Selling an apartment in Turkey to a foreign owner follows the same procedure as for Turkish citizens: the transaction is registered by the Tapu office upon application through the Web Tapu system, the buyer transfers funds via bank, and the seller pays their share of the registration fee — 2% of the transaction price. If more than five years have passed since the apartment was registered in your name, there is no capital gains tax. If less — profit above 150,000 TL (the 2026 threshold) is taxed on a progressive scale from 15% to 40%.
What to Check Before Listing Your Apartment
Most transaction delays are not caused by the buyer but by loose ends on the seller's side. Before publishing your listing, it's worth going through a short checklist:
- Tapu registration date. The five-year period for capital gains tax is calculated from this date. If the apartment was purchased under a satış vaadi (promise to sell) agreement, the period starts from the date of property right registration, not from the date of the agreement.
- Property tax (emlak vergisi). Under Article 30 of the Property Tax Law (as amended by Law No. 7327 of 2021), Tapu checks for outstanding emlak vergisi debt in the municipality's electronic system, and if there is a debt, the property transfer is not registered. A paper certificate is usually not required, but it's best to check for and settle any debt at the belediye in advance.
- DASK insurance policy. Mandatory earthquake insurance is required for buildings — apartments, offices. The policy must be active on the date of the transaction.
- Restrictions in Tapu. A mortgage, arrest, or şerh (prohibition mark) blocks the transaction. A mark may be placed, for example, when an apartment has been used to obtain citizenship.
- Outstanding utility and aidat payments. These do not affect registration, but the buyer will almost always request confirmation that there are no debts.
If you don't live in Turkey permanently, decide in advance who will sign the transaction: you personally or a representative with a power of attorney. The processing of a power of attorney from abroad is often what extends the timeline.
Seller's Documents and Do You Need an SPK Valuation?
The list of documents required for a foreign transaction participant is published by the Your Key Türkiye portal of the General Directorate of Tapu and Cadastre (TKGM). For the seller, the following is usually sufficient:
- passport or national identity document, with translation if necessary;
- a form with personal information (Kimlik Bilgileri Beyanı Formu) and one photograph 6×4 cm taken no more than 6 months ago; this form is required in any Tapu transaction involving a foreigner — both when they buy and when they sell;
- Tapu certificate (proof of ownership), if you have it — if lost, the transaction is conducted using registry data;
- foreigner identification number or tax number — if you don't have one, Tapu will issue it when you submit the application; you'll need a tax number (vergi numarası) for the bank and tax return anyway;
- active DASK insurance policy;
- power of attorney if a representative is signing;
- sworn translator if either party does not speak Turkish; the translator must be authorized by the court commission.
SPK Valuation. The seller does not need a valuation report. The requirement for a mandatory valuation by a licensed SPK company for any foreign purchase applied for several years, but according to professional appraisers, the TKGM circular of 13.06.2024 cancelled it for non-citizenship transactions. Now a report with a Tutar Tespit Belgesi (TTB) document is mandatory only if a foreign buyer is purchasing an apartment to obtain citizenship; the buyer orders it through Web Tapu, and the document is valid for 12 months. If your buyer is planning to obtain citizenship, account for this in your transaction timeline.
How a Tapu Transaction Works: Step by Step
- Agreement and deposit. The parties agree on the price, payment terms, who bears which expenses, and the transaction date. It's reasonable to document the deposit in writing and process it through a bank.
- Web Tapu application. The sale application is submitted online at webtapu.tkgm.gov.tr — by yourself, through a representative, or through an agency. At this stage, some municipalities automatically pull the appraised value for tax (emlak rayiç değeri); in others, it is submitted as a certificate.
- Fee calculation and appointment. Tapu calculates the registration fee and döner sermaye charge and schedules the transaction time (randevu). Fees are paid before signing.
- Payment. If the buyer is a foreigner, they must sell foreign currency to a bank before the transaction; the bank sends a currency purchase certificate (döviz alım belgesi) to Tapu the same day, and the amount in the certificate in lira is declared as the transaction price. The seller receives funds in lira.
