Taxes in Turkey for Foreigners: Tax Number, Rent and Car
How a foreigner gets a tax number in Turkey, who pays income tax, the tax bands, rent income of people living abroad and car tax, with forms named.
Table of Contents
Outside Turkish government offices you may still find an arzuhalci, a petition writer who types your request in the right form. The desk does it for three tax requests.
Taxes for foreigners, in short
Four things, in plain words.
- Who is taxed on what: Türkiye’s tax administration is the Revenue Administration (GİB, Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı). A person counts as settled in Türkiye when the home is there or the stay is continuously more than six months in a calendar year. Someone who is not settled pays tax only on income earned in Türkiye.
- A tax number: Foreigners apply online with the Potential Tax Number Application. The form asks for eleven details, from name and passport number to address.
- Rent from a home: Home rent below a yearly exemption (47,000 TL for 2025, 58,000 TL for 2026) needs no tax return. The return for 2025 rent was due from 01.03.2026 to 31.03.2026.
- Car tax: The person the car is registered to pays it, in two equal instalments, in January and July.
The arzuhalci’s desk three requests, typed in Turkish
The arzuhalci’s desk
Pull a lever, get it typed
Tax number
Yabancı uyruklu bir kişiyim.
Vergi kimlik numarası almak istiyorum.
Başvuru formunda şu bilgiler isteniyor:
1. Adınız
2. Soyadınız
3. Cinsiyetiniz
4. Yabancı Kimlik Numaranız
5. Doğum Yeriniz
6. Anne Adınız
7. Baba Adınız
8. Ülke
9. Pasaport Numaranız
10. Telefon Numaranız
11. Adresiniz
Ad soyad: [ad soyad]
What it says I am a foreigner and I would like to get a tax number. The application form asks for these details.
Where it is done
The form asks for these eleven details, in this order
| On the form | It means | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adınız | Name |
| 2 | Soyadınız | Surname |
| 3 | Cinsiyetiniz | Gender |
| 4 | Yabancı Kimlik Numaranız | Foreign Identity Number |
| 5 | Doğum Yeriniz | Birthplace |
| 6 | Anne Adınız | Mother's Name |
| 7 | Baba Adınız | Father's Name |
| 8 | Ülke | Country |
| 9 | Pasaport Numaranız | Passport Number |
| 10 | Telefon Numaranız | Mobile Phone |
| 11 | Adresiniz | Address |
Nothing you type leaves this page. Replace the [brackets] with your own details before you use the text.
Get a tax number the form for foreigners
A tax number is vergi kimlik numarası in Turkish. Foreigners apply on the Digital Tax Office site, dijital.gib.gov.tr. The form is in Turkish and English.
Yabancılar İçin Potansiyel Vergi Kimlik Numarası Başvurusu Potential Tax Number Application for Foreigners
- 1Adınız name
- 2Soyadınız surname
- 3Cinsiyetiniz genderKadın femaleErkek male
- 4Yabancı Kimlik Numaranız foreign identity number
- 5Doğum Yeriniz birthplace
- 6Anne Adınız mother’s name
- 7Baba Adınız father’s name
- 8Ülke country
- 9Pasaport Numaranız passport number
- 10Telefon Numaranız mobile phone
- 11Adresiniz address
Yukarıdaki bilgilerin doğruluğunu kabul ediyorum. I accept the accuracy of the above information.
TEMİZLE resetBAŞVUR apply
Settled in Türkiye or not the two groups
Settled in Türkiye (yerleşmiş sayılan)
A home in Türkiye
ikametgâh
or
A stay of more than six months continuously in a calendar year
Temporary departures do not interrupt the time spent in Türkiye.
Not settled: a limited taxpayer (dar mükellef)
A person who is not settled in Türkiye has no home there and does not stay there continuously for more than six months in a calendar year.
A limited taxpayer pays tax only on income earned in Türkiye and does not declare income earned in other countries.
Income tax bands for income earned in 2026
Income tax is gelir vergisi. These are the bands for income earned in 2026, from the tariff sheet of 02.01.2026.
Each band has an upper limit, a fixed amount for the first slice of income, and the rate above that slice.
Income up to
Other income
- Up to 190,000 TL: 15%
- Up to 400,000 TL: 28,500 TL for the first 190,000 TL, then 20%
- Up to 1,000,000 TL: 70,500 TL for the first 400,000 TL, then 27%
- Up to 5,300,000 TL: 232,500 TL for the first 1,000,000 TL, then 35%
- Above 5,300,000 TL: 1,737,500 TL for the first 5,300,000 TL, then 40%
Wage income (ücret)
- Up to 190,000 TL: 15%
- Up to 400,000 TL: 28,500 TL for the first 190,000 TL, then 20%
- Up to 1,500,000 TL: 70,500 TL for the first 400,000 TL, then 27%
- Up to 5,300,000 TL: 367,500 TL for the first 1,500,000 TL, then 35%
- Above 5,300,000 TL: 1,697,500 TL for the first 5,300,000 TL, then 40%
Renting out a home while living abroad
A person who is not settled in Türkiye still pays income tax on rent from property there.
Home rent is exempt from income tax up to 47,000 TL for rent earned in 2025 and 58,000 TL for 2026.
Home rent below the exemption.
Rent fully taxed by withholding in Türkiye. It stays out of a return for other income too.
No yearly return
For people whose only income to declare is rent:
Home rent above the exemption.
Rent from property and rights that no one withheld tax on.
Return due
The exemption does not apply to
- Late or partial declaring. Rent that is not declared on time, or is missing from a return filed on time. A late return filed before the tax administration finds the rent keeps the exemption.
- Other income to declare. People who must declare trade, farm or professional income.
- A high total. People with home rent above 47,000 TL whose gross total of wages, capital income, rent and other income is above 1,200,000 TL (the upper limit of the third band for wages in the 2025 tariff).
No return? Tell the tax office why
- İstisna altında kira geliri elde ettim (mesken) I earned rent below the exemption (a home)
- Kira geliri elde etmedim I earned no rent
- Gayrimenkulü sattım I sold the property
- Kendim oturuyorum I live in it myself
- Usul (üstsoy), füru (altsoy) veya kardeşim oturuyor Relatives of mine live in it: parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren or siblings
- Beyan sınırı altında kira geliri elde ettim (iş yeri, diğer, hak) I earned rent below the filing limit (a workplace, other property or rights)
The desk’s second lever types the petition with the reason you pick.
20% is kept from the rent
Businesses, institutions and organisations that the income tax law names must keep 20% of the gross rent when they rent a property, and pay it to the tax administration (tevkifat).
Pay and collect it through a bank or PTT
Rent for homes and workplaces must be paid and collected through a bank or the post office (PTT) and proved with their documents. Bank transfers, card payments and online banking receipts count. Fines apply if it is not done.
- A taxpayer record first. A person with no Turkish ID number, no population register (MERNİS) record and no taxpayer record has one opened first: at the tax office where the tax contact person in Türkiye (vergi muhatabı) lives or, if there is none, where the property is.
- File the return. For rent earned in 2025: from 01.03.2026 to 31.03.2026, on Hazır Beyan or the Digital Tax Office.
- Sign in. Hazır Beyan (“ready return”) prepares the return and the taxpayer approves it. Sign-in works with a user code, an e-Devlet sign-in or a foreigner identity number (Yabancı Kimlik Numarası). For someone who can sign in but has no taxpayer record (mükellefiyet) yet, the approved return creates it automatically.
- Pay in two equal instalments. The first, together with stamp duty (damga vergisi), by 31.03.2026 and the second by 31.07.2026.
Ways to pay
- OnlineDigital Tax Office or the tax administration’s mobile app: cards and accounts of banks that have an agreement with it, or cards and other payment methods of banks in other countries.
- At a bankA branch, internet, phone or mobile banking of a bank that has an agreement with the tax administration.
- PTT officeAt the post office.
- Tax officeAt any tax office.
Tax treaties, with an example
- Example. A person who lives in Germany rents out a home in Bodrum.
- Türkiye taxes the rent. Turkish rules apply. The treaties that prevent double taxation (Çifte Vergilendirmeyi Önleme Anlaşmaları) do not limit this.
A rule for newcomers who move to Türkiye
The law added an income tax exemption for people who move to Türkiye.
Before
No home and no taxpayer record in Türkiye in the three calendar years before the person is counted as settled.
The year the person is counted as settled
Apply to the tax office with authority over the file for the Yurt Dışından Elde Edilen Kazanç ve İratlar İçin İstisna Belgesi (Certificate of Exemption for Income and Earnings from Abroad).
