Tax residence in Türkiye for Singapore taxpayers

Türkiye treats you as settled, and taxes your worldwide income, if your domicile is in Türkiye or you stay there continuously for more than six months in a calendar year; temporary departures do not interrupt the stay. Foreigners who come for a definite and temporary assignment or job, study, medical treatment, rest or travel are not settled even after six months. Singapore decides your status for the calendar year. If both countries claim you, Art. 4(2) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement of 1999 decides — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, then mutual agreement.

Check your status: Singapore and Türkiye

Free, no sign-up, about 3 minutes. Conclusion under Singapore's Income Tax Act 1947, compared with the law of Türkiye and the tax treaty (DTA).

When Türkiye treats you as a tax resident

Türkiye has two grounds for full tax liability: being settled in Türkiye, or being a Turkish citizen abroad in the service of a Turkish public body or of an enterprise headquartered in Türkiye. Türkiye's tax year is the calendar year.

The Turkish Revenue Administration accepts that Turkish citizens who have lived abroad for more than six months with a work or residence permit are domiciled in the country where they live. Then only the six-month rule can make them fully liable in Türkiye.

A person who stays in Türkiye continuously for more than six months in a calendar year is settled in Türkiye; temporary departures do not interrupt the stay. More than 183 days of actual presence meets this test; with fewer days, a stay of more than six months counting temporary departures may also be enough.

The exception in art. 5 GVK applies only to foreigners and overrides the six-month rule.

As a Turkish citizen you are abroad in the service and on the business of a Turkish public body or of an enterprise headquartered in Türkiye — under art. 3(2) GVK you are fully liable in Türkiye. Income that is subject to income tax or a similar tax in the country where you are is not taxed again in Türkiye.
Your domicile (the place where you live with the intention of remaining permanently) is in Türkiye — under art. 4(1) GVK you are settled in Türkiye and fully liable on your worldwide income.
You stayed in Türkiye continuously for more than six months in this calendar year — under art. 4(2) GVK you are settled in Türkiye and fully liable on your worldwide income.

When you are a non-resident

Your domicile is not in Türkiye and you did not stay there for more than six months in this calendar year — you are a limited taxpayer: Türkiye taxes only income earned in Türkiye (arts 6–7 GVK).
Although you stayed in Türkiye for more than six months, you are a foreigner there for a temporary assignment or job, study, medical treatment, rest or travel, or for reasons beyond your control — under art. 5 GVK you are not settled in Türkiye and are a limited taxpayer.

Where the rules of Türkiye clash with Singapore tax rules

Collision: a Turkish domicile keeps you settled in Türkiye. Türkiye treats you as fully liable as long as your domicile — the place where you live with the intention of remaining permanently — is in Türkiye, however few days you spend there. If Singapore also treats you as resident, both countries claim you. Art. 4(2) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement decides: permanent home; with a home in both countries, centre of vital interests; if that cannot be determined, or you have a permanent home in neither, habitual abode; then nationality; if you are a national of both countries or of neither, mutual agreement.
Collision: more than six months in Türkiye while resident in Singapore. A continuous stay of more than six months in a calendar year makes you settled in Türkiye. Singapore can treat you as resident for the same calendar year on other grounds — as a citizen or Permanent Resident who normally lives in Singapore, or under IRAS's two- or three-year rules in the year of a move. Art. 4(2) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement then decides which country is your state of residence; ask the Turkish tax office for a certificate of residence if Türkiye is.