- Signing. The parties (or their representatives) and translator sign the official deed with a Tapu officer. Immediately after, ownership transfers to the buyer.
Since 01.01.2020, the transaction can be completed at any Tapu office, not just the one where the apartment is located — even if the seller and buyer are in different offices. For an apartment in Mahmutlar or Kestel, you can sign the transaction, for example, in Antalya or Istanbul.
Seller's Expenses: Registration Fee, Charge, and Commission
The registration fee (tapu harcı) under Fee Law No. 492 is paid by both parties separately: 2% (binde 20) from the buyer and from the seller, totaling 4%. The base is the declared price, but not less than the property tax value. In the contract, the parties may agree otherwise, for example, that the buyer covers the entire fee, but each party is responsible for their share before Tapu.
Undervaluing the price at Tapu is risky. If the declared price is found to be below the real price, unpaid fees will be collected from both parties with a penalty. As of 19.12.2025 (Law No. 7566), the penalty has been raised from 25% to the amount of the unpaid fee (100%). Additionally, an undervalued sale price distorts capital gains tax calculation, and it's almost impossible to undervalue when selling to a foreigner: the price is confirmed by the bank's currency sale certificate.
| Expense | Paid By | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Tapu harcı (seller) | Seller | 2% of price, but not less than tax value |
| Tapu harcı (buyer) | Buyer | 2% of the same base |
| Döner sermaye | By agreement of parties | Fixed charge per TKGM tariff, depends on district; amount shown in the application calculation |
| Agency commission | By contract, equally by default | No more than 4% of price excluding VAT for all compensation |
| Sworn translator | The party needing translation | By translator's rate |
The döner sermaye charge is not a percentage of the price but a fixed amount per TKGM tariff, which depends on the district. The exact amount for 2026 could not be confirmed from an official source: check it in the calculation for your application before the transaction.
The agency's role. The rules for real estate agents are set by the Real Estate Trading Regulation. A licensed agency (yetki belgesi) works under a written agreement (yetkilendirme sözleşmesi), and when concluding a transaction, it draws up a brokerage agreement specifying, among other things, how the parties split the fee and charge. The compensation for the sale is no more than 4% of the price excluding VAT; if the contract says otherwise, it is split equally between buyer and seller. If an agency has signed contracts with both the seller and the buyer, it can receive only one compensation within this limit. Typically, a real estate agency in Alanya helps sell an apartment from market valuation and viewings through to Tapu registration and closing of utilities contracts.
Capital Gains Tax in 2026
Profit from real estate sales is taxed as değer artış kazancı (Article 80 of the Income Tax Law No. 193). Key rules based on GİB (Turkish Revenue Administration) guidance for 2026:
- Five-year holding period. Tax applies only if an apartment purchased for cash is sold within five years of acquisition. The period is counted in calendar days. After five years, income from the sale is not subject to this tax. An apartment received by inheritance or as a gift is not subject to this rule at all.
- Taxable profit. The purchase price is subtracted from the sale price, along with seller's expenses, taxes, and fees related to the sale. The purchase price is indexed by the Producer Price Index (Yİ-ÜFE) if its growth during the ownership period was 10% or more.
- Tax-exempt threshold. In 2026, the first 150,000 TL of such profit per year is not taxed (in 2025 it was 120,000 TL).
- Non-resident tax return. If you are not a Turkish tax resident, income from real estate sales is declared via a single tax return (münferit beyanname) at the tax office in the district where the apartment is located within 15 days of receiving the income. Residents include it in their annual tax return filed in March of the following year.
| Taxable profit in 2026 | Rate |
|---|---|
| up to 190,000 TL | 15% |
| 190,000 – 400,000 TL | 20% (28,500 TL on the first 190,000 TL) |
| 400,000 – 1,000,000 TL | 27% (70,500 TL on the first 400,000 TL) |
| 1,000,000 – 5,300,000 TL | 35% (232,500 TL on the first 1,000,000 TL) |
| over 5,300,000 TL | 40% (1,737,500 TL on the first 5,300,000 TL) |
Example. An apartment is sold three years after purchase with a profit of 1,000,000 TL after indexation and deduction of expenses, with no other taxable income in Turkey. Taxable amount is 1,000,000 − 150,000 = 850,000 TL; tax = 70,500 + 27% × 450,000 = 192,000 TL. Indexation by Yİ-ÜFE often significantly reduces or eliminates profit, so calculations should be entrusted to a Turkish financial advisor (mali müşavir). Tax in your country of residence depends on its laws and its tax treaty with Turkey to avoid double taxation.
