Costs of buying property in Türkiye: 2026 fees and taxes

The price you agree with the seller is only the largest line in your budget. Buying a home in Türkiye also brings official charges at the land registry, a valuation report, possibly VAT on a new-build, insurance, translation and a set of yearly costs once you own the property. This guide lists each item with the rate or amount published for 2026, the date of the source, and a worked example you can adapt to your own purchase.

Five groups of cost

It helps to sort every payment into one of five groups. That way nothing is forgotten, and you can see which amounts are fixed by law, which depend on the property and which depend on the services you choose.

• 2% + 2% title deed fee, buyer and seller each (GİB guidance, 2026)
• 20,868 TL extra fixed land registry fee per property when a foreigner is a party (TKGM tariff 2026)
• 17,711,000 TL building tax value above which valuable-housing tax can apply (2026)
• 3 months validity of a valuation report for a land registry transaction (TKGM Circular 2024/2)

Official charges at the land registry

Title deed fee (tapu harcı)

The Revenue Administration (GİB) states that on a transfer of real estate the title deed fee is charged at 20 per thousand (2%) to the buyer and separately at 20 per thousand to the seller. The base is the actual transfer price declared by the parties. If that declared price is lower than the property-tax value (emlak vergisi değeri) recorded by the municipality, the fee is calculated on the property-tax value instead. GİB's own example: for a home with a property-tax value of 1,800,000 TL sold for 1,500,000 TL, each party pays 2% of 1,800,000 TL, i.e. 36,000 TL. This rule was restated in GİB's guidance published in July 2026 and was written more explicitly into the Fees Law by Law No. 7566, published on 19 December 2025.

Who pays in practice is an agreement between the parties, but the law charges both. The purchase agreement should state whether the buyer covers only the buyer's 2% or both shares.

Revolving-fund fee (döner sermaye ücreti)

The land registry also charges a service fee under the tariff of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre (TKGM). In the 2026 tariff, the transaction fee for a sale is the local coefficient (yöresel katsayı) set by the Ministry for each land registry office, multiplied by a base indicator of 2,227.00 TL. One transaction fee is charged per independent unit sold. The tariff states that VAT is included in these amounts.

For foreigners, the 2026 tariff adds a fixed charge: in land registry transactions that create a transfer obligation and where a foreigner is a party, 20,868.00 TL is charged per property or independent unit, in addition to the normal fee. The tariff also shows that transactions carried out outside the office's own area, or at a consulate abroad, are charged at multiples of the normal fee (twice and four times respectively).

Valuation report

Under TKGM Circular 2024/2 of 1 March 2024, a property valuation report is compulsory for the transactions listed in the circular where a foreign natural person is the buyer. The report must come from a valuation company authorised by the Capital Markets Board and active in TKGM's valuation system (TADEBİS), and it is ordered through the Web Tapu system. For purchases made to apply for Turkish citizenship, reports are prepared by GEDAŞ Gayrimenkul Değerleme A.Ş., an affiliate of the Housing Development Administration. A report can be used for three months from its date; after that, or if the property changes, a new one is needed.

TKGM does not publish a single fixed price for these reports. According to the circular, after an application the fee, the payment deadline and a request number are sent to the applicant by SMS or e-mail, and the valuation firm is assigned only after payment. Ask for the quoted amount in writing before you apply.

• Title deed fee 2% for each party on the declared price, never below the property-tax value (GİB, 2026).
• Land registry service fee Local coefficient × 2,227 TL per unit, VAT included (TKGM tariff 2026).
• Foreigner surcharge A fixed 20,868 TL per property when a foreigner is a party (TKGM tariff 2026).
• Valuation report Compulsory for foreign buyers; fee quoted by TKGM on application; valid three months.
• VAT on new-builds Charged by the developer on a first sale, with an exemption for qualifying non-residents.

VAT on new-build homes

VAT is charged by VAT-registered sellers such as developers, so it is mainly a question for off-plan and newly completed homes bought from the company that built them. Always ask whether VAT applies to your seller.