What else to know

Calendar year in both countries — different tests. Singapore decides your residence for the calendar year: 183 days or more of presence or employment, normal residence as a citizen or Permanent Resident, or IRAS's two- and three-year rules. Türkiye's six-month test looks at a continuous stay of more than six months within a calendar year, and temporary departures do not interrupt it; Türkiye also treats you as settled whenever your domicile is in Türkiye, whatever the days. The 183-day limit for salary in Art. 15(2)(a) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement is also counted in the calendar year concerned.
Turkish citizen living in Singapore with a residence permit: limited taxpayer in Türkiye. The Turkish Revenue Administration accepts that a Turkish citizen who has lived abroad for more than six months with a work or residence permit is domiciled abroad and taxed in Türkiye only on Turkish-source income. Türkiye will treat you as fully liable again if you return permanently or stay in Türkiye for more than six months in a calendar year.
Working in Türkiye while resident in Singapore (Art. 15(2)). Pay for work physically done in Türkiye is Turkish-source income. If Singapore is your treaty residence, Türkiye does not tax it only if all three conditions of Art. 15(2) are met: not more than 183 days in Türkiye in the calendar year concerned, an employer that is not resident in Türkiye, and pay not borne by a permanent establishment or fixed base of the employer in Türkiye. Otherwise Türkiye taxes the pay for your Turkish work days. In Singapore such pay is foreign-sourced income, generally exempt for a resident individual (s. 13(7A)); where Singapore does tax it, the Turkish tax is credited (Art. 23(2)).
How Singapore relieves Turkish tax. If Singapore is your state of residence, Turkish income is generally not taxed in Singapore — foreign-sourced income received by a resident individual is exempt (s. 13(7A)); where Singapore does tax it, the Turkish tax paid is credited, up to the Singapore tax attributable to that income (Art. 23(2)) — claim the foreign tax credit in your Singapore return. Under Art. 22, a Turkish exemption or reduced rate under the Agreement on income that Singapore taxes only when remitted applies only to the amount remitted to or received in Singapore.
If Türkiye is your state of residence: credit for Singapore tax. Under this Agreement Türkiye uses the credit method: it deducts from Turkish tax an amount equal to the tax on income paid in Singapore on income that Singapore may tax, up to the Turkish tax appropriate to that income, subject to Turkish rules on foreign tax credits (Art. 23(3); art. 123 GVK — payment proved by documents of the Singapore authorities certified by the Turkish embassy or consulate).
Moving to Türkiye: 20-year exemption for foreign income. If you become settled in Türkiye from 1 January 2026 and had neither domicile nor tax liability there in the three preceding calendar years, income you earn outside Türkiye — including income from Singapore — is exempt in Türkiye for twenty years (repeated art. 20/D GVK). It is not declared, and Singapore tax on it cannot be credited in Türkiye.
Which treaty applies: the 1999 Singapore–Turkey Agreement. The Agreement signed at Singapore on 9 July 1999 has been in force since 27 August 2001 and has effect in Türkiye from 1 January 2002 and in Singapore from Year of Assessment 2003; the Protocol of 5 March 2012 replaced the exchange-of-information article. The MLI does not apply to it: Türkiye has signed but not ratified the MLI. Residence: Art. 4(2) — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, then mutual agreement (Art. 25); employment: Art. 15 (183 days in the calendar year); limitation of relief (remittance basis): Art. 22; relief: Art. 23 — credit in both countries.

How dual residence is resolved

If both countries treat you as a resident, Art. 4(2) of the treaty applies: Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of the Republic of Turkey for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income, with Protocol, signed at Singapore on 9 July 1999, as amended by the Protocol of 5 March 2012. The tests are applied in order — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, and finally mutual agreement between the tax authorities.

The treaty in detail: income, rates, the 183-day rule →

Terms you will come across in Türkiye

ikametgâh: domicile — the place where you live with the intention of remaining permanently (Civil Code, arts 19–20)
Türkiye'de yerleşmiş: settled in Türkiye — domicile there or a continuous stay of more than six months in a calendar year (art. 4 GVK)
tam mükellefiyet: full tax liability on all income earned in and outside Türkiye
dar mükellefiyet: limited tax liability on income earned in Türkiye only
mukimlik belgesi: Turkish certificate of residence, issued by the tax office
Gelir Vergisi Kanunu (GVK): Income Tax Law No. 193

Questions

My Singapore employer posts me to Türkiye for eight months. Am I settled there?

Not necessarily. Foreigners who come for a definite and temporary assignment or job are not regarded as settled even if they stay more than six months (art. 5 GVK), so Türkiye taxes only income earned in Türkiye. A domicile in Türkiye would make you settled whatever the days.

Does Türkiye tax my salary for work there while I remain resident in Singapore?

Not if all three conditions of Art. 15(2) are met: not more than 183 days in Türkiye in the calendar year concerned, an employer not resident in Türkiye, and pay not borne by a Turkish permanent establishment or fixed base. Otherwise Türkiye taxes the pay for Turkish work days.

If I move to Türkiye, is my Singapore income taxed there?

If Türkiye is your treaty residence, it taxes your worldwide income and credits the Singapore tax up to the Turkish tax on that income (Art. 23(3)). If you settle in Türkiye from 1 January 2026 after three years without domicile or tax liability there, foreign income is exempt in Türkiye for 20 years (repeated art. 20/D GVK).

