Inheritance and Transfer Tax in Türkiye: A Guide for Foreign Heirs

If you inherit property, money, or shares located in Türkiye, you are usually liable for Turkish inheritance and transfer tax (veraset ve intikal vergisi) under Law No. 7338, even if you live abroad and hold a foreign passport. You must file a tax declaration (beyanname) within a set period, the tax is charged on a progressive scale with brackets and exemptions that are revised periodically, and it can normally be paid in instalments over a number of years. This guide explains, in plain terms, who pays, when you must declare, how the tax is worked out, and the deadlines a foreign heir cannot afford to miss.

The short answer for foreign heirs

If you have inherited a flat, a bank account, company shares, or any other asset located in Türkiye, Turkish inheritance and transfer tax (veraset ve intikal vergisi) almost always applies to you, even if you are not a Turkish citizen and have never lived here. The tax follows the Turkish-situated asset, not your nationality.

In one line: Law No. 7338 decides the tax you owe on the Turkish assets you receive; the TMK and MÖHUKMÖHUKTurkish Private International Law Act No. 5718The Turkish statute that decides which country's law applies to a cross-border matter, and how foreign judgments are recognised and enforced here.Glossary → decide who the heirs are and how the estate is divided. This article is about the first of those — the tax. If you are still working out which court acts and which law governs the estate, start with our guide on Turkish inheritance jurisdiction for foreigners.

Who is liable for the tax

Inheritance and transfer tax is paid by the person who receives the asset — the heir or the recipient — not by the estate as a separate entity and not by the deceased. Each heir is, in principle, taxed on the share they actually receive.

The tax covers two broad situations:

• Inheritance (veraset): assets passing on death, whether by the rules of intestacy under the TMK or under a will.
• Transfer without consideration (ivazsız intikal): gifts and other gratuitous transfers made during life — these fall under the same law, usually at different rates from death transfers.

Where foreigners fit in

For a foreign heir, the key question is where the asset is located and your connection to Türkiye. As a general framework under Law No. 7338:

• Assets located in Türkiye are within the scope of the tax, whoever inherits them — so a foreign heir inheriting a Turkish flat, a Turkish bank account, or shares in a Turkish company is liable here.
• A person's worldwide assets can be drawn in where there is a sufficient connection to Türkiye (for example through Turkish citizenship), while a foreign national with no such connection is generally taxed only on the Turkish-situated assets they receive.

The declaration (beyanname): your core duty and deadline

The central obligation under Law No. 7338 is not simply to pay — it is to declare. Each liable heir must file an inheritance and transfer tax declaration (veraset ve intikal vergisi beyannamesi) with the competent tax office, setting out the assets inherited and their values. The tax office then assesses the tax due on that declaration. The declaration is what starts the formal tax process, and it sits alongside obtaining the certificate of inheritance and, later, the title-deed transfer or bank release.

When you must file

The filing window under Law No. 7338 is not the same for everyone — it depends on where the death happened and where the taxpayer is when it happens. This is exactly the point where cross-border estates differ from purely domestic ones. The general pattern in the law is:

• where the death occurred in Türkiye and the liable heirs are in Türkiye, a shorter filing period runs from the death;
• where there is a foreign element — for example the death occurred abroad, or the heir is abroad — the law allows a longer period to file, recognising that documents and translations take time to assemble.

How the tax is calculated: a progressive scale

Inheritance and transfer tax in Türkiye is progressive, not a single flat rate. The value you inherit is divided into bands, and each band is taxed at a rate that rises as the value increases — so larger inheritances bear a higher effective rate than smaller ones. Death transfers (inheritance) and lifetime gratuitous transfers (gifts) are generally taxed on different scales, with gifts typically charged at higher rates than inheritances.

Exemptions and reliefs

The law also provides exemptions — threshold amounts below which no tax is due, and reliefs that apply to particular heirs or particular transfers. A surviving spouse and children, for instance, benefit from specific exemption allowances. Because both the exemption figures and the bracket thresholds move over time, the only safe approach is to apply the figures in force for your estate.

Valuing the assets

Because the tax is charged on value, how each asset is valued matters as much as the rate. Different categories of asset are valued under their own rules within the Turkish tax framework — real estate, bank balances, vehicles, and shares are not all measured the same way.

• Real estate is typically assessed by reference to official property values used for tax purposes, which can differ from the open-market price.
• Bank accounts and cash are taken at their balance as at the relevant date.
• Company shares are valued under the applicable rules for the type of company, which can be a point of genuine complexity where you inherit an interest in a Turkish business. We look at one version of this in our guide on inheriting shares in a Turkish limited liability company.

Getting the valuation right protects you in both directions: an over-statement means paying more tax than you owe, and an under-statement risks a later correction with penalties.

Paying in instalments

A common worry for heirs is having to find a large tax sum at once, often before the inherited asset has been sold or has produced any income. Turkish law softens this: inheritance and transfer tax can normally be paid in instalments rather than as a single lump sum.

This instalment facility is one reason it is worth engaging early rather than waiting: a properly filed declaration lets you spread the cost on the terms the law allows, instead of facing a lump-sum demand plus penalties after a missed deadline.

Why the tax cannot be ignored before transfer

Inheritance tax is not an optional add-on you can deal with later. In practice, the Turkish authorities and registries are linked: you generally cannot complete a clean title-deed (tapuTapuTitle deed / land registry recordThe official title deed and the state land-registry record behind it — the only thing that proves who owns real estate in Türkiye.Glossary →) transfer of inherited real estate, or have a bank release inherited funds, while the inheritance tax position is unresolved.

So the realistic order for a foreign heir is: secure the certificate of inheritance, file the inheritance tax declaration under Law No. 7338, deal with the assessed tax (in instalments where permitted), and then complete the tapu transfer or bank release. Note too that, quite separately from tax, an heir who wishes to disclaim (renounce) an inheritance — for example where the deceased was insolvent — generally has only a limited period to do so under the Turkish Civil Code (TMK No. 4721); once that period passes you are usually treated as having accepted the estate, debts included, so confirm the exact period for your case before you act.

Practical steps for foreign heirs

1. Identify the Turkish-situated assets. List each asset in Türkiye — real estate, bank accounts, shares, vehicles — and note its location and type, since this drives both liability and valuation.
2. Get the certificate of inheritance. For a foreign-element estate this comes from the civil court of peace (Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi), on apostilled and sworn-translated documents.
3. Confirm your declaration deadline. Check the exact filing period under Law No. 7338 for your scenario — it differs depending on where the death and the heirs are.
4. File the tax declaration (beyanname). Declare the inherited assets and their values to the competent tax office, and obtain the assessment.
5. Use the instalment option where available, then transfer. Pay the assessed tax — in instalments if permitted — and then complete the tapu transfer or bank release.

Every estate turns on its own facts, the figures change over time, and the right tax treatment depends on your documents and your connection to Türkiye. Have a Turkish lawyer and tax adviser review the file before any step is taken. To discuss a Turkish estate from abroad, contact Lexin Legal.

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Rates, brackets, exemptions, and deadlines under Law No. 7338 are revised periodically — confirm the current figures and your exact filing period before relying on them.

Frequently asked questions