The principle governing the Turkish inheritance tax laws is the “location of the property”, meaning that what regulates the legal mechanism of dealing with the property is its location. Turkish law is applicable when dealing with the ownership of a property located within the borders of the territory of the Republic of Turkey, including real estate and immovable property.

In addition, there is another principle that foreign investors must know when buying a property in Turkey, which is that movable property is subject to the inheritance laws of the country of which the deceased owner holds the nationality, while Turkish law is applied with r egard to real estate and immovable property.

Inheriting real estate in Turkey

In the absence of an officially attested will, the legal heirs of immovable property are determined in the following order:

The first to inherit from the deceased are the children and the husband or wife who receive a specified share.

If the deceased person does not have children, his family is considered his heirs (father and mother).

In the absence of children and parents, the husband/wife shares the inheritance with the deceased’s grandfather or his siblings.

The last heirs of the deceased person according to the hierarchical order in the Turkish inheritance law are the grandchildren and their children.

If the deceased person has no living relatives, all of his property goes to the husband or wife.

In the absence of any heirs at all, all the property of the deceased goes to the Turkish government.

The property of the deceased is distributed to the previous categories after the bequeather’s debts are cleared, if any, so the debts of the deceased with the banks, installments, or any mortgage and the like are paid.

According to Turkish law, the wife has half the property and the children half, and the shares of males and females are equal, which leads investors to question the possibility of following the laws of their country in the distribution of inheritance, which is permissible provided that it is applied to all heirs.

Documents required to transfer property ownership to heirs in Turkey

Submission of the following papers to each of the heirs in order for the ownership to be transferred:

• A family statement “inheritance inventory” showing the heirs and the relationship, certified and translated into Turkish.
• Register in the tax registry in Turkey and obtain tax numbers.
• Having a valid passport.
• Submit personal photos.

Inheritance tax in Turkey

Foreigners are subject to the inheritance and transfer tax law if the inherited or transferred funds are located within the borders of the Turkish Republic; Whether the heir lives inside or outside Turkey, in the event that he obtains funds through inheritance or free transfer.

But compared to other countries in the European Union, the value of the inheritance tax in Turkey is relatively low and varies depending on the value of the investor’s property, as a lower percentage tax is deducted whenever real estate prices in Turkey decrease.

The inheritance tax rate varies between 1% to 10%, depending on the residency status of the heir and the geographical location of the property.

Thus, when the property of foreigners is subject to Turkish law, it will inevitably be subject to the inheritance and transfer tax, and the tax differentiates between two types of property, each type has a different percentage. inheritance.

The tax rates mentioned in Article 16 of Law No. 7338 have been determined by increasing the stipulated re-evaluation rate, and accordingly the inheritance and transfer taxes imposed are calculated according to the value of the property (tax brackets), in the transfers that occur through inheritance, or through A free transfer route (gift, donation, prizes, etc.) as of 1/1/2022

Does the inheritance tax apply to foreigners in Turkey? If both the inheritor and the heir are citizens of foreign countries, the inheritance process for property within Turkey is subject to the regulation of the same law according to Article 1 of the Turkish V.İ.V Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law.

In this case, the heirs must submit a V.İ.V inheritance and transfer tax statement showing these properties in Turkey, and submitting the statement to the tax departments in the foreign country does not suffice to submit this statement in Turkey, while the heirs are not required to submit a V.İ.V inheritance and transfer tax statement .İ.V for property outside Turkey when the bequeather and heir are foreigners.

If the heirs reside in the same foreign country in which the death occurred, according to Article 9 of the Law on Inheritance and Transfer of Ownership V.İ.V, the tax declaration must be submitted within four months from the date of death.

According to Turkish law, the due inheritance tax is paid within a maximum period of 3 years, and it is paid in May and November of each year.

Writing a will in Turkey

As is the case in many countries of the world, anyone in Turkey can write a will in which he clarifies who wishes to leave his property after his death, and the competent courts in this regard consider the person’s will after his death.

The Turkish Civil Law clearly shows how to deal with the will: for foreigners, the will must be prepared in accordance with the provisions of Turkish law in this regard, in order for it to be legally recognized.

The conditions stipulated by Turkish law regarding the writing of a will, are that the person should be over fifteen years of age and be of full mental capacity.

The will must also be written in the handwriting of its owner, and the date must be mentioned in detail in the day, month and year, and must be appended to his signature; The person concerned must submit the will either to the court or to the notary, signed in front of two witnesses, in order for the procedures to proceed properly.

In this regard, the Magistrate’s Court or the Court of First Instance considers cases related to inheritance, and each case may require a different time from the other, depending on the complexity of the case and the functioning of the court itself.

Prevention of inheritance in Turkey

One of the heirs may be prevented from obtaining his share of the estate In special cases, but the person concerned must explain the reason for doing so before the court when he wants to withhold the inheritance from one of the legal heirs, and the person who has been denied the inheritance cannot sue the person concerned.
Thus, after all the issues of the inheritance system in Turkey, and the inheritance and transfer tax, have been clarified, you can rest assured that the laws and procedures related to buying your next property in Turkey are reliably and safely, and in a manner that guarantees the fate of your investment in the future.