🇹🇷 Tax residency in Türkiye

Türkiye ties tax residency to being "settled" there, or to a continuous stay of more than six months in a calendar year (the familiar 183-day mark). If your home and life are based in Türkiye, the settlement test can make you resident without any day counting at all; the six-month rule is the backstop that catches everyone else.

What makes you look settled? Owning real estate is a big one: buy a place in Istanbul or Antalya and you have a significant tie. A spouse or children living permanently in Türkiye flags you. A registered business there is practically an engraved invitation to the Gelir İdaresi. They want to see where your money is made and where your life actually runs.

Once resident, Türkiye taxes worldwide income, with a progressive scale topping out at 40%. Foreign freelance income, foreign employment income, investment income: all in scope for a resident. If you are coming from a lower-tax setup, model this before you cross the six-month line, not after.

There is one carve-out worth knowing, and it is narrower than the nomad forums make it sound. Income Tax Law article 23/14 exempts wages paid in foreign currency by an employer that has neither its legal seat nor its business centre in Türkiye, paid out of that employer's earnings abroad. It has nothing to do with the digital nomad permit. Two consequences follow, and both run opposite to the common assumption: a permit holder billing foreign clients earns self-employment income rather than wages, so article 23/14 gives them nothing; an employee who meets its conditions gets the exemption whether or not they hold a nomad permit. It does not touch Turkish-source income either. Confirm the conditions with the Gelir İdaresi for the year in question before you rely on it.

On treaties: the US has an income tax treaty in force with Türkiye, which provides credit relief so the same income is not taxed twice; US citizens still file US returns regardless. The UK and Germany also have double taxation agreements with Türkiye. If you end up resident in two countries at once under domestic rules, the treaty allocates taxing rights between them, and until that is sorted both tax offices will assume you are theirs.

A local accountant makes sense once your facts have layers: income from several countries, Turkish clients or a Turkish entity, property, or an article 23/14 wage exemption you need to document. Turkish filing and documentation requirements are specific enough that local expertise beats translation-app improvisation every time.

Be honest about your ties to Türkiye if you spend significant time there.

This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice.