Capital Gains Tax on Property in Turkey

When you sell Turkish property at a profit, the revenue administration may treat the gain as değer artış kazancı — value-increase income taxed under the Income Tax Law. For most foreign owners on personal tapu, the decisive questions are how you acquired the property, how long you held it, and whether net gain exceeds the annual exemption. Threshold amounts are fixed in Turkish lira; use the currency selector to view them in euro, US dollar, pound sterling or lira. Confirm your position with a qualified accountant.

Since 2005, Maximos Real Estate has worked with foreign buyers and investors across Antalya and Istanbul, completing more than 800 transactions. In practice, capital gains tax questions usually arise before a purchase, when planning resale timing, or later when an owner prepares to sell. What follows is the legal position alongside what we typically see during real resale transactions. It is written from a property ownership perspective, not as accounting advice: we are a real estate agency, not a law or accounting firm, so treat this as operator context and confirm your own numbers with a qualified accountant before you file.

This page covers tax on property sale profits. It does not replace our guides on selling your property in Turkey (process and agency steps), rental income tax, corporate tax, buying property through a company, citizenship by investment, purchase costs, or property financing. Relocating owners may also need our foreign income tax exemption guide.

What Is Capital Gains Tax in Turkey?

Turkey does not use a standalone “CGT” rate on real estate. Instead, profit from disposing of qualifying land, buildings, and registered rights within five years of acquisition is classified as değer artış kazancı under GVK mükerrer madde 80/6, read with madde 70. The tax is gelir vergisi (income tax) on the safi kazanç — net gain after cost, inflation adjustment, and deductible selling expenses — declared on the owner’s annual return or, in some non-resident cases, a separate return.

A common misunderstanding among foreign investors is that Turkey runs a flat “capital gains tax” the way some countries do. In practice there is no separate CGT schedule and no single headline rate — the gain folds into income tax, which is exactly why holding period and how you acquired the property end up mattering far more than any rate you might read in a blog.

The regime targets occasional personal disposals, not gains from a property-trading business. If the Revenue Administration (GİB) reclassifies your activity as ticari kazanç, different rules apply and the five-year personal shelter does not protect you. Primary sources: the Income Tax Law (No. 193) and the GİB 2026 property disposal guide (Broşür 583). The Revenue Administration (GİB) is Turkey’s national tax authority.

When Does Capital Gains Tax Apply?

All of the following must generally align for değer artış kazancı on a personal disposal:

• The seller is a real person (individual tapu)
• The property was acquired for consideration (bedel karşılığı — purchase, not inheritance or gift)
• Disposal occurs within five years of the iktisap (acquisition) date
• The activity is not reclassified as commercial trading
• After Producer Price Index adjustment (Yİ-ÜFE) and expense deductions, safi kazanç exceeds the annual Tax Exemption Threshold (İstisna) for the calendar year of sale

During due diligence on a resale, those five conditions are the first things we walk through with an owner, because the answer to “will there be tax?” is almost always settled by acquisition type and the date on the tapu — long before anyone reaches for a calculator. The table below is the same mental checklist in summary form.

Situation	Değer artış kazancı?	Typical action
Paid acquisition, sold within 5 years, safi gain above istisna	Yes	File annual return (Mar–Jul payment)
Paid acquisition, sold within 5 years, safi gain at or below istisna	Technically in scope but no beyan	Keep calculation records
Paid acquisition, held more than 5 years	No — outside mük. 80 scope	No income tax on the gain
Inheritance or gift (acquisition without payment (ivazsız iktisap / gift or inheritance))	No — any holding period	No değer artış kazancı return
Property held by a company	No (personal mük. 80)	Corporate tax on company gain — see corporate tax
Commercial trader / repeated flipping	Reclassified as ticari kazanç	Business income rules — no 5-year rule
Land parcelled and sold within 5 years	Often ticari kazanç by statute	Specialist review required

The Five-Year Rule Explained

The five-year clock starts on the Title Deed registration (tapu tescil) date, counted in calendar days, not tax years. the Revenue Administration’s official property disposal guide confirms that real persons who sell paid-acquisition property within five years trigger değer artış kazancı; after five full years the gain is outside this income category regardless of amount.

What we typically see during resale transactions is owners counting from the wrong date. They remember the day they signed the sales contract, paid the deposit, or took the keys — but the only date that matters here is the day the tapu was registered in their name. On off-plan and under-construction purchases the gap between contract and tapu can run to years, and that gap is exactly where overseas owners either miss the five-year mark by a few months or, just as often, clear it without realising they already had.

