Before 2012, Turkey has a strict for a lot of nationalities to buy properties in Turkey.
However, in May 2012, new law was released to allow people from 129 countries to buy all kind of  properties in Turkey ( lands , shops , apartments , offices , villas  …etc )

So nowadays, all nationalities can buy properties in turkey including Americans, Canadians, Europeans, middle eastern, … etc.
Except the people who are from the following countries :  Syria, Armenia, North Korea, Cuba.

If you are not sure whether you are allowed to buy a property in Turkey or not, please do not hesitate to contact us. we will be happy to answer all your questions

Read Also : 

• 10 points you have to read well before singing a property sales contract in Turkey

• How to buy a property in Turkey in 10 steps ? 

• Turkish citizenship by buying a property .. conditions and documents required 

• Property taxes in Turkey

Whether you are looking to buy an apartment, villa, shop or an office in Turkey, all these kinds of properties have the same 10 steps.
Generally, buying a property in turkey will be very simple and clear for you with the following 10 steps:

Step 1. Research about a real estate company

Start the first step by searching and reviewing the website / YouTube / Facebook …. etc. for real estate companies in Turkey in order to choose one of them to contact and to review their properties later in the field.

Step 2. Getting a visa

Getting a visa to Turkey is very easy for a lot of countries , you can get it online for some countries and some other countries are exempted from visa for 90 days , and there are countries that need to visit the Turkish embassy in their countries You can check your country status from the following link :
https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/apply/

Step 3. Travel to Turkey

Its very important to know more about the country before buying a property, so it’s very necessary to visit and check the areas and streets, in order to love an area which you may buy a property in later.
There are some customers who prefer to buy a property without coming, we in TAKSIM REAL ESTATE don’t recommend our customer to do so, it’s very important to see the property and area before buying.

Step 4. A tour to field

After coming to turkey and choosing the agency which will show you properties , here you start to see properties on the field , we in TAKSIM REAL ESTATE usually offer our customers a free tour to explore and show the properties in order to get a great image about the market and properties before any decisions

Step 5. Choosing the location and a property

This is the most important step of all , we in TAKSIM REAL ESTATE highly recommend our customers to concentrate about location , location and location.
Usually choosing a good location will make it easier for you later to rent it if you prefer, and it will be even more profitable as an investment property in the long run if you would like to resell it.

Tips for choosing a location when you want to buy an apartment :

• Determine your main purpose of  the property .. is it for living or investment ?! Determining the goal of buying a property will play an important role in choosing the most appropriate location

• Should be Close to main streets 

• Should be close to public transportation like metrobus or a metro station 

• Should be close to universities

• Should be close to shopping malls

Tips for choosing an apartment :

• Direction is very important ( in Istanbul for example : north is cold in winter, south is hot in summer )

• If you prefer landscapes view so we recommend you to choose low floors 

• Should be sunny

• Should have at least 2 bathrooms

Step 6. Negotiating and paying deposit

After choosing a property you like, here it comes the negotiating step in order to get best discount for the payment method you selected, we in TAKSIM REAL ESTATE usually get the best prices for our customers.
Paying a deposit is very important after both sides agree about a price even if you don’t want to continue the procedures directly because it stops the developers from showing this property to other customers and to fix the price.
Note: all developers in Turkey give you a 15 days period for your deposit to be refundable in case you changed your mind, or you find another proper property or what ever reason its.

Step 7. Hire a lawyer

After completing the negotiation process and paying the deposit, it is preferable to obtain an draft copy of the sales contract and present it to a legal advisor
This step is to make sure that all the procedures are legal with no scam or any kind of fraud.

Usually the lawyer should do the following:

• Check the contract and read it well

• Check the developer status in the market , financial situation and the actual ownership of the property

• Check the status of the title deed and the absence of any mortgages or seizures on the property

we usually don’t offer our customers any properties from low reputation developing companies or Financially unstable , but making a double check by customer is better

Step 8. Signing the contract

After making sure that every thing is legal by your lawyer , here you can sign the agreement between you and the seller (developer) which contains all the required info about the property , space , price , date of delivery , payment method and day of payments … etc.

