Short answer: Rental income tax in Turkey (kira geliri vergisi) is ordinary income tax at 15% to 40% on rent collected in the year, after a TRY 58,000 exemption for residential rent in 2026. You deduct 15% lump-sum expenses or documented costs, foreign owners pay the same rates, and home rent above the exemption goes on an annual return, so 2026 rent is declared in March 2027 (Income Tax Law Articles 21 and 74, Communiqué 332). A non-resident's workplace rent fully taxed by the tenant's 20% withholding needs no return at any amount.
Calculate it with your own figures: Turkey tax calculator 2026.
Turkey taxes rent from property in Turkey wherever the owner lives, and your residence changes the paperwork more than the rate. A non-resident cannot use the filing thresholds that residents have for unwithheld rent, but withheld rent is simply final.
The Revenue Administration (GİB) publishes an English guidebook for non-residents (Publication No. 596, February 2026). It works through 2025 income, so this guide applies its rules with the 2026 amounts from Communiqué 332, read on 6 November 2026. Limits on raising the rent are in the rent increase cap guide and calculator, and annual property tax in the property tax guide. This is general information, not tax advice.
Rental income tax in Turkey: who must file
Whether you file depends on the type of let and on your tax residence, and rent counts in the year it is collected, not the year it is earned.
| Rent | Non-resident | Resident |
|---|---|---|
| Home, up to TRY 58,000 in the year | No return | No return |
| Home, above TRY 58,000 | Annual return | Annual return |
| Workplace, tenant withheld 20% | No return at any amount | Return if withheld gross rent, with other declarable income, passes TRY 400,000 |
| Other rent with no withholding or exemption | Annual return at any amount | Return if above TRY 22,000 |
The home rows assume you can use the exemption (next section). A non-resident is a person with no domicile in Turkey who does not stay more than six months continuously in a calendar year; Turkish citizens living abroad for more than six months with a residence or work permit also count, unless they work there for a Turkish public body or a business headquartered in Turkey (GİB Publication No. 596). Residence rules are in Turkey income tax brackets.
Rent paid in advance for later years belongs to those years, and rent received in foreign currency is converted at the central bank buying rate on the collection date (Publication No. 596). A home left free to a friend is still deemed let at 5% of its property tax value unless an exception applies, such as a home given to parents, children or siblings.
The TRY 58,000 exemption and how you lose it
The exemption covers the first TRY 58,000 of residential rent collected in 2026 (Article 21, Communiqué 332; TRY 47,000 for 2025), and it is lost if rent above that level goes undeclared or is understated.
- Late returns: GİB says a return filed voluntarily, before the tax office identifies the rent, keeps the exemption.
- Who cannot use it: anyone who must declare commercial, farm or professional income, and anyone whose gross wages, investment income, rent and other income together exceed TRY 1,500,000 for 2026, whether or not those amounts must be declared (Article 21).
- Non-resident test: GİB's non-resident example adds withheld workplace rent to residential rent for this limit; it does not say whether income earned abroad counts (Article 6 taxes non-residents only on Turkish income), so ask the tax office if you are near the limit.
- How it applies: once a year per person across all homes; separately for each co-owner, and for each heir while an inheritance is undivided. It never covers workplaces.
Hypothetical cost of losing it: on TRY 540,000 of rent with lump-sum expenses, tax is TRY 73,119 with the exemption. If the rent is undeclared and the exemption is lost, the base is 540,000 × 0.85 = TRY 459,000 and the tax TRY 86,430, which is TRY 13,311 more, before any penalties and late-payment interest.
If you collect nothing or stay below the exemption, no return is due, and GİB's pre-filled system offers an optional exemption petition recording why.
Lump-sum 15% or actual expenses
You deduct either 15% of the rent, calculated after the exemption and with no receipts, or your documented costs under Article 74, using one method for all your property; non-residents have the same choice.
- Lock-in: after choosing lump-sum you cannot return to actual expenses for two years (Publication No. 596).
- Deductible actual costs: repairs and maintenance, management, insurance, property tax and other fees on the let property, utilities the landlord pays, and depreciation.
- Mortgage interest: no longer deductible on a let home for returns covering periods from 1 January 2025 (Law 7566, Article 1); it stays deductible for other lets.
- 5% of purchase price: deductible on one let home for five years from the year of acquisition (Article 74); GİB's February 2026 guides exclude homes acquired before 2021 for 2025 income.