Exceptions that reset or alter the start date:

• Kat karşılığı (flat-for-land) or cins tashihi (change of land type) may start a new iktisap date at the new tapu registration — the original purchase date may no longer control the five-year test
• Cooperative allocations may use fiili kullanım (actual use) date if proven by utility bills and delivery documents before tapu
• Inherited or gifted property is ivazsız — the five-year rule is irrelevant because mük. 80 never applies

Selling Property After Five Years

If you bought on personal tapu for a price and sell after the fifth anniversary of registration, the profit is generally not değer artış kazancı. No annual income-tax return is required for that gain, and progressive gelir vergisi does not apply to it — regardless of whether the profit is 100,000 TL or 10,000,000 TL.

From a property ownership perspective, this is the single biggest planning lever a foreign owner has, and most of our long-term holders sell into exactly this position. When an owner is a few months short of the fifth anniversary and not under pressure, the conversation we usually have is whether waiting out the clock is worth more than selling now — for a sizeable gain it frequently is. The relief is real and statutory; it is not a loophole, and it is not something we ever frame as guaranteed for a given owner, because acquisition type has to check out first.

This exemption applies to qualifying personal disposals of homes, land, and commercial units held individually. It does not apply to company-owned assets, inherited property (which was already outside mük. 80), or sales reclassified as trading income. Tapu fees and agent commissions remain separate costs — see our selling property guide for the transfer process.

Citizenship note: investors who obtained citizenship through property may face a separate three-year tapu resale restriction — that is a citizenship condition, not the tax calculation itself. Details are on our citizenship by investment page.

Selling Property Within Five Years

Inside the five-year window, calculate safi değer artış kazancı:

1. Start with the sale price (cash and in-kind consideration)
2. Subtract the indexed acquisition cost if Yİ-ÜFE rules apply (below)
3. Subtract selling expenses borne by the seller and documented taxes/fees

The result is compared to the annual istisna. If it exceeds the threshold, declare the gain on the annual gelir vergisi beyannamesi for the year after sale — via Hazır Beyan (1–31 March). Tax is paid in two equal instalments in March and July. Progressive 2026 non-employment tarifesi rates apply to the taxable slice after the istisna (reported by PwC Tax Summaries): 15% on the first band, rising to 40% on the highest band.

In practice, the number that ends up on the return is usually far smaller than owners brace for. Foreign investors often look at the gross gap between purchase price and sale price and assume the whole spread is taxable; once indexed cost and documented selling expenses come off, and the istisna is deducted, the taxable slice on a short hold is frequently a fraction of that — and sometimes nothing at all.

Do not mix sale years: a property sold in 2025 uses the €2.400 istisna when you file in March 2026. A property sold in 2026 uses €3.000 when you file in March 2027.

Capital Gains Tax Exemption and Thresholds

The istisna is an annual amount excluded from tax, not permission to skip record-keeping. Per GİB Broşür 583:

• 2025 calendar-year sales: first €2.400 of safi değer artış kazancı is exempt (declare only if above)
• 2026 calendar-year sales: first €3.000 is exempt

A common misunderstanding is reading one year’s figure and applying it to a different year’s sale. The threshold that counts is the one for the calendar year you sold in, not the year you file or the year you bought. Owners also sometimes treat the istisna as a reason to throw away their purchase paperwork — it is the opposite. The threshold only protects you if you can show the calculation behind it, which is why we tell sellers to keep the original tapu, the purchase invoice, and the cost receipts together from day one.

If safi gain is at or below the istisna, no annual return is required for that gain. If it exceeds the istisna, file and deduct the istisna from declared income. The istisna applies to total qualifying değer artış kazancı in the sale year (excluding securities gains, which follow separate rules under mük. 80).

Acquisition costs you paid at purchase — tapu harcı, notary, valuation — reduce safi gain but are documented separately in our property purchase costs guide, not duplicated here.

Inflation Adjustment (Yİ-ÜFE Indexing)

To avoid taxing purely inflationary paper gains, GİB allows indexing of the iktisap bedeli by the Yurt İçi Üretici Fiyat Endeksi (Yİ-ÜFE) from the month before acquisition to the month before disposal (disposal month excluded). Indexing is available only when the increase is 10% or more over that period. TÜİK publishes the index series used in official examples (Broşür 583 §4).

Without a qualifying index increase, raw purchase price is deducted. With indexing, a higher deductible cost often reduces taxable gain on sales within two to four years of purchase.

