Short answer: A tax residency certificate in Turkey (mukimlik belgesi) is a document from the Revenue Administration (GİB) or a tax office presidency confirming that you are settled in Turkey and taxed on worldwide income, for use under a tax treaty. Residence itself comes from Income Tax Law Article 4: domicile in Turkey, or more than six months' continuous stay in one calendar year; 183 days is treaty language, not the Turkish test. Foreign nationals apply to GİB with a petition, a residence permit copy and a questionnaire under Circular ÇVÖA/2013-1.
A foreign client or tax office usually asks for this document before applying a lower treaty rate to a payment. It proves tax residence, nothing else. It is not a residence permit, which is an immigration matter for the Presidency of Migration Management (opens in a new tab), and it is not a Turkish tax number.
The rules below come from Income Tax Law No. 193 and GİB's Double Tax Treaty Circular No. 3 (ÇVÖA/2013-1, 20 December 2013) with its annexes, read on 6 November 2026. GİB's procedure documents are old but are the latest found. Individual facts decide residence, so treat this as general information and not tax advice.
Turkey tax residency rules: domicile or six months
You are a Turkish tax resident if your domicile is in Turkey or if you stay continuously for more than six months in one calendar year; either test is enough (Income Tax Law Art. 4).
| Rule | What it says |
|---|---|
| Domicile (ikametgah), Art. 4(1) | Takes its meaning from the Civil Code. Civil Code Art. 19: the place where a person lives with the intention of staying permanently. There is no day count, so it can apply from the day you settle. |
| Stay, Art. 4(2) | More than six months continuously in a calendar year. Temporary absences do not break the stay. |
| Excluded foreigners, Art. 5(1) | Foreigners here for a definite, temporary assignment or job (business people, scientists, experts, officials, press correspondents and similar), or for study, treatment, rest or travel, are not resident even after six months. |
| Force majeure, Art. 5(2) | Foreigners kept in Turkey by detention, conviction, illness or similar causes beyond their control are not resident. |
| Citizens posted abroad, Art. 3(2) | Turkish citizens living abroad because of work for Turkish public bodies or Turkish-based entities stay full taxpayers. |
| Other citizens abroad, Income Tax General Communiqué 210, as quoted in the ruling below | A citizen who has lived abroad for more than six months on a foreign work or residence permit is treated as domiciled there, until returning for good or staying in Turkey more than six months in a calendar year. |
The result is the taxable base. Residents are taxed on worldwide income (Art. 3), and non-residents only on income earned in Turkey (Art. 6). The rate scale is the same; see Turkey income tax brackets. A person who becomes resident from 2026 may also ask about the foreign income exemption.
The law does not define how long a temporary absence may be, how months are counted, or when a stay turns into residence; the nomad tax guide shows one ruling's count. In a ruling of 13 October 2026 (text reproduced by Alomaliye), the Istanbul tax directorate (İstanbul Defterdarlığı), asked which settlement date counted, required documents for the move and did not confirm the date offered.
Tax residency 183 day rule: six months is not 183 days
Turkish domestic law has no 183-day rule; it says more than six months, while 183 days appears in tax treaties and answers a different question.
All stays below are hypothetical, with day counts computed in Python. They illustrate the wording only, not a way to plan a stay: domicile can make you resident whatever the count, and the law does not say how months are counted.
| Continuous stay | Days | More than six months in the calendar year? | More than 183 days? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 February to 2 August 2026 | 183 | Yes, on any count of months | No, exactly 183 |
| 1 July to 31 December 2026 | 184 | Not by calendar months: exactly six | Yes |
| 10 March to 20 October 2026, with a short family trip abroad in June | 225 | Yes: a temporary absence does not break the stay | Yes |
| 1 September 2026 to 30 April 2027 | 122, then 120 | Not in either year on the stay test; the domicile test is separate | Not in either calendar year, but 242 days within 12 months |
Treaties use 183 days to decide who may tax certain income, not whether you are resident. The 1988 UK treaty, for example, uses it in Article 15(2) for employees, counted per fiscal year, and in Article 14(1)(b) for the self-employed, at 183 days or more in any continuous 12 months. Each treaty has its own wording, so read yours; the Turkey tax treaties guide shows where to find it.
