Selling Your Turkish Holiday Home as a Danish Owner: Turkish Capital Gains Tax Meets Danish Reporting

For a Danish owner, selling a Turkish holiday home is rarely just a Turkish transaction. The gain is visible to two tax authorities at once: Turkey, where the property sits, and Denmark, where you are tax-resident. Understanding how the two fit together — and where the Denmark–Turkey treaty steps in — is what keeps you from paying twice or, just as bad, from a surprise during a SKAT review.

Step one: the Turkish side

In Turkey, profit on a property you bought is a taxable value-increase gain under the Income Tax Law (Article mükerrer 80) only if you sell within five full years (60 months) of the tapu registration date. After five years the gain is exempt. The taxable amount is your sale price minus your inflation-indexed purchase price (uplifted by the Yİ-ÜFE index where it rose 10% or more), minus documented costs, minus the 2026 exemption of 150,000 TRY (it was 120,000 TRY in 2025). The balance is taxed at 15%–40%, declared on a Turkish income tax return filed between 1 and 31 March of the year after the sale.

Step two: the Danish side

As a Dane who is fully tax-liable in Denmark, your worldwide income — including a gain on foreign property — is in principle reportable to SKAT, converted to Danish kroner at the relevant exchange rate. The point of the Denmark–Turkey double-taxation treaty is to make sure that gain is not taxed in full by both countries.

Where is the gain actually taxed?

Under the standard treaty rule for immovable property, gains are taxable in the country where the property is located — Turkey. Denmark then relieves double taxation on the same gain. You should still declare the disposal in Denmark and claim the treaty relief rather than simply omitting it.

| Question | Turkey (where the property is) | Denmark (where you live) |

|---|---|---|

| Primary right to tax the gain | Yes — property is situated here | Relieves double tax under the treaty |

| When is it tax-free in Turkey? | After 5 full years of ownership | n/a |

| What you must do | File a Turkish return (1–31 Mar next year) if sold early | Report the disposal to SKAT, claim treaty relief |

| Currency for reporting | TRY | Convert to DKK |

A Danish owner's documentation checklist

• The tapu showing your acquisition date — your five-year clock and indexation both depend on it.
• Proof of the purchase price and costs (transfer tax, notary, agent fees) to reduce the Turkish gain.
• The Turkish tax return and payment receipt, which is your evidence when claiming treaty relief in Denmark.
• Exchange-rate records for the krone conversion SKAT expects.

Many Danish owners in Alanya bought as a retirement or holiday base; the same documentation discipline that protects your earthquake-insurance position — see our guide to Managing DASK Earthquake Insurance From Abroad: A Scandinavian Holiday-Home Owner's Guide — is exactly what makes a clean, treaty-backed sale possible years later.

The headline for Danish owners is reassuring: hold past five years and Turkey takes nothing, while the treaty protects you from being taxed twice on an earlier sale — as long as you report it properly on both sides.