Overseas owners often overestimate their bill precisely because they forget this step exists. In a high-inflation environment a property’s lira price can rise sharply while the indexed cost rises alongside it, so a gain that looks enormous on paper can shrink dramatically — and occasionally fall below the istisna entirely — once Yİ-ÜFE is applied. It is the single mechanism we most often have to point out to a seller who has already convinced themselves the tax will be punishing.

Inherited Property

Property received by inheritance (miras) is ivazsız iktisap — acquired without consideration. GİB Example 2 in Broşür 583 states clearly: sale of an inherited apartment, even within five years, is not değer artış kazancı. No annual return is required for that gain under mük. 80. For veraset ilamı, VİV filing, and tapu intikali when you acquire property by death — not when you sell — see our property inheritance in Turkey guide.

From a property ownership perspective, heirs are usually the most relieved party in the room: an inherited apartment can be sold the day after the tapu transfers and the five-year clock simply does not enter the picture for değer artış kazancı. The planning that does matter for inherited property sits on the acquisition side — the inheritance and transfer filings — not on the sale.

Nuance: if inherited land is redeveloped through kat karşılığı or cins tashihi, GİB may treat the ivazsız character as preserved in defined cases — but structural changes warrant accountant review before you assume zero tax.

Gifted Property

Property received by gift (bağış / ivazsız devir) follows the same rule as inheritance: later sale does not create değer artış kazancı regardless of holding period. This differs from property you bought, including with a mortgage documented through your financing route — financed purchase is still paid acquisition.

That last point is worth underlining, because it is a genuine trap. Owners sometimes assume a mortgaged purchase is somehow “not fully bought” and behaves like a gift. It does not: a financed purchase is paid acquisition in full, the five-year rule applies normally, and the loan changes nothing about the tax test.

Foreign Property Owners

Nationality does not change the substantive test. A foreign individual selling Turkish real estate on personal tapu uses the same five-year rule, istisna, and Yİ-ÜFE mechanics as a Turkish resident, per GİB guidance and practitioner summaries aligned with PwC individual tax guidance.

Residency affects filing mechanics:

• Full taxpayers (tam mükellef) generally include qualifying gains on the annual March return
• Non-residents (dar mükellef) taxed on Turkish-source income may file annually if they have other declarable income, or use a münferit beyanname within 15 days at the tax office where the property is located when annual filing is not required — Broşür 583 §6
• Non-residents may access Hazır Beyan with e-Devlet, foreign ID, or consular credentials per the 2026 Hazır Beyan notice

Practical point for foreign owners: the part that trips up non-residents is not the rate, it is the 15-day münferit return. An overseas owner with no other Turkish income and no annual filing duty can easily assume there is nothing to do until next March — and quietly blow the 15-day window after the sale. During due diligence on a resale we flag this filing path early, because for a non-resident it is usually the only deadline that bites, and it arrives far sooner than people expect. We are not your filing agent, so line up an accountant before completion, not after.

Double taxation treaties may allow credit relief in your home country — this page does not advise treaty positions. Rent while you hold the property follows rental income tax rules separately, and annual property tax in Turkey applies each year on the tapu.

Company-Owned Property

Property registered to a Turkish Ltd. or A.Ş. is outside GVK mük. 80. Disposal gain is taxed under the Corporate Tax Law (KVK) as ordinary corporate income at the standard 25% CIT rate (subject to minimum tax). The personal five-year exemption does not apply.

A misunderstanding we have to correct fairly often: an investor sets up a company for the purchase — sometimes for citizenship structuring, sometimes for rental operations — and assumes the five-year hold relief travels with it. It does not. Once the tapu sits in a company, the personal shelter is gone and every disposal is a corporate event. That is not a reason to avoid a company, but it is a reason to decide the holding structure with the exit in mind before you buy, not after the gain has accrued.

Topic	Individual (personal tapu)	Company (Ltd./A.Ş.)
Legal frame	GVK mük. 80 değer artış kazancı	KVK corporate income
Five-year hold exemption	Yes — full gain exempt after 5 years (paid acquisition)	No personal exemption
Annual istisna (2026 sales)	€3.000 safi gain	Not applicable
Partial corporate sale exemption	N/A	25% of gain may be exempt only for immovables acquired before 15 July 2023 and held ≥2 years, with fund conditions — none for post-2023 assets (PwC)
Structure guide	This page	Buying through a company + corporate tax

Commercial Property Traders

GİB distinguishes occasional personal sales from ticari kazanç (commercial income). Indicators include:

• Devamlılık — multiple sales in the same or consecutive years
• Profit motive — acquiring primarily to resell
• Ticari organizasyon — trade registry, office, staff, repeated dealing
• Statutory parceling — selling subdivided land within five years of acquisition

What we typically see is the investor who buys three or four units off the same project intending to flip them as the building completes. Each sale on its own looks like a personal disposal; the pattern across a year or two is what GİB looks at, and that pattern can pull the whole activity into ticari kazanç. The investors who get this wrong are usually the ones who assumed the five-year rule and the istisna would each apply individually to every unit. They do not stack that way once the activity reads as trading.

