A landlord who insists on a bank transfer is not being difficult: the law now requires it, and the duty falls on both of you.
A rule in effect from 17 October 2024 requires payments and receipts under residential and commercial lease agreements to be documented through a bank or PTT. The obligation falls on both the tenant and the landlord, and for residential leases there is no minimum amount below which cash is allowed.
Do you and your landlord have to pay rent through a bank?
The documentation requirement covers the full rent, not a portion of it: for a residential lease there is no minimum amount below which cash is allowed.
The duty is not one-sided. It falls on the tenant and the landlord alike: each side must be able to show that the rent was paid and received through a bank or PTT.
If rent is handed over in cash, neither of you has the bank or PTT record the rule requires, and each of you is responsible for that record.
Which payment methods satisfy the rule?
The rule published in the Official Gazette names the ways a rent payment can be documented. A bank deposit, a transfer within the same bank (havale) or between banks (EFT), a cheque, a payment by bank card or credit card, an online banking transaction, or a document issued by PTT each satisfy the requirement.
There is no single method that both parties must use. What matters is that the payment leaves a trace in the records of a bank or PTT. If you pay through a bank branch, the deposit slip is that record; for a transfer, the transaction confirmation serves the same purpose.
Whatever method you use, keep the confirmation it produces. That is what shows the payment was made through an accepted channel.
How to pay when the flat has several owners
When the flat is jointly owned, the documentation rule does not require you to split the rent among all co-owners. Transferring the full amount to any one of the landlords through a bank or PTT is enough to satisfy the requirement.
This means you can pay a single account and keep one confirmation. You are not obliged to obtain separate receipts or acknowledgements from each owner. The rule treats the transfer to one joint owner as sufficient documentation for the whole payment.
It does not matter which co-owner receives the transfer.
Which payments are outside the requirement?
Payments made through a court or an enforcement proceeding are excluded from the documentation requirement.
The second exception is a payment in kind rather than money. If rent is settled in goods or services instead of cash, there is no bank or PTT transfer to document, and the requirement does not apply.
Any other rent paid in cash fails the requirement.
What happens if you pay rent in cash?
Cash does not produce the bank or PTT documentation the rule requires, so a cash payment is treated as a failure to document by both sides. The regulation sets a special irregularity penalty for that failure: 10% of the payment amount, but no less than the minimum amount set for that year, calculated per transaction and per party. A single cash payment can therefore trigger two penalties — one for the tenant and one for the landlord.
The penalty is 10% of the payment amount or the minimum amount set for that year, whichever is higher. Check the current year's minimum with the tax office or an accountant. An agreement between tenant and landlord to use cash does not remove the obligation or the penalty.