GİB's consolidated VAT General Application Communiqué explains the structure. For homes built under a building permit obtained after 1 April 2022, the reduced rate applies to the part of the price corresponding to the first 150 m² of net area and the general rate to the part above 150 m². Homes built in urban-transformation projects under Law No. 6306 (reserve building areas, risky areas and risky buildings) have a 1% rate for the first 150 m² of net area. By Presidential Decision No. 7346, published in the Official Gazette on 7 July 2023 and effective from 10 July 2023, the reduced rate rose from 8% to 10% and the general rate from 18% to 20%. The result, which we found no later change to, is:

Ask the developer which rule applies to your unit, whether the quoted price includes VAT, and to show the building permit date and the net area used for the calculation.

The VAT exemption for non-resident buyers

Article 13(i) of the VAT Law, in force since 1 April 2017 and still set out in GİB's 2026 consolidated communiqué, exempts from VAT the first sale of a home or workplace to:

• foreign natural persons who are not settled in Türkiye under the Income Tax Law (broadly, no domicile in Türkiye and not staying continuously for more than six months in a calendar year);
• Turkish citizens living abroad for more than six months with a work or residence permit; and
• companies whose legal and business centre is outside Türkiye and that do not earn income in Türkiye through a permanent establishment.

The conditions are strict. The sale must be the developer's first delivery of the unit; a resale by someone who bought from the developer does not qualify. At least 50% of the price must be brought into Türkiye in foreign currency and paid to the seller before the invoice date, and the rest within one year. Before the sale the seller must receive the buyer's passport copy and a document from the local tax office confirming that the buyer is not settled in Türkiye. The title register receives an annotation, and if the home is sold within three years (the period was one year until 1 May 2022), the VAT that was not charged must be paid with late-payment interest before the land registry will process the transfer. If the conditions turn out not to have been met, the buyer is jointly liable with the seller for the VAT, penalty and interest.

Contracts, stamp duty, notary and translation

Stamp duty. For 2026, contracts that state a specific amount are subject to stamp duty at 9.48 per thousand, with a ceiling of 29,115,961.10 TL per document from 1 January 2026 (Stamp Duty Communiqué No. 71). A property promise-to-sell contract (satış vaadi sözleşmesi) made in official form is exempt. TKGM Circular 2026/2 of 30 July 2026, as reported by specialist tax press, instructs land registries to ask for a receipt showing that stamp duty has been paid when a brokerage (agency) contract is presented with an application; applications without it are not processed. How the duty base is calculated on such contracts is still discussed by commentators, so ask your adviser.

Secure payment system. An amendment to the Regulation on Real Estate Trade (Official Gazette, 29 April 2026) requires the sale price to be paid through a payment system that exchanges ownership and money at the same time, where payment is made in cash, by wire transfer or by EFT. The Ministry of Trade announced on 26 June 2026 that the start date was moved from 1 July to 1 October 2026. A further postponement to 1 December 2026 was reported on 28 September 2026; confirm the current start date with the Ministry of Trade. The regulation says a usage fee is taken from the amount paid to the seller; at the time of writing we found no published amount.

Notary and sworn translation. Notary fees are set by the Ministry of Justice's yearly tariff (the 2026 tariff has been amended during the year) and depend on the document and its length, so ask the notary for a quote. At the land registry, a buyer who does not speak Turkish must be accompanied by a certified translator, and a power of attorney made abroad must be presented as an original or certified copy with an approved translation (TKGM guidance for foreigners, 2018).

Completion and handover costs

DASK earthquake insurance. Compulsory earthquake insurance is among the documents listed for a sale of a building at the land registry. The premium is not a percentage of the price. It depends on the insured sum, which is the area multiplied by a construction cost per square metre, the building's construction type and the earthquake risk group of its location, which runs from group 1 to group 7 in the tariff. DASK's bulletin of 7 March 2025 describes the tariff multipliers and minimum premiums by risk group. Coverage limits are updated in line with producer prices: Dünya reported on 9 June 2026, citing DASK, a maximum cover of 2,407,723 TL per home and 11,357 TL per m² for reinforced-concrete buildings from 1 July 2026. Because the figures move monthly, get a quote for your exact address.

Utilities. Electricity, water and natural gas subscriptions are moved into the new owner's name with the local providers; ask each provider which documents it needs. Subscription deposits and connection charges vary by provider and change often; we do not quote them because we could not confirm current official amounts. Ask the seller for final meter readings on handover day.