Step 9. Completing the rest of the payment as agreed

In this step, developers usually give customers a period time to go back to their countries and transfer the rest of money, usually up to 30 days

Step 10. Receiving the title deed

After paying the whole amount of the price , here you can get the title deed which is the proof of owning this property in turkey , and usually this step cost about 4 % of the property value , usually its paid equally between seller and buyer.
 

Here we finish the 10 steps, in case you have any further questions about procedures of buying a property in turkey You may contact us .

Many people who want to buy real estate in Turkey are asking a lot of questions about the taxes on the property. To whom and when to pay? .. Of course, it may be difficult to access the information accurately, either because it is not available in English or is not sufficiently clarified. The following is a simplified explanation of the taxes on property in Turkey from the date of purchase until the transfer of ownership.

♦ Taxes when buying the property in Turkey:

1-  Title deed fees 'Tapu Harcı':
Paid one time when the ownership of the property is transferred to the new owner at Real Estate Registry Department, its amounts is 4% of the declared value of the property and falls to the seller and the buyer equally (2% to the seller and 2% to the buyer).

2- Value added tax 'KDV':
Is a tax imposed on different rates for all products in Turkey, the rate of VAT varies according to the product and ranges from 3 segments 1%, 8% and 18%.
With regard to value added tax on real estate is imposed according to the price per square meter of the property and is worth when the sale of the property, although the real estate with a net area of less than 150 square meters, the tax is applied at the minimum of 1%.
In order to attract foreign investments, the Turkish government abolished the value added tax on the sale of real estate to foreigners and Turkish citizens residing abroad for more than 6 months, according to certain conditions that must be achieved to benefit from the exemption, (the property must be new and be purchased from a construction company, and a pledge not to sell for one year from the date of purchase, and that the price of the property shall be transferred from abroad in foreign currency).

♦ Taxes during owning the property in Turkey:

1- Immovable property tax 'Emlak vergisi':
Is an annual tax imposed on all types of real estate (housing, shop, agricultural land, etc.). This tax is paid to the municipality to which the property belongs.
This tax is payable in two installments during the year (for the current year). The first payment should be made within 3 months from 1 March to 31 May. The second payment must be made within one month from 1 to 30 November of each year. 
It should be noted that payments are not delayed for specified periods to avoid the accumulation of fines. Financial penalties are added to the amount of the tax by 1.4% per month in case of delay in payment during the previous periods of each year.
The value of the property tax varies according to the type and location of the property and is calculated as follows:

It is noteworthy that there are some categories of taxpayers are exempt from property tax, such as families of martyrs, war victims and people with special needs, within the conditions regulated by law.

2- Environment tax 'Çevre Temizlik Vergisi':
- This tax shall be imposed on the built-up and inhabited properties (Houses, workplace ..), While the unbuilt land of all kinds and vacant real estate shall be exempted.
- The Occupant of property is the one Who is charged with paying this tax, whether it is the landlord or the lessee.
- Calculated based on the amount of water consumption in residential units as follows:

• Housing in the metropolitan municipalities (cities): 39 piasters per cubic meter consumption.

• Housing in other municipalities (outside cities) 29 piasters per cubic meter consumption .. (the amount of consumption is mentioned in the water bills).

- For workplace (shops, offices ...), a lump sum determined by the Ministry of Environment shall be paid according to the category of property and its location outside or inside the cities. To view these categories you can click on the link:  https://www.verginet.net/dtt/1/Cevre_Temizlik_Vergisi_Tutarlari.aspx
- This tax is paid to the municipality to which the property belongs in two installments, during the months of March and November of each year.

3- Rental return tax ' Kira gelir vergisi': 
Imposed on the owners of the leased properties, ie those who earn income from renting their properties. Are calculated according to the annual income tax rates mentioned in the previous table, after determining the amount of taxable net income and lowering the minimum income tax exemption of 4,400 Turkish lira for 2018 and 5400 Turkish lira for 2019. This tax shall be paid ta the Tax Department for the income of the current year in two installments during the months of March and July of the following year.
Note : this tax is only for those who rent their property for others , in case you dont rent it to any one , there will be no rent tax.
 

