20 Years Tax Free in Turkey: the 1% inheritance rate

The rule in the law

Turkey taxes inheritances and gifts under a separate law, the Inheritance and Gift Tax Law No. 7338 (Veraset ve İntikal Vergisi Kanunu, or VİVK). Article 2 of Law 7582 added a sentence to Article 16 of that law, which sets the rates. In plain English, it says:

For people who benefit from the income tax exemption under Article 20/D, the tax rate on property passed on by inheritance (veraset) within the period set for that exemption is 1%.

Three points follow from the wording:

• The rate is a flat 1%, whatever the size of the estate.
• It applies only to transfers by inheritance, that is, on death.
• It applies only within the exemption period, which is the 20 years of the 20/D exemption.

Gifts stay on the normal scale

The new sentence speaks of transfers "veraset yoluyla", by inheritance. Gifts and other transfers for no payment (ivazsız intikal) are a separate category in the law, and the 1% rate does not mention them. A gift made during your lifetime is taxed on the normal gift scale of 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%, even if you hold an exemption certificate.

If you plan to pass on assets during your lifetime, this difference matters. Get advice on the Turkish side before you make a large gift.

Normal 2026 inheritance rates, for comparison

Without the 20/D rule, inheritances are taxed on a progressive scale. For 2026 the bands and personal allowances were set by VİVK General Communiqué No. 57 (Official Gazette of 31 December 2025). We read the figures through KPMG Türkiye, because the gazette file could not be opened.

The first band of the normal scale is already 1%. So for a small or medium estate the new rule changes little. The saving grows with the size of the estate, because the normal top rate of 10% applies above TRY 55,000,000.

When Turkish inheritance tax applies at all

The 1% rate matters only where Turkish inheritance tax applies in the first place. Article 1 of VİVK sets that scope. It taxes transfers of property owned by Turkish citizens, transfers of property located in Turkey, and foreign property acquired by Turkish citizens. It also says that a foreign national who is not domiciled in Turkey and inherits a Turkish citizen's assets abroad is not taxed.

For a foreign family, this leads to a practical reading. A Turkish flat or a Turkish bank account is property located in Turkey, so it falls inside Turkish inheritance tax. A foreign resident inheriting foreign assets from a foreign person who died does not appear in Article 1's wording. That second conclusion is our reading of the text, not a confirmed position of the tax office.

Your home country still has its own rules

The Turkish rule does not affect inheritance or gift tax in any other country. Your home country, or the country where an asset sits, may tax the same estate under its own law, whatever Turkey charges. Check that side with an adviser in that country. See what the exemption does not solve.

How this fits with the income tax exemption

The 1% rate is tied to the 20/D exemption period. That period depends on becoming a Turkish tax resident, meeting the three-year look-back, and getting the exemption certificate (İstisna Belgesi) from your tax office in time. Without the certificate, you are not "benefiting from" 20/D, and the normal inheritance scale applies.

The certificate deadline is the end of the calendar year in which you become resident. If you become resident in November or December, it is the end of February of the next year. For anyone resident from January to October 2026, that means 31 December 2026. Late applications are refused. The steps are on how to claim the exemption, and the full regime is on the 20-year tax exemption guide.