Effective from April 2018, Parliament of Turkey adopted a law which enabled an exemption for foreigners to purchase properties such as business office and house, if these are bought by certain individuals and institutions.
Necessary conditions as follows;
1) The exemption covering following purchaser
a. Foreigners who are not resident in Turkey.
b. Turk citizens who lives abroad for more than 6 months.
c. Foreign entities which do not generate revenue in Turkey through a workplace and permanent representatives
2) Real Estate being residence or business officeThe residence or the office must have building certificate, and these have to be ready to be used by foreigners.
3) First Sale of Residence or Business OfficeThe exemption is in force for the first taking delivery of houses or business offices. It is not valid for the second-hand sales
4) Purchase Money bringing into Turkey in foreign currencyIt’s mandatory to bring at least 50% monetary value of the estate into Turkey before issuing its invoice and rest of the amount in foreign currency also can be brought into Turkey no later than 1 year and then the dealer gets paid with this money. The purchase money has to be proven it is brought into Turkey. Transaction can be made by using bank or home banking, but also it’s possible that value of the real estate is allowed to be brought into country in the form of cash. In case the value is brought in cash, the amount of the cash has to be reported Custom Office and a receipt can be taken from the office for being proof. Much attention should be paid the fact that foreigner to be invoiced has to be same person who pays / brings the foreign currency into Turkey.
5) Keeping Residence/Business Office at least 1 Year
Legal transaction of the real estate in Land Registry Office has to be made in order to be able to benefit from the exemption. Those who sell the property which is subject to VAT exemption, shall inform the Land Registry Office about sale of relevant property. Afterwards, the office will put an annotation onto title deed. If the residence or the office is sold within 1 year, the exemption is broken and the seller (who was the first buyer that benefitted from the exemption) shall be wanted to pay unpaid taxes due to the exemption, along with legal interest