The taxes paid when selling a home in Turkey fall under three main headings: the seller's share of the tapu harcı (title deed fee), the income tax that arises when a home is sold within five years of purchase, and the year's emlak vergisi (annual property tax). By law, the seller's share of the title deed fee is 2%; if you have held the property for five full years from the acquisition date, no income tax arises at all. The rest consists of small procedural charges such as the döner sermaye ücreti (land registry revolving fund fee), plus sale-related expenses like lifting a mortgage. The Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı (Revenue Administration) publishes brochures on the taxation of property purchases and sales that set the rules out item by item; I have added the practical points I keep seeing on the ground and pulled the seller's full costs into a single list.
Which taxes are paid when selling a home?
There are five items: your share of the title deed fee, conditional income tax, the year's property tax, the revolving fund fee and other sale-related expenses. Each rests on a different law, so let me line them up with the details.
- Seller's share of the title deed fee: 2% of the sale price — or of the emsal değeri (municipal assessed value) if the price is declared below it.
- Income tax (değer artış kazancı, a capital gain): on a home sold before five full years have passed, calculated on the profit at progressive rates between 15% and 40%.
- Property tax: the instalments for the year of sale belong to the owner recorded on the deed as of 1 January.
- Revolving fund fee: the land registry office's processing charge; the amount is small and the parties usually split it.
- Other sale-related expenses: mortgage release, loan closure and, depending on the contract, the estate agent's commission.
One clarification while we are at it: when you sell a second-hand home to another individual, there is no KDV (VAT) or ÖTV (special consumption tax); those burdens belong to the home's first purchase from the developer. So on the seller's side, the two big items are the deed fee and, if the conditions are met, income tax.
Who pays the title deed fee, and what is the seller's share?
Under the Harçlar Kanunu (Fee Law), the title deed fee is split 50/50 between buyer and seller; the seller's share has been 20 per thousand — that is, 2% — since 2021. The total rate is 4%; before 2021 it was 30 per thousand (3%), so the old hands who say it used to be lighter are right. The tax base is the sale price written on the deed; if that price is below the municipality's property tax value, i.e. the assessed value, the fee is charged on the assessed value instead.
A concrete example: on an apartment sold for 6,000,000 TRY, the seller's share comes to 120,000 TRY. In practice, arrangements where the buyer pays this are very common; the line “deed expenses belong to the buyer” in listings has become almost boilerplate. Since the legal obligation is a 50/50 split, if you plan to leave the cost with the buyer, raise it openly at the negotiation stage and get it in writing. If nothing is in writing, the deed office clerk will collect the seller's share directly from you.
When does income tax arise: what is the 5-year rule?
If you sell a home you bought after 1 January 2007 before five full years have passed from the acquisition date, your profit counts as a capital gain and becomes subject to income tax. If the period has run, the gain is exempt from tax and you do not file a return either. For acquisitions before 2007, the period was four years.
The period is calculated from the acquisition date on the deed to the sale date; do not trust assumptions like “if I buy on the last day of the month and sell early in the month two years later, it makes no difference” — it is counted to the day. For homes that come to you by inheritance, the deceased's acquisition cost and date are generally taken as the basis: if your mother bought in 1998, you are deemed to have long passed the five years when you sell. And there is a grey area. Selling more than one home within the same year, or buying and selling on a regular basis, can turn the gain into commercial income; if you have such a plan, talk to a mali müşavir (certified public accountant) before you sell.
How is the capital gain calculated, and what is the 2025 exemption?
The gain is worked out by deducting the home's inflation-adjusted cost and documented expenses from the sale price; if what remains stays under the 157,000 TRY exemption for 2025, there is no return to file. The figure is updated every year; in 2024 it was 87,000 TRY.
The backbone of the calculation is indexation. Your acquisition cost and the spending that followed it — thermal insulation, a kitchen renovation, a general refurbishment — are marked up by annual ÜFE (domestic producer price index) rates; the title deed fees you paid at purchase and at sale are deducted as well. If the remaining amount exceeds the exemption, the excess is taxed on a progressive scale running from 15% up to 40%.
