Turkish Capital Gains Tax

Foreign owners of Turkish property have to pay capital gains tax in Turkey on the sale of their Turkish property. The rules about payment of capital gains tax depend on when you purchased your property as follows:

For property purchased (title deeds registered) before March 2007

If the property has been owned for 4 years at the date of transfer/sale to the new owner then no capital gains tax is owed.

For property purchased (title deeds registered) after March 2007

If the property has been owned for 5 years at the date of transfer/sale to the new owner no capital gains tax is owed in Turkey. However you may be required to declare the income/gain in your home country when you repatriate funds.

If capital gains tax is due to be paid then the level of the tax is calculated from the difference in the gain in value shown on the title deed when purchased and when sold.  This difference is then taxed according to the income tax bands in force in the year of sale. Tax starts at 15% and rise to 35%. If in doubt contact a local accountant for further advice.

Note: If you underdeclared the property value for tax purposes when you purchased and you have not owned it for the 5 years you may well find the amount of Capital gains tax payable will prohibit a sale.