Reclassified gains are taxed as business income. The five-year personal rule and €3.000 istisna do not shelter trading profits. Professional flippers should expect audit scrutiny — obtain written advice before closing multiple sales.

Typical Selling Scenarios

These are the patterns we see most often across real resale files. They are illustrative, not a substitute for your own calculation — but they map closely to the questions foreign owners actually arrive with.

Scenario	Hold period	Acquisition	Likely tax outcome
Foreign buyer sells Antalya apartment	7 years on tapu	Purchased 2018	No değer artış kazancı — outside 5-year scope
Investor flips Bodrum villa	18 months	Purchased 2024	Yes if safi gain > istisna; progressive gelir vergisi
Heir sells inherited İstanbul flat	Any	Inheritance 2020	No mük. 80 — ivazsız iktisap
Ltd. sells commercial unit	4 years in company books	Company purchase 2022	Corporate tax on company gain — no personal 5-year rule
Developer-style multiple land sales	Various	Paid plots	Risk of ticari kazanç — not personal CGT
Sale with high Yİ-ÜFE index	3 years	Purchased 2023	Indexed cost may reduce safi gain below €3.000 istisna

Common Mistakes

These are the assumptions we most often have to correct during resale transactions — usually with an owner who has already half-decided what their tax will be before checking the two facts that actually settle it:

• Assuming any profit within five years is taxed — the €3.000 istisna and Yİ-ÜFE indexing may eliminate liability
• Believing “five years = no tax” without checking paid acquisition vs inheritance
• Using the 2026 istisna for a 2025 sale (wrong year — use €2.400 for 2025 disposals)
• Expecting the personal five-year rule on a company tapu
• Ignoring kat karşılığı / cins tashihi resetting the acquisition clock
• Treating rental income rules as sale rules — rent is separate
• Missing the 15-day münferit return as a non-resident with no annual filing duty
• Confusing citizenship three-year resale restriction with the five-year tax test
• Relying on outdated blog brackets — always use current GİB istisna and tarife

Frequently Asked Questions

What is capital gains tax on property in Turkey?
It is değer artış kazancı — income tax on net profit when a real person sells paid-acquisition property within five years of tapu registration, if safi gain exceeds the annual istisna. Turkey taxes it as gelir vergisi, not a separate CGT schedule.

Does the five-year rule still apply in 2026?
Yes. Hold paid-acquisition property on personal tapu for more than five calendar years from registration and the gain is outside değer artış kazancı — no income tax on that profit regardless of amount.

What is the 2026 exemption amount?
For property sold in the 2026 calendar year, the first €3.000 of safi değer artış kazancı is exempt. Sales in 2025 used €2.400, declared in March 2026.

Do I pay tax if I sell within five years but profit is small?
Not if safi gain is at or below the istisna. You may still need records proving the calculation. Above the threshold, file the annual return and deduct the istisna.

Is inherited property taxed on sale?
No under mük. 80. Inherited property is ivazsız iktisap — sale never creates değer artış kazancı, even within five years.

What about gifted property?
Same as inheritance. Ivazsız acquisition — later sale is not değer artış kazancı.

Do foreign owners pay capital gains tax in Turkey?
Yes, on Turkish-source gains under the same five-year, istisna, and indexing rules when selling personal tapu. Filing mechanics differ for non-residents (annual vs münferit beyanname).

How is the gain calculated?
Sale price minus indexed acquisition cost (if Yİ-ÜFE rose ≥10%) minus selling expenses and seller-borne taxes/fees. Compare the result to the annual istisna.

When must I file and pay?
Generally 1–31 March of the year after sale via Hazır Beyan or paper return. Tax is usually paid in two equal instalments in March and July.

Does company-owned property get the five-year exemption?
No. Company sales are taxed under corporate rules. See corporate tax and buying through a company.

What if I buy and sell several properties?
GİB may treat repeated dealing as ticari kazanç. The personal five-year rule and istisna may not apply — expect business-income taxation.

Does citizenship property have special CGT rules?
Tax follows normal mük. 80 rules on personal tapu. A separate three-year resale restriction may apply to citizenship acquisitions — see our citizenship guide; that is not the tax calculation.