and a photograph
• —If the buyer is foreign, plan the valuation report and the foreign-exchange purchase document
• —If there is a tenant, disclose the lease, the deposit and viewing times to the buyer from the start
• —After the sale, file the property-tax declaration: it is given to the municipality within the budget year in which the change occurred, or within three months of the sale if it falls in the last three months of the budget year (Law No. 1319, Art. 23)
• —If you are a non-resident taxpayer, diarise the separate return: within fifteen days of acquiring the gain (Income Tax Law Art. 101(1))