Saying “I earned income only once” alone does not provide a tax exemption. The Income Tax Law treats certain disposal gains as value appreciation gains (değer artış kazancı) and certain temporary activity income as occasional income (arızi kazanç). These two groups have different exemptions, costs and limits. In addition, a continuous or organized activity may be treated as commercial or professional income.
Legal Nature of the Practice and How It Differs from Other Obligations
A value appreciation gain relates to the disposal of certain assets and rights; occasional income relates to transactions listed in the law that are not continuous. Calling an income “one-off” in everyday language does not make it occasional income by itself.
Which Limited Income Types Do Other Gains and Receipts Cover?
The law defines the income elements one by one, including the category of other gains and receipts (diğer kazanç ve iratlar). A payment should not be recorded in the “other income” box without first establishing whether it falls under wages, rent, capital income from securities, or commercial or professional income. Particularly in consulting, commission, digital service and share transfer transactions, the name of the contract and the true nature of the activity may differ.
A value appreciation gain relates to the increase arising from the disposal of a property or right; occasional income focuses on temporary activities and receipts listed in the law. Carrying out a transaction only once is neither a common nor a sufficient condition for both groups. [1; Income Tax Law Articles 80–81 (repeated) and 82]
Not All Companies Are Subject to the Same Rule in Share Sales
The exemption set for shares of resident corporate taxpayers (tam mükellef kurumlar) held for more than two years does not apply automatically to every partnership interest. Limited liability company partnership shares, joint-stock company shares, unsecuritised shares and shares in foreign companies must each be examined separately. The legal nature of the instrument, the acquisition date and the scope of Transitional Article 67 (Geçici 67) may change the result.
For this reason, in a share transfer file the trade registry registration date alone is not enough. When the share was acquired, when the price was paid, whether a share certificate or interim share certificate (geçici ilmühaber) was issued, and how the sale price was determined are assessed together. The statement “I have been a company shareholder for two years” alone does not produce a tax-free sale.
Cost and Exemption in Value Appreciation Gains
The price of the relevant asset or right, the costs of disposal and the statutory valuation rules are taken into account in calculating the net gain. In transactions where indexation applies, the price-index increase condition (Yİ-ÜFE) and the correct months are used. It is not possible to treat the current foreign-currency equivalent of the purchase price as the cost in every transaction.
For 2025, the value appreciation gain exemption is 120,000 Turkish lira (TL), and for 2026 the amount is 150,000 TL. However, there are scope limits, such as this general exemption not applying to sales of securities and other capital market instruments. Therefore, a person who sells both real estate and financial assets in the same year cannot arbitrarily allocate all transactions to a single exemption calculation.
Which Transactions Does Occasional Income Cover?
The law regulates occasional commercial transactions, occasional independent professional activities, certain payments in return for not starting or for giving up an activity, and transactions such as the transfer of a tenancy right. Income obtained later from an activity that has already ended is also examined under its own provisions. Not every occasional income item benefits from the same exemption.
The occasional income exemption is 280,000 TL for 2025 and 350,000 TL for 2026, and it applies to the annual total of the relevant income. The limit is not reopened for each contract or each customer. The distinction between gross receipts and net earnings is important; comparing the amount collected directly with the threshold, without deducting the documented expenses that the law allows, may be wrong.
An Example Separating a One-Off Transaction from a Continuing Commercial Activity
An architect's income from a single independent piece of work cannot be assessed in the same way as income from regularly acquired clients and an activity conducted through a professional organization that he or she has built. In the second case, a low number of transactions does not automatically make the activity occasional. In the review, the offer, the contract, advertising, the workplace, professional tools and client relationships are all important together.
How Are Declaration and Withholding Linked?
Some payments may have been subject to withholding. This does not remove the need to classify the income under the correct item and to examine the annual return obligation separately. Deductible withholdings relating to the declared income must be shown with documents; a withholding on another income item is not transferred to this calculation arbitrarily.
| File question | Record to prepare before the transaction |
|---|---|
| What is being transferred? | Description of the asset, right, share or note |
| How was it acquired? | Purchase, inheritance, gift and capital documents |
| Is the income the result of an activity? | Indicators of organization and continuity |
| Income of which year? | Collection, entitlement and transfer dates |
| Which exemption may apply? | Relevant statutory subparagraph and scope conditions |
Can a sale loss be deducted from other income?
Not every economic loss can be deducted from the tax base. There are statutory limits on offsetting losses from other gains and receipts against other income elements. The income group and the offset provision must be determined first.
Can the same exemption be shared between spouses?
Income tax is personal. The legal owner of the income and the share ratio are determined. Simply directing collections to different accounts in order to use more exemptions does not change the owner of the income.
Effect of the Document and Company Type in Share Transfers
The transfer of a share in a company does not always fall under the same tax rule. Joint-stock company share certificates, limited liability company partnership shares, interim share certificates (geçici ilmühaber), exchange-traded securities and shares in foreign companies are classified separately. After this classification, the holding period, the nature of the instrument and the scope of Transitional Article 67 are examined. Applying the five-year period for real estate to all partnership interests is incorrect.
In addition to the acquisition and transfer documents, capital increases, bonus share acquisitions, and division and merger history may affect the cost calculation. Whether the sale price is collected in instalments and when the transfer date falls are separate questions. Particularly in transfers between related persons, the real price and the legal cause must be documented.
Boundary Between Occasional and Continuous Activity
A single transaction does not always lead to occasional income; the organization of the activity and its purpose of continuity are examined. Brokerage, temporary independent professional activity, income obtained later from an activity that was given up, and business activity may fall under different items. The occasional income exemption also does not apply without limit to every occasional income item in the law.
For example, a single consulting assignment is not the same as providing services regularly to different clients throughout the year. Finding customers online does not change the nature of the activity. The fact that withholding was made also does not show that the income is necessarily undeclared; the annual return, offsets and the exemption are checked separately.
Losses, Costs and Relationship with Other Income
Costs and expenses that may be deducted in calculating a value appreciation gain must be documented. A loss on a transaction does not mean that the loss can be deducted from every wage, rent or commercial income. The loss offset limits of each income element are assessed separately. An exemption is applied after the income item has been correctly determined; choosing the exemption first and then naming the transaction accordingly is not appropriate.
Decision Before the Transaction and the File to Prepare
Determine the true nature of the transaction before its name in the contract. In a share sale, examine the company type and the form in which the share is represented; in a service or commercial transaction, examine the element of continuity. An exemption and a declaration limit should not be applied until the correct income category has been selected.