♦  Taxes when selling the property in Turkey:

1-  Value increment tax 'Değer artış kazancı vergisi':
Or it can be called real estate profits tax. Article 80 of the Turkish Income Tax Law regulates how this tax shall be deducted and its amount, This article states that: "If the ownership of the property is transferred from the owner's hand within a period of 5 years from the date of purchase, it is subject to the Value increment tax".
The same article excludes properties that are transferred from the owner's hands without the sale. It states: "If the ownership of the property is transferred without a paid allowance (inheritance, gift, etc.), it is not a subject to the Value increment tax". To simplify this tax we will explain it in the following points:

A) This tax shall be imposed on the value difference between the date of purchase of the property and the date of its sale, for example, a property purchased on 1/1/2016 in the amount of 200,000 Turkish lira, and sold on 1/1/2019 at 350,000 Turkish lira. Thus the amount of 150,000 Turkish lira is the amount of the increase in value, which will be subject to a calculation to determine the amount of tax.
B) If the property is sold after 5 years or more from the date of purchase (the date of purchase is the date of registration with the Tabu Department), it shall be exempt from this tax.
C) Real estate that is transferred without a Paid allowance such as inheritance and gift is also exempted from this tax.
D) The calculation of the amount of this tax goes through a somewhat complex process, where the real purchase price (the property purchase price in the currency value at the date of sale) should be determined to determine the real profit amount, in light of the inflation rate.
in addition to deducting some expenses and fees from the real profit amount, The amount of the tax exemption determined by the Income Department is also raised each year. At the end of this process we get the amount of taxable amount.
E) After determining the taxable value, the tax shall be deducted according to the annual income tax tranches, as follows:

F) The tax return for properties sold in a year (2018 for example) will be presented during the period from 1 to 25 March of the next year (2019). The tax should be paid at the Tax Department 'vergi dairesi' in two installments during the months of March and July of 2019.

2 - Inheritance and transfer tax 'Veraset ve İntikal Vergisi':
The inheritance tax includes all the deceased's money, but we will talk here about the real estate part of the inheritance.
This tax shall be imposed on immovable property situated within the territory of the Republic of Turkey and which is transferred by inheritance or without paid allowance such as gifts, prizes and donations.
The taxpayers are the heirs of the deceased. They must extract a Devolution of estate of the deceased and obtain tax id number for each of them. The tax declaration shall be submitted to the tax department within four months of the date of death (in case of death in Turkey, and the taxpayer is resident in Turkey), and within six months of the date of death (In the case of death outside Turkey or that the taxpayer was resident outside Turkey).
After Inventory of the estate of the deceased and determining the amount of the tax deduction, the tax shall be deducted according to the following rates:

The inheritance tax must be paid within a maximum period of 3 years from the due date. The amount of the tax can be paid in six equal installments payable in May and November of each of these three years.

- Note: the foreigner who owns a property in Turkey is treated as a Turkish citizen without imposing any additional fees or taxes. On the contrary, the foreigner may benefit from some facilities, in the desire of the government to encourage investment.
It remains to be mentioned that all information contained in the article is in force until the date of publication, and will be updated in the event of any amendments.


In case you have any other questions about property taxes in turkey , you may contact us.


Sources:
gelir idaresi başkanliği
verginet.net
hesapkurdu.com
emlakkulisi.com

Read Also : 

• 10 points you have to read well before singing a property sales contract in Turkey

• Can foreigners buy a property in Turkey ?

• How to buy a property in Turkey in 10 steps ? 

• Turkish citizenship by buying a property .. conditions and documents required 
 

The Directorate of Real Estate Registry (Tabu) is the authority responsible for documenting and registering real estate of all kinds in all the territory of the Republic of Turkey, This Directorate records records for each property the country. This record includes information about the location of the property, its boundaries, its area, the description of the property in detail, In addition to the name of the owner of the property and All rights related to this it (mortgage, utilization and other real estate rights).

The owner of the property is entitled to obtain a document attesting to his ownership of this property, which is the legal document proving his right in this property. This document in Turkey is called "Tapu senedi".
This document has several different types, and these types vary in their power as a legal guarantee by the owner of the property. Therefore, those wishing to invest in real estate in Turkey should be aware of the types of the Tapu.

