Can I deduct tax paid abroad from my Turkish income tax?

Checked on 2026-10-25

Yes, if you are a Turkish tax resident. Turkey's Income Tax Law lets you deduct similar personal income tax paid abroad on foreign income, but only up to the Turkish tax that falls on that foreign income. You must prove the payment with documents from the foreign authority, certified by the Turkish embassy or consulate there.

Key facts

What	The law says	Source
Who can use it	Full taxpayers, i.e. persons settled in Turkey, who are taxed on worldwide income	Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, arts. 3, 123
What is deducted	Similar taxes paid abroad on income earned abroad	Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 123
Limit	Only up to the Turkish income tax attributable to the foreign income; any excess is ignored	Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 123
How the limit is worked out	Turkish tax × (foreign income ÷ total income)	Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 123
Type of foreign tax	Must be a personal tax levied on income	Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 123.1
Proof	Documents from the foreign authorities, certified by the Turkish embassy or consulate there	Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 123.2
Documents late	Tax on the foreign income is deferred one year; after that, documents are no longer accepted	Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 123

How the credit works

Residents pay Turkish income tax on income earned inside and outside Turkey (article 3). To avoid paying twice, article 123 lets them deduct similar taxes they paid abroad on that foreign income from the Turkish income tax.

The deduction is capped. The law says the Turkish tax attributable to foreign income is calculated by the share of the foreign income in your total income, and any foreign tax above that figure is not taken into account.

Conditions

The law sets two conditions:

The tax paid abroad must be a personal tax levied on income.
You must prove it was paid with documents from the competent foreign authorities, certified by the Turkish embassy or consulate in that country, or, if there is none, by the representatives of the country that protects Turkish interests there.

If the documents are late

If the documents haven’t arrived by the instalment date, the part of the Turkish tax that falls on the foreign income is deferred for one year. If you bring the documents to the tax office within that year, the deduction is made. After the year ends the deferral lapses and the documents are disregarded even if you submit them, except under the force majeure rules of the Tax Procedure Law.

The foreign tax is deducted from the tax of the year in which you included the related income, and foreign-currency tax is converted at the exchange rate applied to that income.

Who counts as resident: domicile in Turkey or more than six months’ continuous stay in a calendar year (Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 4).
When the annual return is due: from 1 March to 25 March of the following year (Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 92).

Sources

Gelir Vergisi Kanunu (Income Tax Law) No. 193 of 31 December 1960, arts. 3 and 123 (consolidated text, Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi, mevzuat.gov.tr) checked 2026-10-25

Change history

2026-10-25: Page created

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