TAXES & CONPULSORY INSURANCE

Annual Real Estate (a tax similar to the Council tax in the UK) 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 could not be less than a threshold determined by tax authorities. Tax payments are made in two equal instalments 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.

The owner of a property has to declare the actual price, which has been paid to the seller, to the municipality by end-December in the year of acquisition.

Real Estate Tax of the property in the year of acquisition is paid by seller whereas the consecutive years’ taxes are paid by the buyer (new owner).

Environmental Services Tax (EST)

For residential properties, local water suppliers charge an EST of YTL 0.13 per one m3 of water used.

For non-residential buildings, the EST is a flat and ranges between TL YTL 13 and YTL 1.537 per year.

The rates for metropolitan cities, on the other hand, are YTL 0.16 / m3 of water used by residential properties and a flat rate of YTL 16-to-YTL 1.921 for non-residential properties.

VAT

General VAT rate is 18%. However, some goods and services are taxed at either 1% or 8%.

Commercial delivery of a residential property with net area up to 150 m2 is subject to a VAT of 1% whereas commercial delivery of those with more than 150 m2 is subject to a VAT of 18%.

Your UK Pensions

Your UK pensions are not be taxed in Turkey. Furthermore, such an income is not gained as a result of a commercial activity carried out in Turkey. In this regard, you can freely transfer your pensions to Turkey. You can either have your pension transferred to your bank account in Turkey or prefer getting cheques sent to you.

Please note that an average Turkish household lives on an average monthly income much less than an average UK pension. Thus, your pension itself will allow you to have a financially comfortable in Turkey.

For more information please visit the site www.turkisheconomy.org.uk