When two countries claim you: the treaty tie-breaker
If both countries treat you as resident under their own laws, the residence article of the treaty decides which one counts.
Article 4(2) of the UK treaty shows the usual order:
- the country where you have a permanent home available to you;
- if you have one in both, the country of your closer personal and economic relations (centre of vital interests);
- if that cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either, the country of your habitual abode;
- if that fails, your nationality;
- if that fails, agreement between the two tax authorities.
GİB's questionnaire for foreigners (Annex 4) asks about these points. A certificate from one country does not stop the other country from applying its own rules.
Certificate of residence Turkey: who issues it
GİB issues certificates to all foreign national individuals, while many Turkish citizens and companies go to a tax office presidency or the Large Taxpayers Office.
| Applicant | Issuing authority |
|---|---|
| All foreign national individuals, with or without continuing tax registration | GİB, European Union and Foreign Relations Department |
| Anyone needing a certificate for Austria, Switzerland or Saudi Arabia | GİB, same department |
| Large Taxpayers Office taxpayers | Large Taxpayers Office |
| Taxpayers registered with offices under the Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli or Trabzon presidencies, and Turkish citizens living there with no continuing registration | That tax office presidency |
| Everyone else | GİB, same department |
The circular dates from 2013, and GİB's February 2026 guide No. 598 names an İstanbul Defterdarlığı (provincial directorate) office where the circular has a presidency, so check the current office first.
How to apply, and how long the certificate is valid
A foreign national applies by petition with a residence permit copy and the questionnaire, and GİB's interactive tax office also offers a two-step online request.
- Have an identifier: a tax number or foreign identity number.
- Paper route: complete the petition for foreign individuals (Annex 3) (opens in a new tab), addressed to GİB in Ankara, naming the country and the year.
- Attach: a copy of your residence permit or residence document, and the questionnaire (Annex 4) (opens in a new tab).
- Online route: in the interactive tax office, Residence Certificate Request Petition (Mukimlik Belgesi Talebi Dilekçesi). Step one sets the postal address; step two takes the income details. You confirm by SMS and track the request under your petitions. GİB's user guide for this screen is dated June 2019, and GİB now also runs a Digital Tax Office (opens in a new tab) (Dijital Vergi Dairesi), so the menu may differ. e-Government lists the same petition; both need a Turkish login, so neither could be tested.
- Delivery: the certificate comes by registered post to the address you give; the online screen also accepts one abroad.
Validity: for a Turkish certificate used abroad, no official document read sets a period. The petition asks for residence in a named year, and the online screen offers a specific year, a date range or a start date. The body receiving the certificate decides what it accepts, so ask it first. For certificates that non-residents give in Turkey for professional services, GİB's Double Tax Treaties General Communiqué No. 4 (Resmî Gazete, 26 September 2017) sets validity until the fourth month of the year after the one certified.
Fee and processing time: neither appears in the circular or the user guide, so ask GİB. For a past year, the circular asks Turkish citizens for proof of residence in that year, such as a population office address report (available back to October 2007); it says nothing specific for foreigners.
Tax residency certificate Turkey sample: what the form contains
No official specimen of an issued certificate was found, so this list shows what GİB's request forms contain; it is not a real certificate.
- Statement requested
- That the applicant is settled in Turkey in the named year and subject to income tax on worldwide income, for use with the named country's authorities under the treaty, issued in English and Turkish.
- Applicant
- Name, signature, date, tax or foreign identity number, postal address, phone, fax and email.
- Income table
- Type of income: immovable property, business profits, international transport, dividends, interest, royalties, capital gains, independent services, wages (public or private), artistes and athletes, senior company officers' income, pensions (public or private) or other. Then the period, the payer's name and full address, and the gross amount, with a written reason if it is unknown.
- Questionnaire
- Personal details; whether you have a permanent home in Turkey and the date you began living here; any permanent home abroad and time spent there; where your family, social relations, occupation, cultural and political ties and asset management are centered; where you have a habitual abode; nationality; the purpose of your stay (permanent, or a definite temporary job, which goes to the Article 5 exclusion); the job's nature and length, with the contract in Turkish; any fixed return date; and whether you pay tax in Turkey or abroad, and on which income. You confirm the answers are true, and GİB may check them.
