From 2026, Turkey exempts the foreign income of new residents who meet several conditions from Turkish income tax for twenty years. The exemption does not switch on by itself: you need a certificate from the tax office, and you have to ask for it on time. It never covers income earned in Turkey.
As a rule, anyone Turkish law treats as settled in the country pays Turkish income tax on all of their income, including income from abroad. Law No. 7582, published in the Resmî Gazete, Turkey's Official Gazette, on 4 June 2026, made an exception for newcomers. It added Article 20/D to the Income Tax Law (Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, No. 193): under several conditions, income earned outside Turkey is not subject to Turkish income tax for twenty years.
The rule applies to people who became settled in Turkey from 1 January 2026. The procedure is set by General Communiqué No. 333 of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, published in the Resmî Gazete on 4 July 2026. The rules were checked against the official texts on 28 September 2026; this English edition was prepared from that check on 20 October 2026.
What the exemption covers
The law does not list types of income one by one: it covers income earned outside Turkey. The examples in Communiqué No. 333 are rent from property abroad and dividends from a foreign company. Exempt income is not declared in Turkey, and if you file a return for other income, you leave it out.
Who qualifies
Turkish law speaks of a person "settled in Turkey" (Türkiye'de yerleşmiş). Either of two tests is enough: your permanent home (ikametgâh) is in Turkey, or you stay in Turkey continuously for more than six months within a calendar year; temporary trips abroad do not break that period. Foreigners who come for a limited time to work or on a specific assignment, or to study, get medical treatment, rest or travel, are not treated as settled even after six months. A residence permit is not one of the tests: the tax office checks whether you count as settled when you apply for the certificate.
The conditions for the exemption:
-you became settled in Turkey on 1 January 2026 or later;
-in the three calendar years before that, you had neither a permanent home nor tax obligations in Turkey;
-you applied to the tax office on time and received the certificate.
Tax obligations that came only from renting out property in Turkey, from dividends and interest, or from gains on selling property do not block the exemption. A salary from a Turkish employer or your own business in Turkey during those three years does: the Communiqué covers both cases. The exemption is for individuals only; companies cannot use it.
It does not switch on by itself
You apply to your tax office (vergi dairesi) for the exemption certificate, in Turkish Yurt Dışından Elde Edilen Kazanç ve İratlar İçin İstisna Belgesi, or istisna belgesi for short.
The deadline is the end of the calendar year in which you became settled in Turkey. If that happened in November or December, the deadline is the end of February of the following year. Communiqué No. 333 describes a person who settled in Turkey in March 2028 and applied in May 2030. Every other condition was met, but the certificate is refused: the deadline had passed.
Applying early does not work either: on the day you apply, you must already count as settled in Turkey. The tax office checks the conditions and the date and issues the certificate if everything matches. Without a certificate applied for on time, there is no exemption.
Income earned in Turkey is not covered
The exemption does not apply to income earned in Turkey. Rent from property in Turkey, a salary and earnings from work done here remain taxable as before.
If you work remotely from Turkey for clients abroad, do not assume those earnings count as foreign. In one example in Communiqué No. 333, an engineer advises foreign clients from Turkey on their investments in Turkey, and the income is not exempt: the service is performed in Turkey.
If most of your income is Turkish, a salary, rent from property here or a business in Turkey, the exemption does not touch it.
Also worth knowing
Tax that another country took on exempt income cannot be credited against income tax assessed in Turkey, and expenses linked to that income cannot be deducted.
If it later turns out that the conditions were not met, the certificate is cancelled and the tax on foreign income is collected with a tax loss penalty (vergi ziyaı cezası) and late payment interest (gecikme faizi).
The exemption concerns Turkish income tax only. It does not change your obligations in the country you moved from.
If you read Turkish, the Turkish Revenue Administration (Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı) published a free guide to this exemption in September 2026, with worked examples. It is on gib.gov.tr.