Building management. In a building with several units, each owner contributes to shared costs through the management budget (işletme projesi). Law No. 7579, published on 22 May 2026, amended the Condominium Law: the budget is approved by the owners' general assembly; until it is approved, the manager prepares a provisional budget, and where a budget already exists, the provisional amount may rise by no more than the revaluation rate for the previous year. Ask for the current budget, the monthly charge (aidat), any reserve fund and any unpaid debts on the unit.

Yearly costs once you own the home

Property tax (emlak vergisi)

According to GİB's property-tax guide (June 2025), the building tax rate is 1 per thousand for homes and 2 per thousand for other buildings, 1 per thousand for land and 3 per thousand for building plots. Within metropolitan municipality boundaries and their adjacent areas the rates are applied with a 100% increase. İstanbul is a metropolitan municipality, and so is Muğla province, which includes Bodrum, under Law No. 6360 of 2012.

The tax is levied on the municipal tax value, not on the price you paid, and is payable in two equal instalments: the first in March, April or May and the second in November. A buyer must file a property-tax declaration with the municipality: GİB's example shows that for a purchase on 26 July 2025 the declaration was due by 31 December 2025, and for a purchase on 15 November 2025 within three months; in both cases liability started in 2026. The land registry will not transfer a property with unpaid property tax. For 2026, Property Tax Communiqué No. 89 caps the increase: a 2026 tax value may not exceed the 2025 value plus twice that value. From 2027 values rise each year by the full revaluation rate instead of half of it.

Valuable-housing tax (değerli konut vergisi)

Property Tax Communiqué No. 88 (Official Gazette, 31 December 2025) sets the 2026 threshold at a building tax value of 17,711,000 TL. The tax is progressive: 0.3% on the part between 17,711,000 and 26,567,000 TL; 26,568 TL plus 0.6% on the part above 26,567,000 TL up to 35,425,000 TL; and 79,716 TL plus 1% on the part above 35,425,000 TL. GİB's 2026 guide explains that the test uses the building tax value, not the market value, and that a person who owns only one residential property in Türkiye is exempt. Liability starts in the year after purchase; the 2026 return was due by 20 February 2026.

Worked example (hypothetical)

The table below uses invented figures only to show how the sourced 2026 rates combine. Assume a new-build flat in İstanbul bought from the developer in 2026 by a foreign buyer: declared price 10,000,000 TL, net area 120 m², building permit after 1 April 2022, municipal property-tax value 4,000,000 TL. Amounts that depend on local data are shown as formulas.

If the same flat had been declared at 3,500,000 TL, below its 4,000,000 TL tax value, the title deed fee would still be 2% of 4,000,000 TL for each party. And if the declared price were lower than the real price, both parties would face the missing fee plus the penalty described above.

Costs when you sell later

When you sell, you pay the seller's 2% title deed fee, and the land registry fees and the foreigner surcharge apply again. GİB's guide on taxing property sales (April 2024) explains that a gain on the sale of a property acquired by purchase is taxed as a capital gain if the sale takes place within five years of acquisition, counted in days; after five years the gain is outside this tax. The gain is the sale price minus the acquisition cost and the seller's expenses, taxes and fees. The cost is indexed by the domestic producer price index (Yİ-ÜFE) if the index rose by 10% or more. For 2026 the annual exemption for such gains is 150,000 TL, and gains above it are taxed on the income-tax scale, which for 2026 runs from 15% to 40% (per KPMG's summary of Income Tax Communiqué No. 332). How this applies to a non-resident seller, and whether a tax treaty is relevant, is a question for your tax adviser.

• Five-year line Gains on sales more than five years after purchase are outside capital-gains tax (GİB guide, April 2024).
• Indexation Cost can be indexed to Yİ-ÜFE when the index rise is 10% or more.
• 2026 exemption 150,000 TL of capital gain on property is exempt for 2026.
• VAT exemption clawback Selling a VAT-exempt home within three years triggers the unpaid VAT plus interest.

How to build your own cost schedule

1. Collect the property data Ask for the title deed details, the municipal property-tax value, the building permit date and the net area, and, for a resale, confirmation that there is no unpaid property tax.
2. Fix who pays what Write into the agreement which party pays each 2% title deed share, the land registry fees, the valuation report and any VAT, and in which currency.
3. Check VAT early For a new-build, confirm the VAT rule and, if relevant, whether you meet the non-resident exemption before you pay a deposit.
4. Order the valuation report Apply through Web Tapu, get the fee quote in writing and make sure the report will still be within three months on the transfer date.
5. Plan the payment route Once the secure payment system starts (1 October 2026 as announced in June; a move to 1 December 2026 was reported on 28 September 2026), sale prices paid in cash, by wire transfer or EFT must go through it; keep all bank records.
6. Budget the first year Add DASK, utility deposits, the first management charges and the property-tax declaration due after completion.