Selling by power of attorney and transferring funds abroad
If you cannot travel for the transaction, a representative acting under power of attorney can sell the apartment. A power of attorney executed abroad is accepted with a certified translation, original, or notarized copy, and must comply with TKGM requirements: it must explicitly authorize the sale of the specific apartment and receipt of funds. For details on options—with a Turkish notary, at the Turkish consulate, or with apostille certification—see the article on power of attorney in Turkey.
You may transfer funds abroad after the sale. Under the Turkish Central Bank's Capital Movements Circular (Article 13), persons residing abroad have the right to transfer sale proceeds from real estate through a bank, after deducting taxes and similar obligations. In practice, the bank will request the official deed of sale from Tapu and proof of receipt; currency conversion from Turkish lira to foreign currency is at the bank's rate. If income tax from the sale must be paid, it is advisable to calculate and pay it before transferring funds.
If citizenship or residence permit was obtained through real estate
Citizenship. To obtain citizenship through real estate investment, the buyer gives an undertaking not to sell the property for three years, and a corresponding note is placed in the Tapu. During this period, the apartment cannot be sold through normal channels; the investment threshold for transactions after 13.06.2022 is 400,000 USD. For more details, see the article on Turkish citizenship through real estate. After three years, the restriction is removed and the apartment is sold under standard rules.
Residence permit (ikamet izni). Short-term residence permits are issued to, among others, owners of real estate in Turkey (Article 31 of Law No. 6458). Under Article 33 of the same law, a residence permit is cancelled or not renewed if the basis for its issuance no longer exists. Therefore, if you sell your only apartment but plan to continue living in Turkey, arrange alternative grounds for your permit—such as a rental agreement—in advance and contact the immigration authority.
Frequently asked questions
How long does selling an apartment in Turkey take?
Registration itself takes one visit to Tapu after booking through Web Tapu. The longest waits typically involve receiving a power of attorney from abroad, obtaining a valuation report for buyers seeking citizenship, and bank transfers.
Do I need to travel to Turkey for the transaction?
No. A representative under power of attorney can sign the transaction, and TKGM conducts transactions with foreign buyers including through Tapu representations at Turkish consulates abroad, such as in Berlin.
Who pays the 4% transfer fee?
By law, each party pays 2%. A different arrangement is possible by agreement, but it should be explicitly stated in the contract.
Is tax due if the apartment has been owned for more than 5 years?
No: income from the sale of an apartment purchased by an individual and sold more than five years after acquisition is not subject to the değer artış kazancı tax. The holding period is calculated in calendar days from the registration date.
Can an apartment with a mortgage be sold?
Yes, but the mortgage lien must be released before registration or simultaneously—typically part of the buyer's funds goes toward loan repayment, and the bank grants permission to remove the lien.
Sources
- GİB: Tax guidance on other income, 2026 (değer artışı kazancı, münferit beyanname)
- GİB: Infographic "Değer artışı kazancı" 2026
- GİB: Income tax schedule for 2026
- GİB: Taxation of real estate transactions (tapu harcı)
- Official Gazette: Law No. 7566 of 19.12.2025
- Official Gazette: Law No. 7327 (property tax liability and transfer of ownership)
- Your Key Türkiye (TKGM): Real estate transaction guide for foreign nationals
- Turkish Central Bank: Capital Movements Circular
- Regulation on Real Estate Trade (Taşınmaz Ticareti Hakkında Yönetmelik)
- Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection