Overview:
On average costs of buying property in Turkey are significantly less (in relation to the purchase price of the property in Turkey) than Spain, France, Portugal and Italy, and usually amount to approximately 8% of the total purchase price. Buyers in Turkey can expect to bear the following costs:

Capital Gains Tax
In general, capital gains in Turkey, whether for an individual or for a company, is added to the regular tax.

• The rate of standard tax is identical to the rate of normal income tax on the income of an individual i.e. 15% - 40%.
  
  
• A capital gain from the sale of Turkish securities that were held by the vendor for at least 1 year before the date of sale is exempt from tax.

Annual Real Estate Tax
Annual Property Tax rates for cultivated land; uncultivated (for building) land, non-residence-purpose buildings, and residential buildings are 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.2%, and %0.1, respectively. Tax is calculated on the basis of the declared value of the asset which can not be less than a threshold determined by tax authorities.

Tax payments are made in two equal installments in the period March-to-May and November each year and those are collected by the local governments (municipality). The tax base is annually updated by a coefficient determined by the Ministry of Finance taking into account the inflation rate. Property tax rates in some metropolitan provinces are double the rates stated above.

Property Sale and Acquisition Levy
The buyer and seller each pay a property sale and acquisition levy of 1.5%, based on the declared value of the asset. It is collected prior to the transfer of ownership at TAPU office. In the case of registry of a new building constructed on land, a levy of 1.5% based on the reference value of the asset is to be paid. When it comes to acquisition of waterside properties, an acquisition levy of 26% must be paid.

Environment Tax
This tax will be collected through your water bills at a rate of c.0.13 YTL/m3 for residential property.

VAT
No VAT is chargeable on the sale of real estate by individuals who are not estate agents, except in the case of houses with a total surface area above 150 square metres, which are subject to 1% VAT.

Overall transaction costs

Other costs
There are other costs that may be incurred:

• Solicitors’ fees – approximately £250
• Aegean Army Clearance - £150
• Translators fees - £80
• Notary fees - £70
• Power of attorney – approximately £120
• Electricity connection - £125
• Water connection - £190
• Buyers tax – 1.5% of the purchase price
• There will also be an annual maintenance fee on most developments. Normally this is between £350 and £450