The petition adds a limit: more than one certificate for the same country is possible only for income from different payers shown in the table. Greece and Azerbaijan have extra forms under the circular. For a company, a separate petition (Annex 2) applies.
How a foreign payer uses it, and the rule for non-residents
A foreign payer or tax office uses a Turkish certificate to apply the treaty rate on income paid to you, while a non-resident earning Turkish income needs a certificate from their own home authority.
Hypothetical: a freelance developer who has lived in Izmir since 2025 on a residence permit receives license fees from a company in the Netherlands, which asks for proof of Turkish residence for 2026. She files Annex 3 naming the Netherlands and 2026, lists the fee as royalty income with the payer's name, address and expected gross amount, and attaches her permit and questionnaire. When the certificate arrives she sends it to the payer, which applies its own country's rules.
- Foreign forms: some countries add their own form. For Germany, GİB's circular of 12 October 2012 says a Turkish resident files the German form plus the Turkish certificate with the Federal Central Tax Office. For the UK, HMRC's form DT-Individual (opens in a new tab) is certified by the tax authority of the country of residence; if that authority will not stamp the form, HMRC's notes ask for a separate stand-alone certificate.
- Non-residents with Turkish income: they give the original home-country certificate, with a Turkish translation certified by a notary or Turkish consulate, to the tax office or to the Turkish payer, who keeps it. Without it, domestic rates apply (Circular ÇVÖA/2013-1). GİB's February 2026 guide No. 598 routes investors through the bank or broker or the Boğaziçi Tax Office. See the dividend guide and bank account guide.
- Article 20/D holders: Law No. 7582 (Resmî Gazete, 4 June 2026) exempts foreign income for 20 years, but the petition says you are taxed on worldwide income. Neither the law nor Income Tax General Communiqué No. 333 mentions residence certificates, and HMRC's notes say a few treaties require you to be subject to tax on the income, so ask GİB and the payer's tax authority first.
Your home country may still treat you as its resident, especially in the year you move, so ask an adviser there before relying on a Turkish certificate.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Turkish tax residency rule 183 days or six months?
Six months. Income Tax Law Article 4 says more than six months' continuous stay in a calendar year, or domicile in Turkey. The 183-day figure comes from tax treaties, where it decides who may tax certain income.
What is a tax residency certificate called in Turkish?
Mukimlik belgesi. GİB's petition asks for it to be issued in English and Turkish.
Who issues a tax residency certificate to foreigners in Turkey?
The Revenue Administration (GİB) issues it to all foreign national individuals, under Circular ÇVÖA/2013-1 of 20 December 2013.
How long is a Turkish residence certificate valid?
For use abroad, no official text read on 6 November 2026 sets a period; the receiving body decides. A foreign certificate given in Turkey for professional services is valid until the fourth month of the following year (Double Tax Treaties General Communiqué No. 4).
Does a residence permit make me a Turkish tax resident?
Not by itself. Tax residence depends on domicile or the six-month stay in the Income Tax Law, and Article 5 excludes some foreigners. A permit is an immigration document, although GİB asks for a copy with the application.
Sources
- Mevzuat: Income Tax Law No. 193, Arts. 3 to 7 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, Art. 19 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Double Tax Treaty Circular No. 3 on the residence certificate, ÇVÖA/2013-1, 20 December 2013 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Circular No. 3 Annex 3, petition for foreign individuals (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Circular No. 3 Annex 4, questionnaire for foreigners (Turkish and English) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Interactive Tax Office user guide, June 2019, section 14.2.5 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- e-Government: GİB residence certificate application petition (login required) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Double Tax Treaty Circular No. 2 on the German treaty, 12 October 2012 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Guide No. 598 on provisional Article 67, February 2026, section 25 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK: 1988 UK-Turkey Double Taxation Agreement, Arts. 4, 14 and 15 (opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK: Double Taxation Treaty Relief, form DT-Individual (opens in a new tab)
- Istanbul tax directorate ruling E-62030549-120-1372289, 13 October 2026, as reproduced by Alomaliye (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: Law No. 7582, adopted 21 May 2026, issue 33270 of 4 June 2026, Art. 4 adding Income Tax Law Art. 20/D (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: Income Tax General Communiqué No. 333, issue 33300 of 4 July 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: Double Tax Treaties General Communiqué No. 4, issue 30192 of 26 September 2017, section 3.3.2 (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.