Sources

Legislation and official guidance

GVK (Income Tax Law No. 193), art. 3 — Persons settled in Türkiye, and Turkish citizens living abroad who are attached to Turkish public offices or institutions or to organisations or enterprises headquartered in Türkiye and are abroad on their business, are taxed on all income earned in and outside Türkiye (full liability). Those in the second group are not taxed again on income that is subject to income tax or a similar tax in the country where they are.
General Communiqué on Income Tax No. 210 (Official Gazette 06.03.1998, No. 23278) — GİB Guide on Rental Income for Limited Taxpayers (February 2025, Publication No. 553) — Turkish citizens who have lived abroad for more than six months with a work or residence permit are taxed as limited (non-resident) taxpayers on their income from Türkiye; those abroad in the service of Turkish public bodies or of enterprises headquartered in Türkiye are excluded.
GİB ruling of the Balıkesir Tax Office Directorate, 19.09.2013, B.07.1.GİB.4.10.15.01-125[10-2013/849]-88 — Citing Communiqué No. 210: the domicile of Turkish citizens who have lived abroad for more than six months with a work or residence permit is accepted to be in the country where they live and they are taxed as limited taxpayers; those who return permanently or stay in Türkiye for more than six months in a calendar year are fully liable.
GVK, art. 4 — Settled in Türkiye are: 1) persons whose domicile is in Türkiye (domicile as defined in art. 19 et seq. of the Civil Code); 2) persons who stay in Türkiye continuously for more than six months in a calendar year — temporary departures do not interrupt the stay.
Turkish Civil Code (Law No. 4721), arts 19–20 — Domicile is the place where a person lives with the intention of remaining permanently; no one can have more than one domicile at a time. Domicile changes only when a new one is acquired; a person who has left a domicile abroad and not yet acquired one in Türkiye is domiciled where he or she currently lives.
GVK, art. 5 — Businessmen, scientists, experts, officials, press correspondents and similar persons who come for a definite and temporary assignment or job, foreigners who come for study, medical treatment, rest or travel, and persons who stay in Türkiye for reasons beyond their control such as detention, imprisonment or illness are not regarded as settled in Türkiye even if they stay longer than six months.
GVK, art. 6 — Individuals not settled in Türkiye are taxed only on income earned in Türkiye (limited liability).
GVK, art. 7/3-a and final paragraph — For limited taxpayers, salary is earned in Türkiye if the service is performed in Türkiye or is «evaluated» in Türkiye — i.e. paid in Türkiye or, if paid abroad, booked in the accounts of the payer in Türkiye (or of the person on whose behalf it is paid) or set off against its profit.
s. 2(1) Income Tax Act 1947 (definition of «resident in Singapore», para (a)) — An individual is resident in Singapore if, in the year preceding the year of assessment, he or she resides in Singapore except for such temporary absences as may be reasonable and not inconsistent with a claim to be resident; also resident is a person who in that year was physically present or exercised employment in Singapore (other than as a company director) for 183 days or more.
Art. 15(2) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement (1999) — Remuneration of a resident of one State for employment exercised in the other State is taxable only in the State of residence if (a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in the calendar year concerned, (b) it is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and (c) it is not borne by a permanent establishment or a fixed base which the employer has in the other State.
Art. 4(2) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement (1999) — Dual-resident individual: (a) resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; with a permanent home in both States, of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests); (b) if the centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or he has no permanent home available in either State, of the State in which he has an habitual abode; (c) habitual abode in both States or in neither — the State of which he is a national; (d) national of both States or of neither — the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement (Art. 25).
IRAS — «Working out my tax residency» (updated 12 May 2026) — A Singapore citizen or permanent resident who normally resides in Singapore, except for temporary absences, is a tax resident. A foreigner is resident for a year of assessment if, in the preceding calendar year, he or she stayed or worked in Singapore for at least 183 days, or stays or works in Singapore continuously for three consecutive years (then for all three years, even with fewer than 183 days in the first and third). A foreign employee whose employment spans two calendar years is resident for both years if the period of employment, together with the stay immediately before and after it, is a continuous period of at least 183 days (not for company directors, public entertainers and professionals). Days include weekends and public holidays, and temporary absences (leave abroad, business trips) connected with the employment in Singapore.