For the order in which these steps usually happen, see our buying process guide. If you are buying with a view to Turkish citizenship, note that the valuation report comes from GEDAŞ and that the declared value matters for the application. Our services page explains what our legal department supervises during payment and title deed procedures. We confirm our own fee in writing before any engagement.

• Written agreement Every cost and the party paying it should be in the contract, not only in messages.
• Tax number first A Turkish tax number and bank account are usually needed before payments start.
• Power of attorney If you cannot attend, budget for a notarised power of attorney, with an approved translation if it is made abroad.

Frequently asked questions

Want a dated cost schedule for a specific home in İstanbul or Bodrum? Contact our team Monday to Saturday, 09:00–19:00, and we will go through each item with you.

Sources

• GİB, Gayrimenkul Alım-Satımında Tapu Harcı (infographic) — 2% each party, property-tax value floor, one-times penalty (accessed 30 September 2026)
• GİB, Gayrimenkul Alım-Satımının Vergilendirilmesi (April 2024) — title deed fee examples, five-year capital-gains rule, indexation (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Alomaliye, GİB title deed fee reminder (9 July 2026) — restatement of the 2026 rule (secondary source) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• KPMG, Law No. 7566 published (19 December 2025) — fee base wording, penalty increase, 2026 property-tax value cap (secondary source) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• TKGM, 2026 revolving-fund tariff — 2,227 TL base, local coefficient, 20,868 TL foreigner fee, VAT included (accessed 30 September 2026)
• TKGM, Circular 2024/2 (1 March 2024) — valuation reports for foreign buyers, GEDAŞ for citizenship, three-month validity, fee notified on application (accessed 30 September 2026)
• GİB, consolidated VAT General Application Communiqué (2026 edition) — 150 m² rules, Article 13(i) non-resident exemption conditions (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Official Gazette, Presidential Decision No. 7346 (7 July 2023) — VAT rate change (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Alomaliye, VAT rate on housing deliveries (10 July 2023) — 10% and 20% rates for homes after Decision 7346 (secondary source) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Official Gazette, Stamp Duty Communiqué No. 71 (31 December 2025) — 2026 ceiling of 29,115,961.10 TL (accessed 30 September 2026)
• KPMG, Stamp duty rates 2026 — 9.48 per thousand for contracts, promise-to-sell contracts exempt (secondary source) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Alomaliye, TKGM Circular 2026/2 on stamp duty in land registry transactions (30 July 2026) (secondary source) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Alomaliye, amendment to the Regulation on Real Estate Trade (29 April 2026) — payment system and usage fee (secondary source) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Ministry of Trade, secure payment system start moved to 1 October 2026 (26 June 2026) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• TKGM Foreign Affairs Department, Buying property in Turkey — guide for foreigners (2018) — land registry documents, translator, DASK (accessed 30 September 2026)
• DASK, tariff change bulletin (7 March 2025) — risk groups and premium basis (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Dünya, DASK maximum cover from 1 July 2026 (9 June 2026) (secondary source citing DASK) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Official Gazette, Law No. 7579 (22 May 2026) — Condominium Law changes on management budgets (accessed 30 September 2026)
• GİB, Emlak Vergisi guide (June 2025) — rates, metropolitan increase, instalments, declaration after purchase (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Official Gazette, Property Tax Communiqué No. 89 (31 December 2025) — 2026 tax value cap (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Law No. 6360 (6 December 2012) — Muğla metropolitan municipality (text reproduced by Alomaliye) (accessed 30 September 2026)
• Official Gazette, Property Tax Communiqué No. 88 (31 December 2025) — 2026 valuable-housing tax threshold and brackets (accessed 30 September 2026)
• GİB, Değerli Konut Vergisi guide (February 2026) — building tax value test, single-home exemption, filing date (accessed 30 September 2026)
• KPMG, 2026 income tax brackets and amounts — 150,000 TL capital-gains exemption, 15%–40% scale (secondary source) (accessed 30 September 2026)