In the beginning, it is necessary to distinguish one of these title deeds or so-called agricultural tabu. This title deed is characterized by its blue color. It is therefore called "blue tabu". It is the title deed for real estate that did not fall under the urban planning scheme (called agricultural land). While the title deeds of real estate within the regulatory area of all types (apartment, villa, shop, land intended for construction) have a red color.

Here are different types of title deed :

1- freehold property title deed "Kat Mülkiyeti":
legally It is considered the strongest type of title deeds, and it Regards to Fully built properties, which each owner have been assigned in a specific part of it, and the property has met all the licenses and conditions required.

2- construction servitude title deed  "Kat irtifakı":
Is the title deed of properties that has not been built on, or that the construction works started but not yet finished. Often the real estate developer or contractor to extract this type of Tabu, and intended to determine the rights of owners in the property, but without the allocation of any of them a specific section of this property.
The construction servitude condition of the property continues throughout the construction period until the housing permit is issued. The law requires the transfer of ownership from the construction servitude of property to full ownership.
(The housing permit) is the approval issued by the concerned municipality in which the real estate is located for the buildings that are constructed according to specified criteria, proving that the building has been constructed as stated in the approved construction project.
The standards imposed by the State or its competent authorities in order to obtain housing permit, such as the presence of fire and emergency stairs, the construction must be earthquake-proof, and contain sufficient fire extinguishers in the building and other necessary supplies.
The contractor or construction company must obtain the housing permit, and must convert all buyers' construction servitude titles "Kat irtifakı" into full property title deeds "Kat Mülkiyeti" after obtaining the housing permit. It is very important to obtain the housing permit in order to guarantee the right of the owners in the building.

3- joint-owned property title deed "Hisseli Tapu":
Means the title deed of the property owned by more than one person at a time, where the proportion of each partner mentioned in front of his name in the title deed, It should be noted that this title deed is granted only once to one of the owners and the percentage of each owner is recorded in it.

What information is contained in the title deed ?
The Tabu consists of several boxes containing detailed information as follow:
1- province "ili"
2- district  "ilçe"
3- neighborhood "Mahallesi"
4- block "Ada"
5- parcel "parsel"
6- Floor "Kat"
7- building number "building"
8-  single space number "Bağımsız Blm No"

Note: Do not mention on the Tabu document any problems that may occur in the property (mortgage or heirs or so) so make sure to check The Directorate of Real Estate Registry before making the purchase and not just rely on the title deed.
In case you have any other questions about title deeds in turkey , please contact us.


 

Read Also : 

• 10 points you have to read well before singing a property sales contract in Turkey

• Can foreigners buy a property in Turkey ?

• How to buy a property in Turkey in 10 steps ? 

• Turkish citizenship by buying a property .. conditions and documents required 

• Property taxes in Turkey

Since 1939, Turkey and Syria have had problems with the property and elsewhere. And because Syria has taken possession of the property of Turkish citizens, denied them the right to dispose of them, and prevented them from mortgage or access to legal rights in this area. Turkey has reciprocated Syria and prevented all Syrians from buying the property in Turkey.

How can Syrians own a real estate in Turkey ?

♦ The Syrian citizen has another nationality and the property is registered in his name but on his other nationality and not the Syrian nationality in the event that there are no other laws imposed on the country that gave the Syrian nationality

♦ The Syrian shall establish a company that meets the general criteria, enabling it to register the property on the company's name, not on its own name, provided that the purchase of the property for use within the company's activities

On 28/05/1927, Turkey promulgated the Law No. 1062, which set limits for Syrian citizens in Turkey, in order to reciprocate the decisions taken by Syria regarding the Turkish citizens. Turkey did so in order to protect the rights of Turkish legal citizens in Syria , And to protect their property. As a result of this decision, Syrian citizens are not entitled to own property in Turkey.

Read Also : 

• 10 points you have to read well before singing a property sales contract in Turkey

• Can foreigners buy a property in Turkey ?

• How to buy a property in Turkey in 10 steps ? 

• Turkish citizenship by buying a property .. conditions and documents required 

• Property taxes in Turkey