s. 13(7A) ITA 1947 — Exempt is income from sources outside Singapore received in Singapore: (a) by a non-resident individual; (b) from 1 January 2004 — by a resident individual, where the Comptroller is satisfied that the exemption is beneficial to him or her; the exemption does not cover such income received through a partnership in Singapore.
Art. 23 of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement (1999) — Singapore (para. 2): subject to its laws on credit for foreign tax, the Turkish tax paid, directly or by deduction, on income from Türkiye that may be taxed there is allowed as a credit against the Singapore tax payable on that income, not exceeding the Singapore tax attributable to it. Türkiye (para. 3): subject to Turkish law on credit for foreign taxes, a deduction from the Turkish tax of an amount equal to the tax on income paid in Singapore, not exceeding the Turkish tax appropriate to the income that may be taxed in Singapore. The tax-sparing rule of para. 4 applied only for a limited period (para. 5) and has expired.
Art. 22 of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement (1999) (limitation of relief) — Where the Agreement exempts Turkish-source income or reduces Turkish tax on it, and under Singapore law the income is taxed by reference to the amount remitted to or received in Singapore, the Turkish exemption or reduction applies only to the amount remitted to or received in Singapore; not for the Government of Singapore and approved persons.
IRAS — «Claiming foreign tax credit» — Where foreign income is taxable in Singapore and foreign tax has been paid on it, a resident can claim a foreign tax credit in the return; the credit is the lower of the foreign tax paid and the Singapore tax payable on that income.
GVK, art. 123 — Foreign taxes of a similar nature paid abroad by fully liable taxpayers on income earned abroad are deducted from the Turkish income tax attributable to that income; any excess is disregarded. Conditions: a personal tax on income, and payment proved by documents from the competent authorities certified by the Turkish embassy or consulate there. If the documents arrive late, the tax on the foreign income is deferred for one year.
GVK, repeated art. 20/D (Law No. 7582, art. 4, Official Gazette 04.06.2026) — Income earned outside Türkiye by individuals who had neither domicile nor tax liability in Türkiye in the last three calendar years before becoming settled is exempt for twenty years; such income is not declared, related expenses are not deductible and foreign tax on it cannot be credited.
IRAS — List of DTAs, Limited DTAs and EOI Arrangements (updated 4 February 2026) — Singapore's comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs), limited agreements covering only shipping and air transport income, and exchange-of-information arrangements; the texts of the agreements are published by IRAS.
GVK, art. 103; General Communiqué on Income Tax No. 332 (Official Gazette 31.12.2025, No. 33124, 5th repeat) — 2026 tariff: up to TRY 190,000 — 15%; up to TRY 400,000 — 20%; up to TRY 1,000,000 (salaries TRY 1,500,000) — 27%; up to TRY 5,300,000 — 35%; above — 40%.
GVK, art. 86 — Fully liable taxpayers need not file an annual return for salary from a single employer taxed by withholding up to the fourth bracket amount. Limited taxpayers need not file for salary, professional fees, income from movable and immovable capital and other income fully taxed by withholding in Türkiye.
GVK, art. 92 — The annual return is filed in March of the following year (extended to the last day of March by VUK Circular No. 115) with the competent tax office; persons leaving the country during the year file within 15 days before departure.
GVK, art. 23/13 and 23/19 — Retirement, disability, widow's and orphan's pensions paid by foreign social security institutions are exempt; so are wages paid out of foreign profits to persons employed abroad in construction, repair, installation and technical services.
Art. 4(2)(a) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement (1999) — A dual-resident individual is deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests).
Art. 4(2)(b) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement (1999) — If the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has no permanent home available to him in either State, he is deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has an habitual abode.
Art. 4(2)(c), (d) of the Singapore–Turkey Agreement (1999) — If he has an habitual abode in both Contracting States or in neither of them, he is deemed to be a resident of the State of which he is a national (c); if he is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement (d; procedure in Art. 25).

Case law

Council of State (Danıştay), 4th Chamber, E. 2021/8176, K. 2022/8419, 19/12/2022 — In a VAT case (art. 13/i VAT Law — sale of dwellings to foreigners) the Chamber assessed the condition «not settled in Türkiye» under arts 4 and 5 GVK: the condition must be met on the date of the sale; a certificate from the tax office that the buyer is not settled is only evidence, and obtaining it after the sale does not bar the exemption for a buyer who proves the conditions. The decision concerns VAT but applies the income tax settlement criteria.

Updated 10/11/2026. The result is for information only and is not tax or legal advice. IRAS, other tax authorities and courts may interpret the rules differently, including because of circumstances not covered here, and the law can change with each annual Budget. Consult a qualified adviser before making decisions.

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