Figures last checked: . Rates, exemptions and fines change, and some of the Turkish figures below are flagged as unconfirmed; treat them as indicative and have your own figures checked.
Tourist letting needs a licence
Since 1 January 2024 Law 7464 regulates the letting of homes in Turkey for tourism purposes, meaning stays of up to 100 days. You need a licence from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism before signing the first rental contract, the licence plaque must be displayed at the entrance, and platforms must remove unlicensed homes. In a residential building all the other owners must agree in writing, unanimously. Letting more than four times a year without a licence is treated as a commercial activity. The fines are high: 100,000 lira for a first offence, then 500,000 and 1,000,000 for repeat offences, each time with 15 days to put things right. We found no 2026 revaluation of these amounts, so treat them as the published figures rather than the current ones.
Long-term letting for a year or more falls outside this law and needs no licence, but a written contract, registration of the tenant's address and a Turkish account for the rent are all standard. The realistic arrangement for an owner living in the Kingdom is a property manager who handles the licences, the cleaning and the tax returns.
How Turkey taxes rent
Rental income from a Turkish property is taxed in Turkey whether you live there or not. Non-residents are taxed only on their Turkish income, at the same progressive brackets that apply to residents, from 15 to 40 percent in 2026. There is an annual exemption for residential rent; the figure most sources give for 2026 is 58,000 lira, but some still quote the old 33,000, so confirm it with a Turkish accountant. You can deduct actual expenses or a lump sum of 15 percent of gross rent. The return is filed in March of the following year, by the 25th, and a non-resident owner usually appoints a Turkish tax representative for this. Tourist letting may also be subject to the 2 percent accommodation tax and VAT; secondary sources say so and we could not confirm how far this applies to individual owners. Run every lira of rent through your Turkish bank account; it is your evidence to the tax office.
The Saudi side: no tax, but zakat
The Kingdom has no personal income tax, no tax on income or property abroad, and we found no obligation to declare property outside the Kingdom. So the only tax on your rent is the Turkish one, and no treaty deducts anything from it because there is no Saudi tax to set against it. What remains is zakat, a personal religious obligation that the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority administers for businesses, not for individuals. According to the commonly cited scholarly references, a home used as a residence is not subject to zakat, rental income is subject to zakat like cash once a lunar year has passed, and property bought with the intention of trading is subject to zakat on its market value. These are religious questions, not legal ones, so ask someone you trust about them.
When you sell
Turkey taxes the gain on a property sale within five years of purchase as income; after five years the gain is, under the rules as they stood in 2026, exempt for individuals, and the 4 percent tapu fee applies again at the transfer. There is no Saudi tax on the gain. But calculate the gain in riyals, not lira: a weaker lira can turn a lira gain into a riyal loss or the reverse, and the currency purchase certificate from the purchase sets the figure Turkey starts its calculation from.
The numbers that make or break the plan
Gross yield figures from agents rarely include the cost of the licence, the manager's share, DASK insurance, property tax, a vacancy margin and the Turkish tax return. Work the plan out in riyals after all of that, converting the rent at a conservative exchange rate; the lira lost around 18 percent against the dollar, and therefore against the riyal, in the twelve months to October 2026, and a yield that looks good in lira can look thinner in riyals. Then compare the result with what the same money earns in the Kingdom before deciding that the flat pays for itself. The financing guide covers the purchase side, and why Turkish financing rarely has a place in an investor's spreadsheet.
Checklist for a Saudi owner in Turkey
- Decide between tourist and long-term letting before you buy; the licence and the building's consent depend on it.
- Apply for the Law 7464 licence before the first booking, and get the other owners' consent in writing.
- Appoint a Turkish tax representative and a property manager you can reach from the Kingdom.
- Receive all rent through your Turkish bank account.
- File the Turkish return in March, and count the exemption and the 15 percent lump-sum deduction.
- Ask someone you trust about zakat on rental income and on property held for trade.
- Work out the sale in riyals, with the Turkish five-year rule and the tapu fee again.
Questions investors from Saudi Arabia ask
Further reading
What enquirers tell us about letting
Of the 356 enquiries that reached us through our network between 27 May and 9 October 2026, 59 named investment as the purpose, and of 285 written messages 18 mentioned rental income and 9 commercial use. These are figures across our whole network, not Turkey or Saudi Arabia alone, but they show that roughly one buyer in six expects the property to produce income, and that is exactly where the licence and the tax return in this guide start to matter.
Who wrote this guide. Bas Terpstra writes, reviews and approves every guide, using AI tools and public sources as a starting point. Rules and amounts change, so treat this as general information and check the details for your own situation.
This guide is general information, not personal financial, legal, tax or Sharia advice. The rates, exemptions and fines mentioned are indicative and based on public sources from 2026. Turkey Mortgage Saudi is part of a Dutch company and is not a licensed financing provider in Saudi Arabia, not an estate agent and not a law firm.