- Rent you pay yourself: an owner who lets a home and rents another can deduct that rent, but a non-resident cannot deduct rent paid abroad.
- Proportion rule: with the exemption, only expenses × (rent − exemption) ÷ rent are deductible. Keep receipts for five years.
Rental property in Turkey: a computed example
Tax is the income tax tariff applied to rent after the exemption and expenses, so documented costs help only when they are large enough to beat the 15%.
Hypothetical example: an owner living in Germany lets a flat in Antalya for TRY 45,000 a month and collects TRY 540,000 in 2026, with no other Turkish income. After the exemption, TRY 482,000 remains. The flat cost TRY 4,000,000 in 2023. Calculated on the 2026 tariff for income other than wages (Communiqué 332).
| Method | Deducted | Taxable | Income tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lump-sum 15% | TRY 72,300 | TRY 409,700 | TRY 73,119 |
| Actual, TRY 100,000 of receipts | TRY 89,259.26 | TRY 392,740.74 | TRY 69,048.15 |
| Actual, plus 5% of the price (TRY 300,000 in total) | TRY 267,777.78 | TRY 214,222.22 | TRY 33,344.44 |
On the lump-sum method the tax is 13.54% of the rent, paid as two installments of TRY 36,559.50. Returns filed in 2026 also carried TRY 1,189.50 of stamp tax (GİB); the 2027 amount had not been announced as of 6 November 2026.
Tenant withholding on workplace rent
A business or institution that rents property, usually a workplace, must withhold 20% of the gross rent, including rent paid in advance, and for a non-resident that withholding is the final Turkish tax (Articles 86 and 94; Publication No. 596).
A private individual renting a home does not withhold, and neither does a tenant taxed under the simple procedure, which is why that rent must be declared. If a property is used partly as a workplace, the whole rent is subject to withholding. A net rent of €3,200 a month means a gross rent of €4,000, as in GİB's own example, so agree in the lease which figure you mean.
A non-resident with both a let home and a withheld workplace leaves the workplace rent off the return. A resident adds it once the TRY 400,000 limit is passed and credits the tax withheld.
Filing the March 2027 return and paying
Rent collected in 2026 goes on the annual return due in March 2027, and the tax is paid in two equal installments in March and July (Articles 92 and 117).
- Dates: Article 92 says 25 March, but Tax Procedure Law Circular No. 115 (29 March 2019) extended annual returns to the last day of March until further notice, as GİB's period table still shows, so the window is 1 to 31 March 2027. 31 July 2027 is a Saturday; Tax Procedure Law Article 18 moves a deadline that falls on an official holiday to the next working day, so check GİB's 2027 calendar for the second installment.
- System: GİB's pre-filled return (Hazır Beyan) accepts a user code, e-Government (e-Devlet) or a foreign identity number. A foreigner with that number can get an e-Government password from a Turkish mission abroad. See the tax number guide.
- No Turkish number or tax record: Publication No. 596 sends you first to the tax office where the property is, or where your tax representative lives, and says that approving a pre-filled return registers a person with no tax record automatically. GİB takes questions in English at infovimer@gelirler.gov.tr.
- Payment: GİB's Digital Tax Office takes cards of banks operating abroad, and contracted banks, post offices (PTT) and tax offices also collect.
Rent must move through a bank or the post office: under Communiqué 328, landlord and tenant must both document residential and workplace rent this way, including daily and weekly lets, or each faces a penalty of 10% of each payment, at least TRY 8,700 per payment for people who are not merchants or professionals (Publication No. 596, February 2026). Cash rent is no way around tax: undeclared rent costs the exemption and brings penalties. See bank accounts for foreigners.
Holiday lets of up to 100 days at a time need a Ministry of Culture and Tourism permit, backed by a unanimous decision of the building's owners (Law 7464). GİB's rental guides do not say when such lets become commercial income; GOV.UK's guide (updated February 2024) treats short lets as commercial, so ask the tax office first.
Tax on foreign rental income: treaties, IRS and residents
Treaties leave Turkey free to tax rent from property in Turkey, so relief, if any, comes from your home country, and rent from abroad is taxed in Turkey only if you are a Turkish tax resident.
- Treaty rule: GİB says Article 6 of Turkey's treaties gives the right to tax to the state where the property lies, and its example is an owner in Germany with a flat in Bodrum. Article 6 of the US treaty reads the same way. See Turkey tax treaties.
- US owners: the IRS taxes citizens and resident aliens on worldwide income, so Turkish rent must be reported on the US return; see IRS Publication 54 (opens in a new tab).
- Other countries: check how your home tax authority treats overseas rent and Turkish tax paid.
- Residents with rent abroad: a Turkish tax resident declares foreign rent, with credit for similar tax paid abroad up to the Turkish tax on it (Article 123).
- Article 20/D: people who become resident from 1 January 2026 and qualify for the 20-year foreign income exemption leave foreign rent off the return, but Turkish rent stays taxable, and costs on the exempt foreign rent cannot reduce it. Having declared Turkish rent before moving does not block the exemption (GİB guide No. 616, September 2026).
Rental income exemption for 2027
The March 2027 return uses TRY 58,000. Under repeated Article 123, the amount for rent collected in 2027 is the 2026 amount raised by the revaluation rate, ignoring fractions up to 5%, and the President may raise or lower it by up to 50%.
The revaluation rate is the 12-month average rise in domestic producer prices to October, announced in the Resmî Gazete (Tax Procedure Law repeated Article 298): 25.49% for 2025. The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) put that average at 27.83% for October 2026 (3 November 2026), but neither the rate nor the 2027 amount had been published by 6 November 2026.
Hypothetical, not a forecast: a 30% rate would give 58,000 × 1.30 = TRY 75,400 before rounding, first used on the March 2028 return.
Frequently asked questions
How much is rental income tax in Turkey?
It follows the income tax tariff, 15% to 40% in 2026, on rent after the TRY 58,000 residential exemption and expenses. On TRY 540,000 of home rent with lump-sum expenses and no other income, the tax is TRY 73,119.
Do non-residents pay tax on rent from property in Turkey?
Yes. They declare residential rent above the exemption and any unwithheld rent on an annual return in March. Workplace rent fully taxed by the tenant's 20% withholding needs no return.
Can I deduct mortgage interest from rental income in Turkey?
Not for a let home. Law 7566 removed that deduction for returns covering periods from 1 January 2025. Interest on loans for other let property stays deductible under actual expenses.
When is the Turkish rental income return due?
Rent collected in 2026 goes on a return filed from 1 to 31 March 2027, with the tax paid in two equal installments in March and July. Article 92 says 25 March, but a standing 2019 GİB circular extends filing to the end of March.
What taxes apply to real estate in Turkey for foreigners?
The same as for Turkish owners: annual property tax, a title deed fee on purchase and sale, income tax on rent, income tax on a sale within five years of purchase, and inheritance or gift tax on transfers without payment.
Is foreign rent covered by the Article 20/D exemption?
Yes for qualifying new residents, for 20 years. Rent from property in Turkey is not covered and stays taxable under the normal rules.
Sources
- GİB: The Guidebook on Rental Incomes for Non-Resident Taxpayers, Publication No. 596, February 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Tax guide for people earning rental income, February 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Income Tax Law No. 193, Articles 6, 21, 70 to 74, 86, 92, 94, 117, 123 and repeated 20/D and 123, consolidated text read 6 November 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: General Communiqué on Income Tax No. 332, 2026 amounts, 31 December 2025 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: Law No. 7566, 19 December 2025, Articles 1 and 38 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Return filing and payment periods table (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Tax Procedure Law Circular No. 115, 29 March 2019, return filing period (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Tax Procedure Law No. 213, Articles 18 and repeated 298, consolidated text read 6 November 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Guide to the exemption for foreign income, No. 616, September 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Law No. 7464 on letting homes for tourism, Articles 1 to 3 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Inheritance and Gift Tax Law No. 7338, Article 1, consolidated text read 6 November 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- IRS: Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad (opens in a new tab)
- IRS: United States-Turkey income tax treaty of 1996, Article 6 (opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK: Buying property in Turkey, updated 15 February 2024 (opens in a new tab)
- TÜİK: Domestic Producer Price Index, October 2026, press release of 3 November 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
This guide is general information, not investment, legal or tax advice. Amounts, rates and rules in Turkey change often: check the date given for each figure and the official source before you rely on it, and ask a licensed adviser about your own situation. Sources, checks and corrections: see the editorial policy.