Who needs it
- Companies that have signed a lease for their registered office or another workplace in Türkiye
- Companies using a virtual office agreement, which is also a lease for stamp duty purposes (including the virtual office that comes with the Professional package)
- New companies whose address was registered on the basis of a lease
- Companies signing a new lease when they move or add premises
What we do
- Reading the lease to identify the term, the rent and the signing date
- Checking your company's stamp duty registration: monthly return or the 15-day route
- Calculating the duty on the total rent for the full contract term
- Filing the return within the deadline and giving you the amount and payment details
- Sending you the filed return and keeping a copy in your company records
The rate: 1.89 per thousand, on the whole term
Turkish stamp duty is charged on signed documents, and a lease agreement is one of them. For leases, the rate is 1.89 per thousand (0.189%). The base is the total rent for the whole contract term, not the monthly rent. A three-year lease is therefore taxed on 36 months of rent, at once, when it is signed.
You may have seen 9.48 per thousand quoted for leases. That figure is the rate for general contracts and security (collateral) agreements and does not apply to a lease.
If the lease does not state a fixed term or a fixed rent, we check how the base is set before we calculate.
When it arises and when it must be filed
The duty arises on the day the lease is signed. The formation date of your company plays no role. When it must be declared depends on how the company is registered for stamp duty:
- Continuous stamp duty taxpayers declare it on the monthly return. By law the return is due by the 20th and payment by the 26th; in practice both are due by the 26th of the following month. Under the Revenue Administration’s practice, joint-stock companies (A.Ş.) belong to this group.
- Others declare and pay within 15 days of signing.
For a limited company (Ltd. Şti.), the route depends on the company’s own registration. We check it before we file.
Who is liable, and what happens if nobody files
Everyone who signs the lease is jointly liable for the duty, so the landlord and your company both carry the risk. If the duty is not paid, the tax office assesses it with a penalty and can collect it from any signatory. It does not give the tax office a right to close the company, but it is an avoidable cost.
New companies and virtual office agreements
After registration, the tax office carries out a start-of-business inspection at the company’s address, and the lease for that address is subject to stamp duty from the day it is signed. A virtual office agreement counts as a lease for stamp duty purposes too. See virtual office and company formation.
This filing is an add-on at USD 250 and is not included in the Basic or Professional package. That also applies to the virtual office in the Professional package: the virtual office is included, but the stamp duty filing on its agreement is not. For an overview of the other taxes a foreign-owned company deals with, read Turkish taxes for foreign-owned companies.
How it works
- 01
Send the lease
Send us a scan of the signed lease soon after signing. The duty arises on the day the lease is signed.
- 02
Check the route
We confirm whether your company files monthly as a continuous stamp duty taxpayer or within 15 days of signing.
- 03
Calculate
We apply 1.89 per thousand to the total rent for the full term and tell you the amount.
- 04
File
We file the return and send you the payment details, so the company can pay by the deadline.
- 05
Proof
You receive the filed return and the payment confirmation for your records.
What you provide
- A scan of the signed lease agreement, all pages
- The date of signature and the names of all signatories
- Any annex that changes the rent or the term
- Who bears the duty under the lease: your company or the landlord
Frequently asked questions
Is the rate 9.48 per thousand?
No. 9.48 per thousand is the rate for general contracts and security (collateral) agreements. Lease agreements are taxed at 1.89 per thousand (0.189%) of the total rent for the contract term, under section I/A-2 of Table (1) of the Stamp Duty Law.
Is the deadline 15 days from company formation?
No. The duty arises when the lease is signed, not when the company is formed. Continuous stamp duty taxpayers declare it on their monthly return; under the Revenue Administration's practice, joint-stock companies (A.Ş.) are in this group. Others declare and pay within 15 days of signing. For a limited company (Ltd. Şti.), the route depends on its own tax registration, which we check first.
Who pays: the landlord or our company?
The law makes everyone who signed the lease jointly liable for the duty. How you share the cost with the landlord is a matter for your lease, but the tax office can pursue any signatory.
What happens if the duty is not filed?
The tax office assesses the unpaid duty together with a tax penalty, and all signatories are jointly liable for it. Unpaid stamp duty does not give the tax office a power to close your company, but late filing costs more than filing on time.
Can you show an example?
A two-year lease at TRY 30,000 a month has a total rent of TRY 720,000. Stamp duty: 720,000 × 1.89 ÷ 1,000 = TRY 1,360.80. The figures are only an illustration.
Is there an upper limit?
Yes. In 2026 the stamp duty on a single document cannot exceed TRY 29,115,961.10 (Stamp Duty General Communiqué 71). In practice this only matters for very large leases.