By the end of that calendar year.
By the end of February of the next year for people counted as settled in the last two months of a year.
After
Income earned outside Türkiye is exempt from income tax for 20 years.
- For people counted as settled from 01.01.2026
- Companies that pay corporate tax cannot use it
The tax office checks before it issues the certificate
- That the person is counted as settled.
- That there was no home and no taxpayer record in the three years before.
- That the application came on time.
Car tax who pays and when
The car tax is motorlu taşıtlar vergisi. The person in whose name the car is registered pays it.
A new car is registered in
Months the tax coversInstalment month
January to June
The tax starts at the beginning of that year. The first instalment is due within one month of the registration, the second in July.
July to December
The tax starts at the beginning of July. Only the second half-year’s tax is due, within one month of the registration.
Instalments
Two equal instalments, every year in January and July.
A car that is sold
- SellerPays all the tax that is still unpaid before the sale. After a sale in January to June, the seller does not pay the July instalment.
- BuyerThe tax starts at the beginning of the next half-year: in July after a sale in January to June, in January of the next year after a sale in July to December.
Car tax is paid the same ways as rent tax: online, at a bank, at a PTT office or at any tax office.
Look up a car’s tax and pay itMotorlu Taşıtlar Vergisi Sorgulama ve Kredi Kartı ile Ödeme (car tax query and payment by credit card, on e-Devlet)
Where it is done online the services by name
Most steps go through the Digital Tax Office (Dijital Vergi Dairesi, dijital.gib.gov.tr) or the e-Devlet portal. The services have these names:
- Tax number
- Yabancılar İçin Potansiyel Vergi Kimlik Numarası Başvurusu (Potential Tax Number Application for Foreigners, on dijital.gib.gov.tr)
- Rent return
- Hazır Beyan Sisteminden Beyanname Düzenleme (Preparing a return in the Hazır Beyan system, on e-Devlet and hazirbeyan.gib.gov.tr)
- Taxpayer letter
- Mükellefiyet Yazısı Talep Girişi (Taxpayer-status letter request entry, on e-Devlet)
- No-debt letter
- Borcu Yoktur Yazısı Talep Girişi (No-debt letter request entry, on e-Devlet)
- Check a tax number
- Vergi Kimlik Numarası Doğrulama (Tax number verification, on e-Devlet)
- Car tax
- Motorlu Taşıtlar Vergisi Sorgulama ve Kredi Kartı ile Ödeme (Car tax query and payment by credit card, on e-Devlet)
- Tax questions
- Vergi İletişim Merkezi (tax contact centre, phone 189, for tax rules and news)
- Digital assistant
- Dijital Vergi Asistanı (digital tax assistant, for tax rules and news)
A tax office decides a person’s case; this page is not tax advice.
Sources
Open the source list
- Gelir Vergisi Tarifesi 2026 (Income Tax Tariff 2026), one page, a file from 02.01.2026 — Revenue Administration (GİB), checked 22.10.2026
- Türkiye’de Yerleşmiş Olmayanlar (Dar Mükellefler) İçin Kira Geliri Rehberi, publication no. 594, February 2026 — Revenue Administration (GİB), checked 22.10.2026
- Yurt Dışından Elde Edilen Kazanç ve İratlarda Vergi İstisnası (Gelir Vergisi Kanunu Mükerrer Madde 20/D), publication no. 616, 2026 — Revenue Administration (GİB), checked 22.10.2026
- Motorlu Taşıtlar Vergisi ve Trafik İdari Para Cezası Rehberi, publication no. 579, January 2026 — Revenue Administration (GİB), checked 22.10.2026
- Yabancılar İçin Potansiyel Vergi Kimlik Numarası Başvurusu (Potential Tax Number Application for Foreigners) — Digital Tax Office, Revenue Administration (GİB), checked 22.10.2026
- Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı services (the Revenue Administration’s page on e-Devlet) — e-Devlet Gateway, checked 22.10.2026
- Mükellefiyet Yazısı Talep Girişi (service page) — e-Devlet Gateway, checked 22.10.2026
- Borcu Yoktur Yazısı Talep Girişi (service page) — e-Devlet Gateway, checked 22.10.2026
The laws behind the rules: the Income Tax Law (no. 193, articles 94 and 103 and additional article 20/D, added by law no. 7582) and the Motor Vehicles Tax Law (no. 197).