Let's walk through a scenario. You bought an apartment in Ümraniye, on Istanbul's Asian side, for 3,500,000 TRY in April 2022, and you are selling it for 7,000,000 TRY in September 2025. Three and a half years lie in between; income tax is on the table. Suppose that when your acquisition cost and fees are indexed with the PPI, the cost reaches 5,000,000 TRY — an assumption chosen for this example, and the ratio in your own file will differ. The gain is 2,000,000 TRY; after the exemption, the amount subject to declaration drops to 1,843,000 TRY. A gain of that size, landing in the upper brackets of the progressive scale, produces a tax bill running to several hundred thousand lira. The return is filed between 1 and 25 March of the year following the sale, and the tax is paid in two instalments, in March and July.
Does the property tax stay with the seller, and what other costs are there?
Yes, that year's property tax stays with the seller: the debt belongs to whoever appears as the owner on the deed on 1 January of the year, and it is not refunded even if you sell mid-year. If you handed over the home in June, the buyer does not pay the second instalment; the municipality will still come to you for it. You can agree with the buyer to take over the remaining instalment, but as far as the municipality is concerned the debtor is still you — get that straight from the outset.
There are also items that are not taxes but tend to blow up on the seller's side. If there is a bank mortgage on the property, closing the loan and lifting the mortgage is your job. If you work with an estate agent, the commission in the market is generally around 2% plus VAT and is usually charged to the buyer; but that is a custom, not a rule — whatever the vekâletname (power of attorney) or the contract says prevails. When you list your property on SahibindenSat, keep the cost split crystal clear in the description; whether the price is net or gross, and who pays the deed fee, is the single heading that causes the most friction at the negotiating table.
Ways to lighten the taxes paid when selling a home
The surest method is to wait out the five years. If the date is close for you, postponing the sale by a few months can mean a difference of hundreds of thousands of lira; what you save is not just the tax — the burden of indexation and filing disappears too.
Document discipline is the second way. Receipts for the purchase and sale fees, deed expense receipts, renovation invoices — all of these either shrink the gain or protect the tax base. Keep your file from the day you buy, not the day you sell.
Third, steer clear of the trap of declaring a low price. For homes sold after 1 January 2023, if the declared price falls below 90% of the municipality's assessed value, the tax and the fee are calculated on the assessed value — and a vergi ziyaı cezası (tax-loss penalty) can be added on top. Looking cheap turns out expensive. Skipping the declaration is no solution either: the Revenue Administration (GİB) routinely cross-checks returns against deed records, and a missed return brings late-payment interest and penalties.
A final note: this article is general information, not advice. Swaps, property transfers in a divorce, sales of real estate out of a company — each of these situations has its own rules; sit down with a certified public accountant or a tax adviser for your own file. One hour of consultation prevents mistakes at the deed table that cannot be undone.
Frequently asked questions
What is the seller's share of the title deed fee?
The total title deed fee is 4% and, by law, is split equally between buyer and seller. The seller's share has been 2% since 2021; the base is the sale price, or the assessed value if the declaration falls below it.
I have held the home for more than 5 years — do I pay income tax?
No. For homes acquired after 1 January 2007, once five full years have passed from the acquisition date, the gain on sale is exempt from tax and no return is filed. The period is calculated from the dates on the deed.
What is the capital gains exemption in 2025?
For 2025 the exemption is 157,000 TRY. If your gain after indexation stays below this figure, you file no return and pay no tax. The amount is updated each year through revaluation.
What happens if I declare a low sale price?
For residential sales after 1 January 2023, if the declared price is below 90% of the assessed value, the tax and the fee are calculated on the assessed value. A tax-loss penalty risk also arises; the gain does not shrink, the penalty grows.
Who pays the estate agent's commission?
It is not a legal rule but a matter of custom: the market generally charges 2% plus VAT, and it is usually passed on to the buyer. Put who pays it in writing in the power of attorney or the contract; a verbal agreement invites disputes.