Turkey Rental Contracts for Foreign Landlords: What to Register and How

Renting Out Your Alanya Property: What Turkey Requires You to Register You bought an apartment or villa in Alanya, and now you want it to earn. Whether you plan to rent it long-term to a family or list it on Airbnb for holidaymakers, Turkey treats these as two very different markets with two very different rulebooks. Getting the registration wrong is no longer a minor oversight: as of 2024 and reinforced by a December 2025 court ruling, short-term rental operators face administrative fines starting at TRY 100,000 per property per year. This guide explains exactly what a foreign landlord must register, where, and what happens if you skip it. !Foreign property owner reviewing a Turkish rental contract in Alanya Two Rental Markets, Two Sets of Rules Turkish law draws the line at 30 days. Long-term rental (30 days or more): governed by ordinary tenancy law. A written lease, residence-based tenants, and income-tax reporting. Short-term rental (fewer than 30 days): holiday letting, governed since 2024 by Law No. 7465. This is where the licensing, the 100-night cap, and the heavy fines live. Decide which market your unit serves before you advertise a single night, because the obligations diverge sharply. Long-Term Rentals: The Contract and the Tax Office For a stay of 30 days or more, a written contract is mandatory. Notarization is not legally required, but a notarized lease gives you a far stronger position if you ever need to evict or pursue unpaid rent, so most owners treat it as cheap insurance. The tax piece matters most for non-residents. Rental income is reported through Turkey's annual income tax declaration. There is an exemption threshold (TRY 58,000 for the relevant tax year); if your net rental income stays under it, you owe no income tax, but once you exceed it the whole declaration becomes due. Keep the signed contract on file — the local tax office can request it, and it is the document that substantiates your declared income. Many foreign owners file through a Turkish accountant or appointed agent rather than navigating e-Devlet themselves. Short-Term Rentals: License, Cap, and Building Consent This is where most foreign landlords get caught out. Under Law No. 7465 (in force from 2024), if you rent your unit for fewer than 30 days you are a holiday-rental operator, and three hard requirements apply: Ministry of Culture and Tourism license. You cannot legally take short-term guests without it. The permit certificate must be displayed at the property. Building consent (the apartment-block rule). If your unit sits in a building under shared ownership (kat mülkiyeti), you need written consent from at least four-fifths of the owners before any short-term letting is allowed. A single complex can effectively ban Airbnb if the neighbours refuse. The 100-night cap. Each unit may be let for a maximum of 100 consecutive nights within an annual period under the relevant arrangement — a deliberate brake on full-time hotel-style operation of residential flats. !Alanya apartment block with shared-ownership signage relevant to short-term rental consent BMMYK: The Holiday-Rental Registry Licensed short-term operators must register in BMMYK (Belgeli Konaklama — the registry and management system for certified accommodation providers). It is an online registry that ties your licensed unit to the official system. Operating without this registration is precisely what triggers the headline penalty: a fine of TRY 100,000 and above per property, per year. Accommodation Tax (Konaklama Vergisi) Short-term accommodation is subject to Turkey's accommodation tax. The standard rate is 2% of the rental fee. For the period May to December 2026, the rate is temporarily reduced to 1%. The tax is collected from the guest and remitted by the operator, so build it into your nightly pricing and your bookkeeping. What a Non-Resident Landlord Owes As a non-resident owner you have two routes for taxing rental income: Lump-sum method: deduct a flat 15% of gross rent as notional expenses (götürü gider), then tax the remainder. Actual-expense method: deduct documented real costs instead. Either way, the TRY 58,000 annual exemption applies, and income is declared via the annual income tax return — typically through your accountant or agent. The 2025 Tightening You Cannot Ignore In December 2025 the Danıştay (Council of State) ruled that operators who let property through online platforms such as Airbnb are treated as commercial operators even when they are private individuals. In practice this closes the "I'm just a private owner" loophole: list on a platform and the stricter licensing, registry, and tax obligations attach to you regardless. Combined with the TRY 100,000 fine and potential criminal liability for unlicensed operation, the cost of cutting corners now clearly outweighs the paperwork. Practical Checklist Decide long-term vs short-term before advertising. Long-term: sign a written contract; consider notarization; keep it for the tax office. Short-term: obtain the Ministry license; secure 4/5 owner consent if in a shared building; respect the 100-night cap. Register in BMMYK before taking your first short-term guest. Charge and remit accommodation tax (1% May–Dec 2026, otherwise 2%). File your annual income tax return; apply the TRY 58,000 exemption and 15% lump-sum deduction. Use a Turkish accountant or agent if you are non-resident. Renting out an Alanya property can be genuinely profitable — but only when the registrations are done first, not after a fine arrives.