LumenWhen is the annual income tax return due in Turkey, and who doesn't have to file?
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Under Turkey's Income Tax Law, the annual return for a calendar year is filed from 1 March to the evening of 25 March of the following year, and the tax is paid in two equal instalments in March and July. If you leave the country during the year, the return is due in the 15 days before you leave.
Key facts
| What | The law says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Filing window | From the start of March to the evening of 25 March of the year after the income year | Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 92 |
| Leaving Turkey during the year | Return filed within the 15 days before you leave | Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 92 |
| Paying the tax | Two equal instalments, in March and July | Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 117 |
| Self-employed, traders, farmers | Must file even if they earned no profit | Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 85 |
| Employees with one employer | No return for withheld wages up to the fourth-bracket amount (TRY 5,300,000 in 2026) | Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 86.1(b) |
| Small untaxed capital income | No return if securities and real estate capital income, not withheld and not exempt, totals no more than TRY 22,000 (2026) | Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 86.1(d) |
| Non-residents | No return for income fully taxed by withholding in Turkey | Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 86.2 |
The deadline
The law requires the annual return for a calendar year to be filed from the beginning of March until the evening of 25 March of the next year (article 92). Residents (full taxpayers) file with the tax office competent to assess their tax. Non-residents (limited taxpayers) file where their tax representative in Turkey lives or, if they have none, where their workplace is. The law also allows sending the return by registered post.
If you leave the country during the calendar year, the return is due in the 15 days before you leave.
Paying
Income tax assessed on the annual return is paid in two equal instalments, in March and July (article 117).
Who files and who doesn’t
The basic rule: you file an annual return for the year’s income unless the law says otherwise, and traders, farmers and self-employed professionals file even in a year with no profit (article 85).
Article 86 lists income for which no annual return is needed. For residents, the main cases are:
- wages from a single employer, already taxed by withholding, that don’t exceed the fourth-bracket amount in article 103 (TRY 5,300,000 for 2026);
- wages from more than one employer, under the conditions in article 86.1(b) and (c);
- securities and real estate capital income totalling no more than TRY 22,000 in 2026 that wasn’t subject to withholding or an exemption;
- the part of income that stays within an exemption limit.
For non-residents, no return is needed for wages, professional income, capital income and other income that was fully taxed in Turkey by withholding.
Related questions
- Who counts as resident: domicile in Turkey or more than six months’ continuous stay in a calendar year (Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 4).
- The 2026 rates: 15% to 40% (Gelir Vergisi Kanunu, art. 103).
Sources
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